PhD programme: general description
Our PhD programme trains students at the highest level in literary and linguistic studies through the integration of different methodological approaches and the acquisition of theoretical and critical tools, according to the specific competencies of the PhD Board members.
The PhD dissertation research proposals currently admitted to the programme also deal with topics and perspectives related to the field of multicultural and multilingual inclusivity (the programme includes special grants related to the Department’s “Inclusive Humanities” excellence project).
Students will acquire core analytical and critical skills – also in the field of digital humanities – that will allow them to carry out doctoral level research autonomously and to develop high research skills in order to successfully complete their PhD dissertation, making a substantial and original contribution to knowledge.
The programme is articulated into two core tracks:
- Foreign Literatures and Cultures (philology, literature and culture)
- Foreign Languages and Translation (modern languages and translation studies)
PhD programme: specific topics
Students enrolled in the Foreign Literatures and Cultures track will approach literary works, movements, and theory in an interdisciplinary, interlinguistic, and intercultural perspective, with special regard to philological, historical, philosophical, aesthetic, and cultural aspects, as well as in reference to literary translation studies.
Students enrolled in the Foreign Languages and Translation track will study languages in their different realisations, also with regard to linguistic variation phenomena. Special attention will be devoted to terminological, lexicological, and lexicographical studies, as well as discourse analysis, also in a contrastive perspective.
These tracks’ didactic and thematic specificity will be combined with seminars and conferences with a broader intellectual and cultural scope, especially related to the field of digital humanities and also relevant to the topics of inclusion and accessibility (see the “Inclusive Humanities” project).
PhD programme: career opportunities
The wide range of research opportunities and methodologies in the linguistic, literary, and cultural fields provided by our PhD programme responds to the shifting nature of the PhD job market and will favour the acquisition of higher skills that our PhD graduates will be able to rely on in order to enter an academic career, either in Italy or abroad.
Our PhDs will also benefit from other than academic career opportunities and can aspire to rewarding job options in many fields, including lexicography, translation, cultural mediation, writing and communications, journalism, traditional and digital publishing, as well as teacher education, public service within national and international cultural institutions, libraries, archives, etc.
Other non-academic job opportunities include expertise positions in cultural research centres, publishing houses, or in the fields of event organisation and cultural publicity as well as within EU or other internationally funded programmes in cultural and linguistic research and innovation (e.g. UNESCO, ONG, national and international research agencies, etc.).