Subject overview

Academic activities

Gender studies research at Sussex is particularly active. There are many lively research fora including NGender, a weekly student-led open seminar. The Centre for Gender Studies, the Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies and the Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence offer faculty research events including international speakers and conferences focused on gender and sexuality to which students are warmly welcomed. Recent seminars have covered ‘Being Barbara Streisand’, feminist working-class autobiographies, gendered militarisms, queer mental health, the aftermath of violence, and the politics of beauty.

Programmes

• PhD in Gender Studies (Humanities)
• PhD in Gender Studies (Social Sciences)
• MPhil in Gender Studies (Humanities)

There are two doctoral pathways in gender studies:

• Gender Studies (Humanities) for those seeking to do research in areas that are primarily, but not exclusively, cultural
• Gender Studies (Social Sciences) for those seeking to do research in areas that are primarily sociological.

Research and teaching in gender studies crosses the subject boundaries of anthropology, art history, sociology, English, history, international relations, law, media, film and cultural studies, and there is a wide range of potential research supervisors for PhD students in gender studies.

Coursework

There are two common modes of entry for research students. First is traditional entry to an MPhil or PhD. Second is the MSc plus PhD pathway, which is the 1+3 route supported by ESRC or AHRC studentships. For more details, refer to Research.

All new research students will be required to participate in a programme of research training modules and to take other modules that may be recommended by their supervisor (Exemption from research training modules can be granted to those who have already taken such modules at postgraduate level. For more details, refer to Research).

Current faculty areas of research

• 19th- and 20th-century British women’s history and literature
• cultural representations of gender in art, literature and the media, social media
• feminist life history
• feminist movements/women’s activism
• gender and citizenship, nationalism and globalisation
• gender and education
• gender and everyday life
• gender and health
• gender, inequality and work
• gender, power and politics
• gender and sexuality
• gender and social anthropology
• gender and development
• LGBTQ studies
• queer theory
• reproductive politics
• sexual violence.

Recent thesis titles: Gender Studies (Humanities)

Changing media, changing feminisms

The older woman’s body as a source of horror

The queer uncanny

Recent thesis titles: Gender Studies (Social Sciences)

Breaking the silence – lesbian clients speaking out about their experiences of counselling

Honour killings in Turkey

Lone mothers and social policy in Korea

Entry requirements

MPhil in Gender Studies (Humanities)

UK entrance requirements

A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree or equivalent. Applicants should submit an outline (two to three pages) of their research interests.

Overseas entrance requirements

Please refer to column A in Overseas qualifications.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

PhD in Gender Studies (Humanities)

UK entrance requirements

A Masters degree in a subject relevant to your research. Applicants should submit an outline research proposal (three to four pages) indicating their topic, including possible chapters, methodology, research context and a short bibliography of relevant sources.

Overseas entrance requirements

Please refer to Overseas qualifications.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

PhD in Gender Studies (Social Sciences)

UK entrance requirements

A Masters degree in a subject relevant to your research. Applicants should submit an outline research proposal (three to four pages) indicating their topic, including possible chapters, methodology, research context and a short bibliography of relevant sources.

Overseas entrance requirements

Please refer to Overseas qualifications.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

Visas and immigration

Find out more about Visas and immigration.

For more information about the admissions process at Sussex

For pre-application enquiries:

Student Recruitment Services
T +44 (0)1273 876787
E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

For post-application enquiries:

Postgraduate Admissions,
University of Sussex,
Sussex House, Falmer,
Brighton BN1 9RH, UK
T +44 (0)1273 877773
F +44 (0)1273 678545
E pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk 

Related subjects

• Media, media practice and cultural studies
• Sociology

Fees and funding

Fees

MPhil in Gender Studies (Humanities)

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

PhD in Gender Studies (Humanities)

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

PhD in Gender Studies (Social Sciences)

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

Funding

The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.

Faculty interests

Research interests are briefly described below. For more detailed information, visit the Centre for Gender Studies.

Dr Caroline Bassett New media technologies, most recently working on narrative and new media. Published widely on new media and gender.

Professor Gillian Bendelow Sociology of pain, health promotion, gender and new technology.

Dr Anastasia Christou Social and cultural geography, transnationalism and identity, culture and memory, gender and feminism.

Professor Andrea Cornwall Participation, development, gender, sexuality, citizenship.

Professor Jane Cowan Gender, nationalism, memory and identity.

Dr Denise DeCaires Narain Postcolonialist writing; feminist cultural theory; contemporary women’s writing in English, especially poetry.

Dr Anne-Meike Fechter Gender, race and ethnicity in the context of global political and economic inequalities.

Dr Ben Fincham Injury, death and suicide; mobilities; peripheral labour; work and danger.

Dr Elizabeth Harrison Discourses of gender and development.

Professor Beate Jahn Classical and contemporary political and international theory.

Professor Liz James The representation of women in the classical and medieval world.

Pamela Kea Gambia, West Africa; globalisation, child labour and education; gender; migration.

Dr Kate Lacey Gender, media and the public sphere. Has published widely on radio history and theory. Current work focuses on listening publics.

Dr Claire Langhamer 20th-century British history, specialising in gender, life histories and mass observation.

Professor Vicky Lebeau The convergence of psychoanalysis, literature and cinema; and feminist theory.

Andy Medhurst Popular culture, sexuality, gender, and Englishness.

Dr Monika Metykova Gender and globalisation, journalism and migration.

Dr Sharif Mowlabocus Digital cultures, gender, sexuality and representation.

Professor Sally R Munt Queer studies, cultural studies, identity and emotion. Co-author of Queer Spiritual Spaces: Sexuality and Sacred Places (2010).

Dr Kate O’Riordan Cultural studies of science and technology. Author of The Genome Incorporated (2010).

Dr Filippo Osella Kerala, South India; migration and globalisation; masculinity; consumption.

Dr Alison Phipps The politics of the body: sexual violence, sex work, and reproduction.

Dr Niall Richardson Representations of gender, sexuality and the body in film and popular culture.

Dr Vincent Quinn Lesbian and gay studies, the history of sexuality, 18th-century studies, Irish studies, and the history and theory of biography.

Professor Sue Thornham Feminism, film and cultural theory.

Dr Maya Unnithan India, Rajasthan; fertility and reproductive health; medical anthropology.

Professor Cynthia Weber Media and culture. Author of International Relations Theory: A Critical Introduction (2009).

Janice Winship Published on women’s magazines, advertising and consumption in the 20th century.

Ruth Woodfield Sociology of gender, work and skill, especially in relation to technology.

Careers and perspectives

Our degrees aim to cater equally for those seeking to develop an existing research interest, those in a career in which issues of gender play an important role, and those who simply wish to explore a broad range of issues concerning gender.

Our graduates have gone on to careers as researchers, administrators and communications officers for charities and NGOs. 

School and contacts