Overview
The Centre for Research in English Studies conducts research into English Literature, English Language and Linguistics, Theatre History, and Philosophy. In addition, members of the School of English publish novels, travel books and poems. We have an impressive track record of funded projects for the AHRC, EPSRC and JISC and our work features regularly in world-leading academic journals and publishers' catalogues. Every member of the School is an active, published researcher or writer.
Our Research and Development Unit for English Studies (RDUES) focuses on projects in advanced computing and language. Its WebCorp tool uses the self-updating resource of the worldwide web to provide scholars with a leading corpus of English Language. The Unit is has been working with a local school on an AHRC-funded knowledge exchange project concerning the application of WebCorp to the 'A' level English Language syllabus. At the moment, the RDUES team is working on the JISC-funded eMargin project, developing a collaborative annotation tool for electronic texts.
Highlights of other recent and forthcoming major projects are Professor David Roberts's biography of Thomas Betterton for Cambridge University Press; Professor Fiona's Robertson's study of British Romanticism and America for Oxford University Press; Dr Gregory Leadbetter's Coleridge and the Daemonic Imagination for Palgrave Macmillan; Dr Tony Howe's Oxford Handbook to Shelley, co-edited for OUP with Professor Michael O'Neill of Durham University; Dr Vicky Angelaki's study of the theatre of Martin Crimp for Palgrave Macmillan; and Professor Philip Smallwood's co-edited essay collection on Samuel Johnson for Cambridge University Press.
Other colleagues are currently pursuing work on, variously, Anglo-Norman, the language of gangs, literature and photography, science fiction and modernity and value.
Although much of our research can be classified as 'pure', we can demonstrate that it has significant impact. RDUES' current AHRC project aims to improve resources for 'A' level study; our Professor of Philosophy, Mark Addis, has worked on a substantial AHRC project on the nature of expertise in working environments; we have a strong record of working with major cultural agencies including the National Academy of Writing, the BBC, and the Royal Opera House.
For full details of our work, visit the School of English. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact the Head of School, Professor David Roberts david.roberts@bcu.ac.uk or CRES-research@bcu.ac.uk