Program Overview

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Media and Cultural Studies - PhD

Overview

Our Media and Cultural Studies PhD research degree will help you achieve a career in media research or academia. The PhD enables research into a broad range of interests within the fields of media, communication and cultural studies. Your research will be delivered over three years (full time) or four years (part-time or distance learning).

What's covered in this course?

Our Media and Cultural Studies PhD research degree offers individual programmes of research across many areas of interest. Our PhD gives you the opportunity to spend time researching and developing a deep understanding of a unique area of interest whilst contributing world leading insight to the Birmingham Centre of Media and Cultural Research.

On successful completion of your PhD research degree your findings will have either contributed new knowledge or extended existing theory and understanding of an area of interest. You will have proven yourself as a scholar, be an expert in your field and be eligible to use the title ‘Doctor’.

Our Media and Cultural Studies PhD is research based and does not include taught modules of study.

Why Choose Us?

• When you join us you will become a member of the thriving research culture at the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR).
• Your PhD research will be organised as a programme of professional and academic development.
• You will receive individual support and guidance from our team of supervisors, meeting on a regular basis to review your progress and plan your next steps.
• You will feel a strong sense of community amongst media students and supervisors and the wider Faculty of Arts, Design and Media.
• You will attend regular research seminars, conferences and symposia and you will receive a dedicated workspace that acts as the hub of your PhD research activity.
• You can strengthen your PhD research and personal/professional development by participating in wider international research communities and conferences, and by helping to teach degree modules to undergraduate students.

Research Interests

As a postgraduate researcher on this programme you will become part of the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research (BCMCR) and participate in its thriving research culture. BCMCR engages in collaborative work across nine research clusters:

• Cultural Activism and Alternative Politics
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts
• Film and the Digital Image
• Game Cultures
• Gender and Sexuality
• History, Heritage and Archives
• Media, Journalism and Place
• Popular Music Studies
• South Asian Media

We particularly invite your initial PhD enquiry for Media and Cultural Studies PhD research within the following areas of interests:

• Amateur/informal cultural production
• Austerity and the media
• Comedy
• Community media and media activism
• Creative Higher Education: Exploring developments in creative higher education curriculum and pedagogy, specifically practice-based art, design and media subjects
• Creative industries, cultural policy and cultural work
• Cult cinema
• Cultural entrepreneurship
• Diasporic and transnational media
• Equality and Diversity: connecting activities from the mid-1980s to contemporary debates in culture and cultural policy
• Film and television audiences
• Gaming cultures
• Hyperlocal journalism
• Media and conflict
• Media and cultural history
• Media fandom
• Media heritage and archives
• Media practice
• Popular Indian cinema studies
• Popular music culture
• Pornography studies
• Radio studies
• Screen melodrama
• Sexuality, gender, the cultural construction of masculinity
• Songwriting

Fees & How to Apply

UK students

• Award: PhD
• Starting: Sep 2025
• Mode: Full Time
• Duration: 3-4 years
• Fees: £5,006 in 2025/26
• Mode: Part Time
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £2,503 in 2025/26

International students

• Award: PhD
• Starting: Sep 2025
• Mode: Full Time
• Duration: 3-4 years
• Fees: £15,120 in 2025/26
• Mode: Part Time
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £7,560 in 2025/26
• Mode: Distance Learning
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £9,450 in 2025/26

Entry Requirements

To apply for our Media and Cultural Studies PhD research degree you should have, or expect to be awarded, a Masters degree in a relevant subject area from a British or overseas university.

Exceptional candidates without a Masters degree, but holding a first class Bachelors degree in media studies, may be considered.

We also welcome enquiries from potential PhD researchers without formal academic qualifications but with appropriate levels of professional experience.

English Language Requirements for International Students

Valid Academic IELTS certificate with overall score of 7.0 with no band below 6.5 or equivalent.

Research proposal guidance

Your research proposal in the full application should address the following areas:

• Aims and objectives
• Scope
• Research content
• Methodology
• Resources required
• References

Course in Depth

Why study a PhD?

Are you keen to contribute innovative ideas to your field? Looking to solve problems, discover something new, and make a difference to society?

We have a vibrant research community here at Birmingham City University, with many talented postgraduate researchers developing and exchanging knowledge across their fields.

Conducting a PhD will allow you to develop cutting-edge research in your area of interest, with the support of your research supervisor and fellow research community.

The PhD Journey

Our PhD gives you the opportunity to spend time researching and developing a deep understanding of a unique area of interest whilst contributing world leading insight to the academic specialisms we have around the subject of Media.

You will present your research developments regularly to supervisors and have opportunities to present to the research community at various events across the Faculty.

Full time students are expected to complete within three to four years, whilst part time students may take four to seven years.

Modes of Study

Whether you study part time or full time, you can undertake your PhD through one of three structured approaches to learning.

• With attendance
• Distance learning
• Online learning

Employability

The value of a PhD to employability

The Doctor of Philosophy or PhD is recognised worldwide and is often an essential requirement for those wishing to follow an academic or research career in industry or commerce.

Our Media and Cultural Studies PhD research degree has been designed to help you achieve a career in Media and Cultural Studies research or academia.

After the PhD

PhD graduates often continue their research through post-doctoral fellowships and academic posts. Others choose to become consultants or return to working in the media industry.

Facilities & Staff

Our Facilities

When you join Birmingham City University, the first thing you will notice is the high standard of our campuses.

With an investment of over £400 million across our buildings and facilities, we are committed to giving you the very best learning environment to help shape your experience.

State-of-the-art facilities

You will learn in our state-of-the-art facilities - including the £62m fully-digital Media Centre - located on the City Centre Campus.

You will enjoy access to extensive studio and workshop space including four TV studios, six radio studios and broadcast-standard edit suites, as well as cutting-edge equipment and software.

Research Supervisors

We will appoint you a team of supervisors from our academic staff, selected for their expertise in your specific area of PhD research:

• Dr Yemisi Akinbobola (African Feminism(s), Women's Rights and Media Development, African Media)
• Dr Simon Barber (Popular music culture, songwriting)
• Dr Oliver Carter (Cult cinema, media fandom, pornography studies)
• Dr Gemma Commane (Gender, sexuality, identity)
• Professor Rajinder Dudrah (Popular Indian cinema, diasporic and transnational media)
• Dr Kirsten Forkert (Austerity and the media, community media, media activism)
• Professor Nicholas Gebhardt (Popular music culture, jazz studies)
• Professor John Mercer (Sexuality and cultural construction of masculinity, pornography studies, fandom, film and television melodrama)
• Dr Annette Naudin (Cultural entrepreneurship, cultural work)
• Professor Panayiota Tsatsou (Media diversity)
• Professor Tim Wall (Radio studies, jazz studies, popular music culture)
• Dr Nick Webber (Gaming cultures, media history)
• Professor Tony Whyton (Jazz studies)