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Research
Research in the School of Creative Arts covers a wide range of outputs and themes. Our staff are actively engaged in practice-based research, creating theatre works, music compositions and documentary films that explore conceptual issues through performance and other creative modes of expression. At the same time, staff are fully committed to conventional academic publications. We believe in the value of research-based teaching and student learning. The School's research activities are guided by three core objectives: Ireland & the Arts, Globalisation & the Arts, and Technology & the Arts. The School is a member of the Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity's Arts and Humanities Institute, and is an active participant in the Hub's research themes, particularly: Making Ireland, Identities in Transformation and Creative Arts Practice. The School hosts several taught M.Phil. programmes and has a thriving postgraduate research culture. SCARF, the School of Creative Arts' Research Forum convenes weekly during term time, offering an opportunity for staff and research students to present and receive feedback on their research in a collegial surrounding. Visiting speakers present research at SCARF and at other public events.
Staff are actively engaged in research networks, on editorial boards, and regularly organise conferences and other public events.
Proposals for research projects at M.Litt. (Masters by research), doctoral and post-doctoral levels in research speciality areas covered by staff in Drama, Film and Music are welcome. Applicants should be familiar with staff research profiles so you can see who might be available to supervise your work. Please be sure to contact that staff member in advance of submitting your proposal so that you can refine your ideas and can confirm the relevant staff member's availability for supervision and mentoring.
The School of Creative Arts welcomes applications from students who are already practitioners working in a professional environment, or with an academic background in creative practice, who wish to interrogate aspects of their practice within a rigorous critical framework. We invite students to discuss their proposal, which follows a practice-led, or practice as research methodology, informally with us. Please look at the research profiles of individual members of staff within the School to identify who best to contact with your initial proposal.
Disciplines
Research strengths in Drama currently lie in the field of modern and postmodern Irish & European Theatre, Theatre and Nation, Interculturalism/globalisation and performance, Identity Politics & Performance, Early Modern theatre, Studies in Samuel Beckett, and Theatre Practice-led research. Facilities include a theatre, dance studio, rehearsal spaces, costume room and seminar rooms. As part of the School of Creative Arts, Drama is a constituent member of Trinity Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute and has close links with The Lir - National Academy of Dramatic Art based in Trinity. As well as a vibrant research community of M.Litt. and Ph.D. students, Drama offers an M.Phil. in Theatre & Performance.
Film enjoys an international reputation for its research in Irish cinema and the cinemas of the Irish diaspora, as well as for its work in the fields of film theory and digital culture. Facilities include a screening room and a digital video production room. Film at Trinity is closely associated with the Irish Film Institute. Recently completed PhD topics include: White Cottage/White House: Irish-American Masculinities and spaces of home in Hollywood cinema, 1930-1960, Noir point blank – the 'dark interval' in Film Noir, and Cinematic Verbalists: dialogue integration in the work of selected contemporary American writer-directors.As well as a vibrant research community of M.Litt. and Ph.D. students, Film offers an M.Phil. in Film Studies with options to study Theory, History & Practice or Screenwriting as specialist strands.
Music has three principal areas of research: composition, musicology, and music technology. Among the staff are composers, music technologists and musicologists. Facilities include a music technology lab and practice rooms. Available expertise ranges widely; it includes contemporary opera, sound art, film music, musical performance, analogue music, Byrd, Renaissance music, and Debussy. In addition, Music enjoys the resources of an extensive Audio Archive and two music technology labs (undergraduate and postgraduate). Music offers research degrees (M.Litt./Ph.D.) in its principal areas of expertise.
In exceptional circumstances it may be possible to register retrospectively. Applicants wishing to be considered for retrospective admission should contact the Graduate Studies Office by emailing research.admissions@tcd.ie.