Italy is a cornerstone of European culture and provides a controversial and stimulating area of study in the modern period. A PhD in Italian enables you to undertake a substantial piece of supervised research in the subject that makes an original contribution to knowledge and is worthy of publication.
A PhD, also known as a doctorate, is a requirement for a career as an academic or researcher. In addition, it has become a qualification valued by many employers who recognise the skills and commitment a PhD requires. Employers also recognise that a PhD indicates excellent research capabilities, discipline and communication skills.
Over the duration of the PhD, you produce an original piece of research of up to 100,000 words, in English or Italian. Previous research theses have included ‘Elements of Magic(al) Realism: Deledda, Bontempelli, Banti’, ‘A Clinic of Lack: Franco Basaglia, Biopolitics and the Italian Psychiatric Reform’, ‘Italo Calvino and Pier Vittorio Tondelli: Love in Post World War Italy’ and ‘Anna Banti and the (Im)possibility of Love’.
The Department of Modern Languages offers supervision from world-class academics with expertise in a wide range of disciplines, able to support and guide you through your research. The main areas of research are early twentieth-century avant-garde literature, twentieth-century poetry, psychoanalytic literary criticism, the intersection of literature and photography, Italian biopolitical thought, and the cultural history of psychiatry and the Italian anti-psychiatric movement. Your progress is carefully monitored to ensure that you are on track to produce a thesis valued by the academic community. Throughout your programme, you are able to attend and contribute to research seminars, workshops, and research and transferable skills training courses.
You may be eligible for a fully-funded PhD scholarship to support your studies with us. The PhD in Italian at Kent can be funded through the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England (CHASE) collaborative doctoral partnerships. Please indicate in your application if you want to be considered, and explain your eligibility for the scheme. For the full list of scholarships available within the School, please see our postgraduate scholarship page.
A first or upper-second class BA honours degree or equivalent in a relevant subject, and a distinction or merit in an MA programme or equivalent in a relevant subject.
All applicants are considered on an individual basis and additional qualifications, professional qualifications and relevant experience may also be taken into account when considering applications.
Please see our International Student website for entry requirements by country and other relevant information. Due to visa restrictions, students who require a student visa to study cannot study part-time unless undertaking a distance or blended-learning programme with no on-campus provision.
This course requires a Good level of English language, equivalent to B2 on CEFR.
Details on how to meet this requirement can be found on our English Language requirements webpage.
Examples:
IELTS 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each component
PTE Academic 63 with a minimum of 59 in each sub-test
A degree from a UK university
A degree from a Majority English Speaking Country
Please note that if you are required to meet an English language condition, we offer a number of pre-sessional courses in English for Academic Purposes through Kent International Pathways.
Postgraduate research is a fantastic opportunity and significant investment in your future, enabling you to expand your knowledge, skills and career options – all while making a meaningful impact and contribution to an area you are passionate about.
At Kent, we also recognise the significant financial investment that comes with postgraduate study, and we offer a range of scholarships for our postgraduate researchers, to help keep your mind on your studies, and off your finances.
Scholarships can be broad, or specific to your situation, background or even country – so please do use our scholarships finder to discover the options available to you.
We also have research partnership funding with research councils and government schemes in specific areas of interest that can help you take your research to the next level with additional financial support.
Find out more on our fees and funding page and discover what option is right for you.
Kent offers an ideal environment for the postgraduate study of modern Italian society, literature and thought, within a broadly European context. With the research interests of staff covering the modern period, postgraduates can also benefit from the Italian studies interdisciplinary research seminar series and the activities of the newly established Centre for Critical Thought, both co-ordinated by the Department, which includes lectures by prestigious guest speakers. The Department is also running a PhD co-tutelle programme with the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (SUM), one of the leading research institutions in Italy.
The Templeman Library has excellent holdings in all our areas of research interest, with particular strengths in modern Italian literature and culture. In addition, the School of European Culture and Languages (SECL) provides high-quality facilities in IT, with state-of-the-art language laboratories, dedicated technical staff and designated areas for postgraduate study. Italian television channels can be viewed, and language-learning and translation facilities include eight all-purpose teaching rooms and two networked multimedia laboratories. The University of Kent’s location is ideal for students who want to visit not only the British Library in London, but also the major libraries and research centres on the European mainland.
