Culture & Creative Industries

The PhD at City is designed to do two things: assist you with your research project and give you transferable skills for the years after you finish. With these aims in mind the PhD programme is structured as follows:

Year 1 - In year one students take four Master's level modules, three of which cover research methods and one of which is an elective concentrating on the specific topic they are researching. These modules are designed to introduce students to a broad variety of research methods alongside helping to develop the literature review in their specific area.

Year 2 - In order to progress from MPhil to PhD students present an upgrade paper no later than Spring of year two. This outlines their review of the literature, their methodology and gives an indication of the overall shape of the thesis.*

Year 3 - The formal requirements in third year are focused around the writing up and submission of the thesis.

Year 4 - The fourth year of a PhD is only used as a writing up year.

*Students on graduate research programmes are initially registered for an MPhil award. Promotion to registration to PhD is not automatic, but contingent on the satisfactory outcome of a review process. This normally takes place towards the end of the first year of registration for full-time candidates and towards the end of the second year for part-time candidates.

The programme will conclude with submission of your research in the form of a PhD thesis and attendance at a viva voce examination in front of at least two examiners, at least one of whom will be external to the University.

Candidates are required to demonstrate the following:

• a full understanding of previous research literature and current academic and professional thinking;
• the ability to undertake sustained, high level research and master the theoretical (and where appropriate, practical) aspects of the subject areas relevant to the research field;
• the ability to communicate the subject matter of the research field, and the conclusions of the particular research project, in the accepted academic form of a research thesis.

The research thesis/dissertation must contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the understanding of the subject, either through the communication of substantial new information as a result of the research, or through a significant and novel reinterpretation of previous research and/or knowledge.

An MPhil thesis should demonstrate evidence of systematic study and should be either a record of original work or a critical exposition of existing knowledge; a PhD thesis should similarly demonstrate evidence of systematic study and in addition make a new contribution to the subject, shown either by the discovery of new facts or analyses or by the exercise of independent critical judgement.

For full details about the City PhD programme structure, please see the Guide for Research Students.

CCI allows students -- in consultation with their supervisor -- to create a unique programme of study tailored to their needs within a broader framework of expectations. These cover: theory, history, methods/philosophy and substantive, detailed methods, as well as writing and presentation workshops.
The supervisor offers advice, and guides the student to successful and timely completion of the thesis. This is likely to be more prescriptive and directive in the early part of the PhD career, and more advisory and dialogical in latter stages. Whilst the supervisor is an expert, one would hope that the PhD student's expertise of the subject area begins to exceed that of the supervisor by the end of the first half of the thesis. Clearly, the student must make the thesis their 'own'. The focus of the supervisory relationship is shaping the research project, issues of analysis and focus, and the writing project. The supervisor will introduce the student to the world of academic life, and facilitate contacts with researchers to help with the development of the thesis.

The PhD student should take responsibility for project 'management' by taking notes and agreeing agendas for meetings, and keeping a long-term plan and milestones under review for regular discussion with the supervisor. The PhD student and supervisor should work as a team. Part of the early stage is to build up a relationship and a mode of working. The supervisor should keep the student prepared for deadlines, and the student should plan their time and their project accordingly, highlighting any potential issues and risks to smooth completion to the supervisor.
Supervisors will also help students identify needs, and select additional relevant courses based upon previous student.
A record of the agreed plan for first-year students must be lodged with the PhD director using City's Research & Progress (RaP) system and should be reviewed annually. Non-completion of this plan may lead to disqualification from further progress.

This list is divided into three strands. However, the boundaries between each are not fixed as themes overlap. Central concerns are methodology and interdisciplinarity.

• Institutional frameworks for the making and uses of art and heritage (including theories of representation/display)
• Media and culture, including questions of intimacy and selfhood
• The transnational production of culture
• Digital technologies of publishing and reading
• Celebrity
• Redefining notions of the universal (including critiques of multiculturalism, and cultural identity).

• Culture within the political realm (including public policy formation, in particular cultural policy and the political process)
• Economy of the arts (including globalisation, political economy of the arts and changing markets)
• Creative industries, both British and international/global
• Urban Regeneration
• Definition and measurement of employment in the cultural, or creative, industries
• Cultural governance (international and local)
• Cultural value (from a political perspective but also aesthetic).

• The politics of cultural and creative work
• Impact and evaluation
• Leadership (particularly gender and ethnicity)
• Management practices and discourses, in particular corporate social responsibility
• Critical theory of media and communication
• Professional development of cultural practitioners (education and training).