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About us

Humanities and Social Sciences

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) has played a key role in the success of Queen Mary University of London over the past ten years.  HSS has combined research excellence with a strong commitment to growth, innovation and diversity in its educational activities.  Public engagement, partnerships, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and the generation of research with broad and compelling public benefits have all been central to the Faculty’s work.

Our academic schools work together effectively, generating excellent research, teaching and learning opportunities across the humanities and social sciences.  Altogether there are over 7,300 students and 660 staff across the Faculty, with many inter-departmental links.

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is marked by some outstanding successes – independently confirmed by impressive rankings.  In the Guardian University Guide 2015, five disciplines in the Faculty were judged to be in the UK top ten.  We offer degrees in a wide range of disciplines – from commercial law and politics, to film studies and literature.

Teaching and Learning

In the 2018 National Student Survey, 91% of our students felt staff were good at explaining things; this showcases our focus on delivering the highest quality of teaching within a diverse and inclusive environment.

Within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences we believe that collaborating with our students and working together as partners allows us to create an environment in which they can reach their full potential. We have invested in developing a wide range of modules linked to world-leading research to support our students in gaining a rich perspective.

Our students also made clear that they felt that teaching staff were available to them when needed, demonstrating how student experience and support is at the forefront of our delivery and teaching ethos.

For more information, see our Teaching Page. 

Research

In the United Kingdom's last Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment of the quality of research (2014) the Faculty did exceptionally well, and contributed strongly to Queen Mary University of London's overall achievement, placing it in the top ten for research quality amongst multi-submission and multi-faculty universities in the UK. In the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Drama and Linguistics are each ranked first in the UK, while English is ranked fifth. A number of other research areas also were assessed as having very high-quality research publications and impact.

We also have an impressive track record of attracting funding. Our research grant funding is around £7 million annually, and more than £1million is invested in scholarships for research students. Most recently the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, along with seven other London HEIs, has secured funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for the London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP) Doctoral Training Partnership. The LAHP will fully fund 90 PhD studentships per year over the next five years across the partner universities. QMUL has been an associate partner of the LAHP for the last four years.

To add to our recent success, we have been awarded  the prestigious Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarships (QMUL-LTDS) programme on  “Mobile People”. Co-directed by Professors Engin Isin and Kimberley Hutchings QMUL-LTDS will involve 21 PhD research projects (2018-2023) concerned with how the world is being dynamically constituted by mobile people in active and novel ways and how this affects fundamental social and political institutions.

Moreover, together with Kings College London and Imperial College, we are an accredited ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP). The DTP funds over 50 students per year from 2017-18. We are expanding inter-disciplinary research activity through a Queen Mary Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IHSS)which aspires to be an ideas generating hub for research across the Faculty.  

 

Faculty structure

Our schools and departments:

Faculty staff

Vice-Principal:  Professor Frances Bowen

Executive Assistant to Vice-Principal: Lada Hron

Faculty Director of Operations (Interim): Lucie Langley

Faculty Administrative Officer: June Ryde

Faculty Administrative Manager:
 Kathryn Keith O'Sullivan 

Dean for Education: Elizabeth Gillow

Deputy Dean for Education (Regulation and Employability) Dr Javier Sajura

Deputy Dean for Education (Teaching Excellence Framework and Student Experience) Dr Rachel Male

Dean for Research: Professor Adrian Armstrong

Deputy Dean for Research (Impact): Dr Martin Welton

Deputy Dean for PGR: Dr Costanza Russo

Director Queen Mary Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IHSS):  Professor Kate Malleson

IHSS Administrator: Jolanta Stanulionyte

Head of Faculty Education and Student Experience(Interim): Sarah Riley

Faculty Education and Quality Manager: Josephine McGreevy 

Faculty Student Engagement and Support Manager: Elliott Welch 

Faculty Student Engagement and Support officer:  TBC

Faculty Interdisciplinary Programme Manager: TBC

SKETCH Project Lead: Kit Massmann

SKETCH
 Coordinator: Evie Edwards

Placements Manager (School of Business and Management): Sabien Faber

Faculty Digital Learning Manager:
Richard Chantler

Faculty Strategic Research Manager: Alexandra Nowosiad

Faculty Senior Research Managers: Sarah Saines, Paul Giuliani, Sarah Jane Smith 

Faculty Research Managers: Catherine Norman, Silke Boettcher, Ryan Shand

Faculty Research Officers: Isabella D'Adamo, Alicia Barnes, Shilpi Bibi

Faculty Marketing Manager: Rachel Jele

PR Manager (Media Relations): Lindsey Frodsham

Mile End Institute Executive Officer: Thomas Chidwick

Faculty IT Relationship Manager: Sophia Eglin

Faculty Health and Safety Manager: Ross Baker

HSS Senior Finance Partner: Hannah Drinkwater 

HSS Finance Partner: Joe Hanson-Quaye

HSS Strategic HR Partner: Sonia Sookhan

HSS Planning Partner: Tom Norton 

Faculty Lead Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: TBC

Faculty Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer: Katharina Smith-Müller

Heads of Schools

School of History: Professor Dan Todman
School of English and Drama: Professor Scott McCracken
School of Languages, Linguistics and Film: Professor Kathryn Richardson
School of Politics and International Relations: Dr David Williams
School of Geography: Professor Kavita Data
School of Economics and Finance: Professor Jason Sturgess 
Department of Law:  Professor Jonathan Griffiths 
Centre for Commercial Law Studies: Professor Ioannis Kokkoris
School of Business and Management: Professor Mike Noon 

 

School Managers

School of History: Emma Yates
School of English and Drama: Lara Fothergill 
School of Languages, Linguistics and Film: Jill Evans
School of Politics and International Relations: Norman McBreen
School of Geography: Andrew Loveland
School of Economics and Finance: Michelle Restarick
School of Business and Management: Michelle Butcher
Department of Law: Luke Bancroft
Centre for Commercial Law Studies: Michelle Henderson

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