A PhD, also known as a doctorate, is a requirement for a career as an academic or as a researcher. In addition, it has become a qualification valued by many employers who recognise the skills and commitment a PhD requires. Employers also recognise that a PhD indicates excellent research and critical thinking capabilities, discipline and outstanding writing skills.

Over the duration of the Comparative Literature PhD programme from the University of Kent, you produce an original piece of research of up to 100,000 words. Previous doctoral theses have included ÔLogos, Bios and Madness in Nietzsche, Bataille, Foucault and DerridaÕ, ÔRepresentation and Depiction of Intimate Suffering in the Narratives of Esther Tusquets, Elsa Morante and Alberto Asor RosaÕ, ÔPoetics of the Face: Textual Portraiture in Modern English, Polish and Russian LiteratureÕ, ÔSamuel Beckett and the Writers of Port-RoyalÕ, and ÔThe Monster and the Maiden: Literary Affinities in the Writings of Iris Murdoch and Elias CanettiÕ.

The Department of Comparative Literature offers supervision from world-class academics with expertise in a wide range of disciplines, able to support and guide you through your research. Your progress is carefully monitored to ensure that you are on track to produce a thesis to be valued by the academic community. Throughout your programme, you are able to attend and contribute to research seminars, workshops, and research and transferable skills training courses.