The Humanities Research Centre supports the funding, strategy, and development of research in English, History, and Stage and Screen at Sheffield Hallam. Established in 1996, it now supports more than 50 scholars in the Department of Humanities.
The centre supports the activity of eleven professors and three emeritus professors, and manages the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and other external funding awarded to its constituent areas. It provides support to all research active staff through funding sabbaticals and teaching remission, editorial assistance, archive and library work, and UK and international conference attendance.
It also funds a research seminar series in each area, linked each year to current research themes, and hosts visiting professors, research fellows, visiting scholars and invited speakers.
Our specialisms
In the 2014 REF, 94% of the work submitted by English and 97% of the work from History was rated as being at least of international quality, ranking them among the best of new university humanities departments.
English
English has an international reputation for its work in creative writing, language, and renaissance literature, and strengths in modern and contemporary writing and the literature of the long eighteenth century.
History
We have an international reputation for our work in modern and contemporary history since the eighteenth century. We have particular strengths in global and transnational history, modern Europe, and in issues of gender and sexuality, political change, and race and ethnicity.
Stage and screen
Stage and screen has research strengths in American, British and Irish, East Asian and European cinemas, adaptation, documentary, horror and television; and in applied theatre, contemporary British playwriting, site-based performance, and performance and phenomenology. Several members of the team engage with practice-as-research methodologies, including screenwriting.
In the discipline areas research groups are organised to support these principal research themes. The groups also work together on areas of shared interest, including cultural history, gender, imperialism, scriptwriting and adaptation.
