Film, Screen and Popular Culture

The University of Brighton has a research culture in film and screen studies that has fostered national archives and given critical insight across practice, theory and history. It supports PhD research projects across many aspects of Film, Screen and Popular Culture.

Our approach incorporates text (in the widest sense), technology, industry and audience. Academic specialisms include the study of early cinema, British television history, convergence culture, screen culture, digital media, political activism and identity politics.

Key facts

As an Film, Screen and Popular Culture Film, Screen and Popular Culture PhD student at Brighton, you will benefit from:

• a supervisory team comprising two or sometimes three members of academic staff. Depending on your research specialism you may also have a  supervisor from another School, another research institution, or an external partner from government or media industry.

• access to desk space and computers.

• access to a range of electronic resources via the university’s online library, as well as to the physical book and journal collections housed within the Aldrich Library and other campus libraries.

• access to digital and photographic practice experts and facilities including studio and film-editing software

• access and engagement with long-established film and screen facilities at the University of Brighton University of Brighton , including the Screen Archive South East (SASE) archives and the annual film festival Cinecity.

• access to the University of Brighton’s diverse engagement with the media culture of the City of Brighton and Hove, itself a hub of media industry activity.

Research themes include:

• Children’s culture

• Comedy

• Culinary culture

• Digital games

• Film and television animation

• Horror, science fiction, fantasy

• Maternal drama

• Memory, history and trauma in the Media

• Paratexts and promotional media

• Popular culture and activism

• Popular culture, gender and sexuality

• Popular culture in the age of social media

• Popular music and journalism

• Seaside culture and entertainment

• Screen cultures

• Television and heritage cultures

• Utopia/dystopia and apocalypse