Empire and postcolonial studies

The History Department, in cooperation with the cross-faculty Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, covers a wide range of history. Areas of particular interest include the British Empire, colonial India, relationships between the West and the postcolonial world, empire in Asian port cities, and heritage. Research into imperial conflicts, including policing and counterinsurgency, is a particular strength, and overlaps with the discipline’s Crime and Policing Research Group. We have particular regional expertise covering Asia (India, SE Asia, the coast of China) and Africa.

We welcome applications in areas that correspond with current staff research interests. We look for detailed and well thought-out proposals, which set out specific research questions and outline the originality of your topic or approach. If you would like to discuss your ideas informally before submitting an application, please contact us.

Entry requirements

Most successful applicants to the PhD programme have a masters degree in history or a related discipline, and/or a first class history degree with a substantial original-source dissertation. However, applicants can still be considered provided they demonstrate evidence of the ability to pursue research and write at a high level in some historical field.

Current/recent research projects

• Samuel Aylett – Curating Empire in the 21st Century.
• Thomas Probert – The Impact of Participating in British Counterinsurgency Campaigns on British Armed Forces Personnel: The Malayan Emergency as a Case-Study.

Potential supervisors

• Dr Luc-André Brunet
• Dr Katie Doington
• Professor Karl Hack
• Dr Sandip Hazareesingh
• Dr Helen O’Shea
• Dr John Slight

Fees and funding

Some of our research students are funded via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership; others are self-funded.

For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships.

To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships.

Links

• History at The Open University