Welcome
English Studies at Durham University is one of the top English Departments in the country, offering teaching and research of the highest quality in beautiful surroundings. The Department is consistently rated as a top-five or higher English Department by the Good University Guide and the Complete University Guide; the National Student Survey ranked Durham third for English Studies, with a satisfaction level of 97%. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 90% of the research activity in the Department was judged to be of international standing.
English is one of the Departments that make up the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. We offer a range of teaching across the whole of the discipline of English Studies, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day, offering both a solid base for the study of English Literature and the opportunity to specialise. Our teaching draws on a variety of different theoretical and methodological perspectives: we encourage students to discover new approaches and to develop their own responses. Students are taught in lectures, seminars, tutorial groups and also one-to-one supervisions, by some of the world's leading literary critics.
The Department's ethos is that teaching and research should complement one another at all levels of academic enquiry, from first-year tutorials to the specialised supervision available to MA and doctoral postgraduates. Our work combines a strong sense of tradition with a commitment to innovation and new approaches, and we have a particular strength in interdisciplinary research.
Events & Conferences
Thursday 4 July 2013
- Modernism and Non-Translation 9:00am onwards, Durham University
Friday 5 July 2013
- “We Speak a Different Tongue”: Maverick Voices and Modernity, 1890–1939 St John's College
Thursday 18 July 2013
- Romantic Victorians 9:00am to 5:00pm, Durham University, Mark Sandy, Anna Barton
News Feed: Research in English At Durham Blog
New Podcast: The Decline of British Fiction
In this podcast, Professor Patricia Waugh and Jennifer Hodgson discuss the alleged decline of British fiction. Patricia and Jennifer have recently co-authored an article “On the Exaggerated Decline of British Fiction” in the arts journal, The White Review. Here, they argue that … Continue reading →
(20 May 2013) » New Podcast: The Decline of British Fiction
New Issue of Postgraduate English
A new issue of the journal Postgraduate English has been published. Issue 26 includes four articles on a variety of literary topics, as well as two book reviews. This present issue indicates the range of topics and literary periods that the … Continue reading →
(13 May 2013) » New Issue of Postgraduate English
Re-Visioning The Ethics of Care
In this research conversation, Jahnavi Misra discusses the “ethics of care” as it applies to literary fiction. The “ethics of care” was a feminist claim that women tackle ethical issues through principles of compassion and feeling rather than masculine rationalism. … Continue reading →
(10 May 2013) » Re-Visioning The Ethics of Care