A significant number of native speakers of European languages follow our courses and several European exchange students stay on to do graduate work. We can assist with language training needs for overseas postgraduates, particularly where English is concerned, and are also involved in the Erasmus and Tempus networks.
All postgraduate students in SECL have the opportunity to undertake a Researcher Development Programme provided by the Graduate School. The School provides training workshops for postgraduate students with teaching responsibilities, which bring together students from all its subject areas. Research students gain further academic experience by giving research talks in the Centre for Critical Thought series and attending national and international conferences.
We encourage all of our postgraduate students to get involved in conferences, by attending, contributing or organising them. Furthermore, Italian postgraduate students are currently editors of the journal Skepsi (founded and run by postgraduate SECL students). Regular research seminars help to bring postgraduates together as a community, as well as to introduce them to visiting speakers from outside the University.
Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, conference proceedings and books. Among others, they have recently contributed to: Italian Studies; The Italianist; Angelaki, Modern Language Review; Revue Internationale de Philosophie; Film-Philosophy; and aut aut.
Kent's Graduate School co-ordinates the Researcher Development Programme for research students, which includes workshops focused on research, specialist and transferable skills. The programme is mapped to the national Researcher Development Framework and covers a diverse range of topics, including subject-specific research skills, research management, personal effectiveness, communication skills, networking and teamworking, and career management skills.
The research strengths within Italian lie at the intersection of critical thought and literary theory. Research at Kent is consciously conceived as interdisciplinary.
We encourage you to contact us to discuss your plans at an early stage of your application.
The Centre for Critical Thought has its origins in a commitment to critique that traverses the humanities and social sciences. Founded on the shared interest in continental philosophy of colleagues in Law, Politics and Modern Languages, the Centre for Critical Thought encompasses members from disciplines across the University with a shared interest in contemporary theoretical, social, juridical and political questions.
Members, including a vibrant postgraduate cohort, are drawn from fields such as modern European philosophy, critical legal theory, political and social thought, psychoanalytic theory, religious studies, theatre studies, film studies, art history, social anthropology, and sociology. Members also contribute to a wide range of Master's programmes across the University.
Many of the most significant European writers and literary movements of the modern period have traversed national, linguistic, and disciplinary borders. Co-directed by members of Comparative Literature, French, and German, the Centre for Modern European Literature aims to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research that can do justice to these kinds of border crossing. Ranging across English, French, German, Italian and Spanish literature, the Centre focuses in particular on the European avant-garde, European modernism and postmodernism, literary theory, the international reception of European writers, and the relations between modern European literature and the other arts, including painting, photography, film, music and architecture. The Centre’s activities include a lecture and seminar series and the regular organisation of conferences. It also works with the editors of the postgraduate journal Skepsi.
Kent’s world-class academics provide research students with excellent supervision. The academic staff in this school and their research interests are shown below. You are strongly encouraged to contact the school to discuss your proposed research and potential supervision prior to making an application. Please note, it is possible for students to be supervised by a member of academic staff from any of Kent’s schools, providing their expertise matches your research interests. Use our ‘find a supervisor’ search to search by staff member or keyword.
Full details of staff research interests can be found on the School's website.
A postgraduate degree in the area of Italian studies is a valuable and flexible qualification that can open the door to exciting careers. Our graduates have gone on to work as lecturers and language instructors at UK and overseas universities.
The 2025/26 annual tuition fees for this course are:
The 2025/26 annual tuition fees for UK postgraduate research courses have not yet been set by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This is ordinarily announced in February. As a guide only for the full-time tuition fee for new and returning UK postgraduate research courses for 2024/25 is £4,786. The equivalent part-time fee for these courses is £2,393.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy. If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
The University will assess your fee status as part of the application process. If you are uncertain about your fee status you may wish to seek advice from UKCISA before applying.
For details of when and how to pay fees and charges, please see our Student Finance Guide.
Tuition fees may be increased in the second and subsequent years of your course. Detailed information on possible future increases in tuition fees is contained in the Tuition Fees Increase Policy. If you are uncertain about your fee status please contact information@kent.ac.uk.
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Next steps
Learn more about the application process or begin your application by clicking on a link below.
You will be able to choose your preferred year of entry once you have started your application. You can also save and return to your application at any time.
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Kent ranked top 40 in The Times Good University Guide 2025.
Fees and funding
Kent has risen 11 places in THE’s REF 2021 ranking, confirming us as a leading research university.
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