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.
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.
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.
Our schools and departments:
Vice-Principal: Professor Frances Bowen
Executive Assistant to Vice-Principal: Lada Hron
Faculty Director of Operations: Marie Gallagher Faculty Administrative Officer: June RydeFaculty Administrative Manager: Kathryn Keith O'Sullivan Dean for Education: Professor Christina PerryIn-coming Dean for Education (Jan 23) Elizabeth GillowDeputy Dean for Education (Regulation and Employability) Dr Javier SajuraDeputy 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 MallesonAdministrator IHSS: Jolanta Stanulionyte
Head of Faculty Education and Student Experience: Lucie Langley Faculty Student Engagement and Support officers: Cameron Storey, Tommy WhiteFaculty Interdisciplinary Programme Manager: Catherine Mills
SKETCH (Student Knowledge Exchange Through Community Hubs) Coordinator: Evie Edwards
Faculty Digital Learning Manager: Richard ChantlerFaculty Strategic Research Manager: Alexandra Nowosiad
Faculty Senior Research Managers: Paul Giuliani, Sarah Saines
Faculty Research Manager: Catherine Norman
Faculty Research Officers: Alicia Barnes, Isabella D'Adamo, Shilpi Bibi
Faculty Marketing Manager: Rachel Jele
PR Manager (Media Relations): Lindsey Frodsham
Faculty Communications Officer: James Cleeton
Arts & Culture Strategy Officer: Molly McPhee
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: Professor Rainbow Murray
Faculty Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer: Katharina Smith-Müller