English
There is an established and lively research culture in English at Westminster, which embraces a range of different critical approaches and covers all periods from the medieval to the contemporary. We publish work at the highest level, in books with major scholarly publishers and in internationally recognised journals in the field. The section also organises regular events with major London institutions like Tate Britain and the National Portrait Gallery.
Medieval and Early Modern
The Department’s research in Medieval and Early Modern literary studies includes investigations into the constructs of medieval romance, the teaching of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Renaissance theatre, Montaigne, Andrew Marvell and other early modern writers. In the field of English linguistic studies we specialise in historical linguistics, medieval English studies, language contact and Germanic linguistics as well as the language of early English literature.
Recent PhDs supervised by the Department in this area include Carol Morley’s first edition of the complete works of William Heminge, since published by Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (2005).
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century
In eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century studies, we are especially known for our work on gothic and on (amongst others) the Brownings, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde and Mary Coleridge. Other areas of research include the relationship between poetry and nineteenth-century theories of geology and evolution and Victorian sciences.
Recent and current PhD projects in nineteenth century studies supervised by the department include theses on women and science, representations of race in Victorian periodicals, Henry Rider Haggard, Mary Kingsley, and the ghost story.
Gothic Studies
The section has a particularly strong reputation in the study of gothic, including Scottish women’s gothic, Matthew Lewis’s The Monk and Charlotte Dacre’s Confessions of the Nun of St Omer. Alexandra Warwick is a recognised authority on the Victorian gothic.
Modernism
The department has a strong concentration of significant research activity in the area of modernism studies, with extensive research conducted on modernist women writers, Modernism and Spiritualism, Wyndham Lewis and theories of modernism and the avant-garde across the arts. The department is also known for its work on Samuel Beckett, with numerous publications, conferences and symposia on Beckett’s work.
Recent and current PhD projects in twentieth century studies supervised by the department include theses on Samuel Beckett, B.S. Johnson, Cold War Science Fiction, contemporary migrant writing in Ireland, May Sinclair, contemporary British theatre, and theories of the avant-garde.
Contemporary Writing
The study of contemporary writing in the English subject area is combined with a growing presence of creative writing activity within the department. Our research into contemporary writing includes A.S. Byatt, Philip Pullman and other contemporary authors such as Howard Brenton, Nick Cave, Michael Frayn, J.G. Ballard and Ali Smith.
Critical and Cultural Theory
The department has a strong commitment to both theoretical and interdisciplinary work, focusing on contemporary urban theory, critical theory, aesthetics and philosophy, deconstruction and contemporary cultural theory. Staff include a member of the editorial collective of the journal Radical Philosophy.
Further details about the research interests of individual members of staff can be accessed via the Staff pages.
Westminster English Colloquium
The Westminster English Colloquium is held around twice a year at the University of Westminster, addressing a wide range of contemporary issues in literary and cultural criticism and theory. Previous speakers have included the likes of Andrew Benjamin, Clive Bloom, Andrew Bowie, Timothy Clarke, Simon Critchley, Alex Garcia Duttmann, Maggie Humm, Simon Jarvis, Peter Osborne, Jane Rendell, Lynne Segal, Anthony Vidler and Julian Wolfreys.
The Colloquia
- Reading Paul de Man
- Art Demanding Community
- The Culture and Philosophy of Comedy
- Forgotten Voices of the Twentieth Century
- Sidelined Sciences
- Adorno and Literature
- Literature and Photography
- Marx, Architecture and Modernity
- Unpacking the Library
- Gender, Sex & Subjectivity (After Judith Butler)
- London Gothic
- Muriel Spark and Contemporary British Fiction
- Multilingualism: From Medieval to Modern
- Ezra Pound and Modern Criticism
- "No Hawkers, No Models": The Vicissitudes of the Modernist Muse
- The Apocalypse and Its Discontents
Our research
Explore more about our research by visiting our research centres
