Overview
Our PhD research programmes will allow you to explore your own interests in sociology, supported by the expertise of our staff.
Full description
You’ll be allocated two supervisors, with additional staff members available if necessary. Our supervisors are experienced in most areas of sociology, with particular strengths in social theory, gender studies, social studies of science and technology and diaspora and migration.
We’ll provide you with a rich and stimulating research environment with strong links to research networks in Anglia Ruskin and the wider community, including the Citizens Advice Bureau and the University of Cambridge's Centre for Research into Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH). We contribute to many of our Faculty’s research groups, including the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region (PIER) and the StoryLab Research Institute.
We also host and take part in many research events, including regular Faculty and departmental research seminars, which will allow you to present your research in a safe and supportive setting. These events, along with our online environment, will help you connect with other research students from a range of disciplines.
All your subject-specific studies will be enhanced and supported by our University-wide training sessions, where you’ll gain important research expertise in areas like ethics, presentations, intellectual property and digital scholarship.
Supervision and Support
Our permanent supervisory staff are recognised as international experts in their fields, and have produced a large number of influential books, journal articles and edited collections, and won funding for a number of prestigious research projects. Our expertise in social sciences includes:
Dr Liz Bradbury: classical and contemporary social theory, gender studies, psychoanalytic and psychosocial studies.
Dr Mirna Guha: gendered inequalities; intersectional feminism; 'race', identity, and social relations; gender-based violence; sex work; social justice.
Dr Shaun Le Boutillier: social theory and the structure versus agency debate, social emergence theory and the relationship between social wholes and individuals; social causation and the philosophy of the social sciences; agency and moral theory; the sociology of work and organisational life.
Dr David Skinner: race and racism, the social and political aspects of scientific and technological innovation; the relationship between the natural and social sciences; forensics, databases and surveillance; the changing management of public services.
Dr James Rosbrook-Thompson: race and race-thinking; urban sociology; delinquency and disorder; the sociology of sport; cosmopolitanism and notions of belonging.
Emma Brett: public service; learning and education; equality and cultural diversity; barriers to learning.
Additional research expertise: Professor Bronwen Walter, Irish Diaspora Studies.
Your department and faculty
At the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, we believe in thinking critically about the past, present and future to challenge perceptions and better understand communities and people.
With expertise from gender issues to literary analysis to exploring how the past has shaped our modern world, all our staff members are active researchers. This is reflected in our teaching, allowing us to support our students with the latest theories and practices, as well as essential employability advice.
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