Postgraduate Study in CCLCS
The Centre
The Centre is an interdisciplinary unit. It has its own academic staff, but also draws on the expertise of other schools and sections to offer postgraduate teaching and supervision in three main areas of work: comparative literature, cultural studies and critical theory. All the Centre's staff are active researchers and many have have internationally recognised research profiles.
The Centre is one of Australia’s leading research centres in the Humanities. It specialises in research in three defined areas:
1) Literary and Cultural Theory
2) Comparative Literature
3) Continental Philosophy.
Postgraduate Scholarships
Scholarships for Research on Utopia, Dystopia and Science Fiction
The Centre invites applicants for ARC Discovery Postgraduate Research Awards (for either PhD or MA candidates) to undertake research on utopia, dystopia and science fiction. Possible research projects include: utopia, dystopia and theology in Bloch, Benjamin and Adorno; post-structuralism and utopianism from Deleuze to Negri; utopia and science fiction in Jameson and Williams; culture and ecology in the Australian utopian imagination; myth, religion and utopia.
Scholarship: Tax-free stipend of $20,007 per annum (2008) plus project support funding. Applicants must have a First Class Honours degree in a relevant discipline or equivalent qualifications, and an interest in the research area.
Top Up Scholarships
Beginning in 2009 the Centre will offer several top up scholarships of $10,000 per annum to students who commence work on a PhD in the Centre and who hold an APA. These will be offered to students who want to work with the Centre’s leading research scholars on nominated topics. Topics and supervisor are listed below.
Professor Andrew Benjamin:
1) Walter Benjamin.
2) Philosophy and the Visual Arts, epecially work on painting.
3) Philosophical aspects of 19th and 20th Century Jewish Thought, especially Rosenzweig and Levinas.
Professor Andrew Milner
1) Pierre Bourdieu, Fredric Jameson, Raymond Williams.
2) Utopia, Dystopia and Science Fiction.
3) Sociological Approaches to Literature, especially Cultural Materialism.
Associate Professor Kate Rigby:
1) Ecophilosophy, Ecocriticism and Ecotheology.
2) Romanticism in European Literature.
3) German Literature and Critical Theory.
Dr Alison Ross:
1) Rancière’s Critique of Modernism.
2) Kant’s Moral and Aesthetic Philosophy.
3) Michel Foucault.
For further general information contact Professor Andrew Milner Andrew.milner@arts.monash.ed.au.
For further information on topics please contact the supervisor directly.
Postgraduate Courses
The Centre offers the following postgraduate courses: a PhD by Research, a PhD by Research and Coursework, an MA in Critical Theory and an MQual in Critical Theory. There are about 50 graduate students enrolled in these courses, working on a wide range of topics. See the links before for more information:
- PhD Courses
- MA Courses
- Scholarships
- Staff teaching in the Centre
- Current thesis topics
- Areas of major research activity
Research Seminar
The Centre runs a regular research seminar, normally held on Wednesday afternoons, 3.00-5.00, in Room SG02, during the semester. The seminar has played host to a wide range of distinguished scholars from Australia and overseas, including: Alain Badiou, Ian Buchanan, Simon Critchley, Claire Colebrook, Jacques Derrida, Simon During, Terry Eagleton, Anthony Elliott, John Frow, Elizabeth Grosz, Sneja Gunew, Geoffrey Hartmann, Agnes Heller, Fredric Jameson, Michle Le Doeuff, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Sigrid Weigel. Postgraduate students are expected to participate in the research seminar.
Colloquy
The Schools of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics and Literary, Visual and Performance Studies host a web-based refereed journal Colloquy , which is run by a small editorial team of postgraduate students. Centre students are active in running the journal.
Postgraduate Colloquium
The Centre organises an annual Postgraduate Colloquium, normally held towards the end of the year, at which postgraduate students from the Centre, the School and the wider Faculty are able to share ideas and expertise.
Other events for postgraduates are organised by the Centre or by postgraduates themselves from time to time. The Faculty and University also provide a number of courses and seminars relevant to postgraduates, some compulsory, some optional.
Postgraduate students are regularly emailed notices of conferences, seminars, papers and events which might be of interest to them.
Postgraduate Student Representatives
The Centre has Postgraduate Student Representatives who can attend Centre Staff Meetings. In 2007 the postgraduate representatives to the CLCS staff meeting are Geoffrey Berry and Julia Vassilieva.
Future Careers
For positions that graduates from the Centre have gone on to, see recent graduates.
Graduate Coordinator
Professor
Andrew Milner
Room W815
phone +61
3 9905 2979
Executive Officer
Ms
Gail Ward
Room W817
phone +61 3
9905 2208
Inquiries
Inquiries about applying for a place or scholarship should be directed to the Graduate Coordinator or the Executive Officer. Contact details are available on the Centre's contact page.