Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Female students in museum looking at antique boat

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Take a closer look at the teaching and research taking place across our Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

In the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, our four departments deliver courses and conduct research in a wide variety of humanities and social sciences subjects. We're home to more than 200 staff and 6,000 students from the UK, EU, and overseas.

Our research explores themes across a host of subjects within the faculty, which informs the teaching and supervision of our students. We also support academic staff to develop partnerships and consultancy activities with public and private enterprise.

We engage with the world beyond our University, ensuring that our students are fully prepared for the careers they wish to pursue. We opened the Placement and Internship Centre in 2013, and most of our courses offer placement years.

Our teaching is supported by the latest technology, with learning resources created in partnership between academics and experienced online course developers.

The Faculty is located in four different buildings around the compact city centre campus: Park Building, Milldam, St George’s Building and Ravelin House.

Explore the four departments in this faculty

Our research areas

Explore the research work we're doing within the Faculty – across areas including English Literature, Linguistics, History, Criminology, Education, Area Studies and Sociology.

Area Studies

By studying the international relations, history, politics, economies, cultures, languages and geography across specific regions, our research aims to make sense of the world.

Criminology

We're exploring how crime is changing, and our research in this area aims to improve how it's prevented, detected, investigated and prosecuted.

Forensic worker handling evidence with gloves

Development Studies

Our research is searching for new ways to tackle global issues – such as poverty, inequality, and human rights abuse – and in doing so, make the world a better place.

Education

We're working towards a better understanding of what education looks like for different groups of people around the globe, and pushing for social justice and human rights worldwide.

English Literature

In a globalised and fast-changing world, we're studying how English literature can provide valuable insight and understanding into the lives of other individuals, communities and cultures.

History

We're studying how everyday people throughout time have responded to upheaval – so we can better understand our own society, and how it may change in the future.

Young girls on a march in Eastern Europe

Linguistics

We're exploring how words are used in certain contexts, and the relationship words can have with social phenomena and identity, such as class or power.

Translators working in translation suite

Politics and International Relations

We're working with organisations, governments and individuals to deal with some of the world's most pressing issues – from reducing the impact of war, to fighting political exclusion.

Sociology

We're investigating how societies evolve and the place of individuals, communities, governments, and organisations within them – and tackling the issues of a growing global population.

Women's and Gender Studies

We're exploring past and present social and cultural issues – from women's suffrage and feminism, to the intersections between gender and religion and education, and how gender is represented in the media.

Contact us

To get in touch, please contact our Faculty office.

+44 (0)23 9284 2992

hss-enquiries@port.ac.uk