Working with literary, historical, and visual texts from the classical world to the present day, we contribute through our research and public engagement to a greater understanding of how societies represent themselves, how events are recorded, how people engage with the world around them, and what it means to be human.

Covering a rich range of themes, we investigate the formation and dissemination of beliefs and ideologies, the lived experience of individuals, cultural discourses, material texts and their meanings, and the significance of the past in shaping the present.

Using our research in teaching, we develop student skills in critical thinking, problem solving, and communication that employers value.

Our research is published in high-quality journals and books and we communicate widely to the public through web pages, blogs, social media, broadcast media, public events, and the mainstream press.

The School of Humanities is the largest of the three Schools in the Faculty of Arts with more than 100 researchers. We cover a range of disciplines – Classics, English, History, History of Art, and Religion and Theology – which provide a strong platform for collaborative and interdisciplinary research.

While our research in the School is historically wide-ranging and thematically diverse, we share a commitment to the importance of knowledge transfer, the benefits of the humanities as a social good, and the study of the past to inform the present.  The School’s research mission, supported by the School Research Director, is:

• To undertake high-quality research that enhances understanding of the contemporary world
• To achieve diversity and inclusivity through collaborative research
• To support the School’s priorities regarding the Research Excellence Framework and external grant funding
• To disseminate our research widely through scholarly and popular channels
• To promote the Humanities as a vital agent of social well-being and progress

Departmental research

Research in the School is conducted by individuals and groups within departments and also more widely in collaboration with colleagues across the School, Faculty, and university. Each department in the School has its own discipline-specific research priorities and methodologies, while contributing to the School’s commitment to collaborative projects, research excellence, and the development of external grant bids.

Departments within the School of Humanities are known internationally for their research and are ranked among the leading departments of their kind in the UK.

Faculty research centres

The School of Humanities contributes to the following Faculty Research Centres and Faculty institutes:

Collaborations

Research collaborations in the School are supported through department and Faculty  research clusters, which are theme-based or period-based and bring scholars together across traditional boundaries to generate innovative projects, grant applications, and public engagement.

Faculty Research Clusters which are led by staff in Humanities are:

Borders and Borderlands

Exploring the cultural and political implications of borderlands in medieval and early modern Europe, in the context of modern border controls and border anxieties

Early Modern Studies

Drawing together cross-disciplinary activities at Bristol and strengthening connections with early modernists in the GW4 group of universities

The Embodied Mind

Focusing on cognitive approaches to humanities and the study of culture

Global Feminisms

Developing new approaches to the study of feminism in a global context, from the perspectives of methodology, pedagogy, and artistic production

Global Slaveries

Exploring histories of slavery and its aftermath in the modern world

Modern Britain Research

A large interdisciplinary cluster focusing on social and political history in Britain from the nineteenth century to the present day

Oral History Research

Discussing and sharing oral history methodologies across departments and faculties and also engaging with the city of Bristol and the region

The Perspective from the Sea

Promoting interdisciplinary research and collaborations with Bristol institutions dedicated to the city’s maritime history

Tragedy

Examining the forms of tragedy across a wide range of disciplines and time periods, from classical tragedy through Shakespeare to modern writers and playwrights

Transnational Modernisms

Studying modernist cultural dialogues and visual exchange within and across nation states and national borders

Urban Humanities

An interdisciplinary group studying aspects of urban culture across the time period from ancient to modern cities

University of Bristol Institutes

Researchers in the School of Humanities have interdisciplinary contacts and projects with these University of Bristol Institutes: