School of Area Studies, History, Politics and Literature
Teaching | Research | Our staff | Explore our faculty | Contact us
In the School of Area Studies, History, Politics and Literature (SASHPL), we provide a supportive and personal environment that promotes the potential of every student. We're a welcoming, collaborative academic community, with teaching delivered by inspiring, expert staff.
Our courses reflect our expertise in research, teaching and learning, and ensure all of our students realise their potential and are set for success. Our culture is built on accountability, fairness, integrity and transparency, and we value equality, inclusion and authentic professional and personal development.
Teaching
We offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses, both on campus and via distance learning. Our programmes focus on making sense of the world in which we live and developing new approaches to better understand and respond constructively to major global, national, and local issues in politics, culture, history, identity, sustainability, and gender.
Our academic and professional staff have close ties with our local community — including employers — so we can offer our students opportunities for work placements, internships, and work-based learning.
Our teaching areas
Explore the undergraduate and postgraduate degrees we offer within the following areas.
Or read about postgraduate research opportunities on our Area Studies and International Development, History, Literary Studies and Politics and International Relations postgraduate research degrees pages.
Research
Our research covers multiple disciplines and aligns with the University’s strategic research themes of democratic citizenship, health and wellbeing, sustainability and the environment, security and risk, and future and emerging technologies.
We're proud of our research culture, with a strong commitment to scholarship and publication in both the Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR) and the Centre for Studies in Literature (CSL), which inform all our teaching and business services. We're also home to the Citizenship, Race and Belonging Research Group, which explores who is considered to belong within the nation-state, and how ‘outsiders’ are perceived and treated.
Our research areas
Explore the work we're doing across the 4 research areas that sit within the School of Area Studies, History, Politics and Literature (SASHPL).
Our research centres
Much of our exceptional research takes place within the following cross-disciplinary research centres – find out more below.
Research project highlights
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Transnational Civil Society Research Project
We're analysing how NGOs and civil society actors influence regional and global politics.
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We're researching port towns as sites of social and cultural convergence in partnership with the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
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Supernatural Cities: Narrated Geographies and Spectral Histories
We're exploring the relationships between cities and the supernatural through texts.
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The West Africa Peace and Security Network
We're conducting collaborative research into how academia and policy making can solve peace and security challenges in West Africa.
Our staff
Miss Janet Bryant
- Job Title Associate Head (Academic), and Course Leader BA (Hons) International Relations and Languages
- Email Address Janet.Bryant@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Area Studies History Politics and Literature
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Dr Patricia Shamai
- Job Title Associate Head (Students), Senior Lecturer in International Relations, and Course Leader MA International Relations
- Email Address patricia.shamai@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Area Studies History Politics and Literature
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Media ready expert
Dr Melita Lazell
- Job Title Associate Head (Research and Innovation) and Principal Lecturer in Political Economy
- Email Address melita.lazell@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Area Studies History Politics and Literature
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Media ready expert
Dr Paraic Finnerty
- Job Title Reader in English and American Literature
- Email Address Paraic.Finnerty@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Area Studies History Politics and Literature
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Dr Robert Frith
- Job Title Principal Lecturer in Politics
- Email Address Robert.Frith@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Area Studies History Politics and Literature
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Explore our faculty
Explore the other Schools and Departments that make up our Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Contact us
To get in touch, please contact our Faculty office.
Phone: +44 (0)23 9284 2992
Email: hss-enquiries@port.ac.uk