American Literature PhD

American literature is a huge field intersecting with other global literatures, cultures and nations, reaching from the colonial period to its current, enormously powerful position. 

Our research strengths range from the American Renaissance to modern and contemporary poetry, culture and fiction, and (through the CHASE Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England) American art. We welcome applications in all these fields and we particularly encourage an interdisciplinary approach.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of the cutting-edge research in American history conducted in the Sussex Centre for American Studies. You’ll have access to expertise in the history of slavery, the Civil War, the Cold War, American foreign policy, and the long history of civil rights and Black Lives Matter – all of which have profound resonance in American literary culture.