Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies

Description

The past decade has witnessed an explosion of popular and academic interest in the Gothic mode as it manifests itself across a range of literary, filmic, televisual and popular cultural texts.

The mission of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies is to promote the study of the Gothic both nationally and internationally, and to work across age ranges and levels of study, from sixth form to PhD and beyond.

To do this, researchers at the Centre have run conferences and symposia, Sixth Form Gothic Study Days, creative writing workshops and Continuing Professional Development courses that are of particular interest to those who teach the Gothic, or those who simply wish to take a university-level course for personal enrichment.

Moreover, the Centre has run seven Gothic Manchester Festivals and multiple Gothic networking days, as well as numerous public research lectures and seminars, often in collaboration with its extensive network of partners and stakeholders across Greater Manchester. This has helped the Centre not only to showcase its research but also to bring theoretically and historically informed understandings of Gothic culture to a wider non-specialist audience. In 2018, the Centre hosted the 14th conference of the International Gothic Association, the most significant gathering of Gothic academics in the world.

The Centre co-founded the HEIST award-winning initiative Haunt Manchester, a website and network of 200 partners that aims to curate, celebrate and reflect critically on Greater Manchester's Gothic cultural offerings, from music and nightlife to architecture and fine art. Haunt has been instrumental in turning the city into a Gothic destination of sorts.

Through the Centre’s collaborations with cultural institutions such as the John Rylands Library, HOME Cinema, Grimmfest Festival, Ordsall Hall, Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester Walks and the International Anthony Burgess Centre, members have actively encouraged the production of Gothic culture across Greater Manchester. In addition, Centre members have also collaborated fruitfully with national organisations such as the British Library, the British Film Institute, the BBC and the Sophie Lancaster foundation.

The Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies runs the Gothic pathway of the MA English Studies, and an annual initiatives such as the Gothic reading group or the Postgraduate Gothic Study Day, merely two of many opportunities designed to foster connections between staff, MA students, Postgraduate researchers and the general public.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

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University affiliation(s)

Manchester Metropolitan University
All Saints
All Saints Building
Manchester
M15 6BH