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Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences, Cornwall

Societies, Culture and Justice in the Past, Present and Future

About us

Humanities and Social Sciences, Cornwall is an exciting new interdisciplinary endeavour that fruitfully interweaves insights from the disciplines of History, Law, Politics, Modern Languages and Literature. Our work examines societies, cultures and justice in the past, present and future. We work broadly across humanities and social sciences, and with other disciplines, to help make the world a better place for all. We are home to the Institute of Cornish Studies.

Our research and teaching interests are diverse and overlapping. We offer a unique educational and research environment for our students and staff. We cover the core curricula of our respective disciplines, but also work creatively across our disciplines in the following areas:

  • Inclusive pedagogies: we provide and write about curricula and educational activities welcoming and inclusive to all.
  • Environmental justice: we think through environmental solutions that put justice for people, organisms and eco-systems at their centre.
  • Democracy and conflict resolution: we evaluate ways to allow the broadest array of citizen voices to be heard and to help them reach peaceful and effective compromises.
  • The making and remaking of knowledge: we understand that people come to know things in a variety of valid ways. We use this understanding to inform our approaches to both disciplinary and cross-disciplinary work.
  • Identity, narrative and memory: we appreciate and illustrate the ways in which narratives of the past and present shape our identities and societies.
  • Understanding and redressing violence and coloniality: we are sensitive to the inequities of imperialism and think through solutions to these and other forms of violence.

New Students

Congratulations to all new students joining us soon. Useful information before you arrive can be found here:

If you have queries specific to our courses, please contact us at: HaSSCornwall-Education@exeter.ac.uk

Information for Existing Offer Holders

Latest department news

Education

We are the home of inter-disciplinary degree programmes that combine our research with our core subject expertise and teaching excellence. As a department we examine issues relating to society, justice, and culture in the past, present, and future. As part of our mission we deliver unique and engaging programmes that prepare our graduates to make a positive impact in the world when they leave us.  Our education programmes are the product of collaborations within our Department’s core disciplines of Humanities, Law, and Politics as well as with our colleagues in the Department of Sustainable Futures, Exeter Business School and the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.   

Our priority is to design and deliver an excellent learning experience that is sustainable for our students, staff and the environment. We work to encourage and support active and inquiry-led learning, from the first day our students’ join us here at the University of Exeter in Cornwall through to the day that we proudly watch them graduate.  We are passionate and engaged educators who are proud of the diverse, supportive learning community we are working to build here, in collaboration with our students.  

 

Post Graduate Education

Apply now to our brand new Masters programme MSc Environmental Policy and Society

The programme allows students to develop the critical skills and insights necessary to tackle global challenges head-on; gain a deep understanding of issues like climate change, ecological destruction and environmental inequality; explore the concept of environmental justice, how it can be achieved and its benefits for environmental policy at global, national and local levels; grasp the challenges that impact policymakers at a transnational level; graduate with the skills and knowledge to understand and influence policy decisions that impact our environment and society; gain a comprehensive understanding of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, their role in shaping a sustainable future and the potential consequences of failing to meet them; and join the vibrant postgraduate community at the Penryn Campus and benefit from research-led teaching by experts in the field. 

 

Our undergraduate programmes

Languages are an important part of what we do as a Department. All our programmes can be taken with proficiences in French and Spanish

All programmes in Cornwall can also be taken with proficiencies in Law and Environmental Law pathways by passing 60 credits across your degree.

Research and Impact

HaSS Cornwall brings together diverse perspectives to research issues relating to society, justice, and culture in the past, present and future. We are an interdisciplinary department built on the identity and core strengths of our staff’s home disciplines and specialisms.

As a research collective spanning English Literature, History, Law, and Political Science, we are guided by the following four principles – EPIC – in the work we undertake:

  • Education and knowledge for and by all: our research is the lifeblood of our teaching. We seek to reflect and write about the ways curricula and research activities can be welcoming and inclusive to all. This includes approaching our disciplinary and interdisciplinary work with the understanding that people come to know things in a variety of ways.
  • Place: we are committed to positionality and recognise that the research themes we explore manifest differently in different contexts. 
  • Interdisciplinarity: we are experts in our individual disciplines with the confidence and experience to work at interdisciplinary interfaces.
  • Creative practice: we believe in the transformative potential of arts and culture to bring people together and create new ideas and outcomes.

These principles are embedded in our research across four emerging themes:

  1. Environmental Justice: we support an understanding of environmental change over time that puts justice for people, organisms, and eco-systems at its centre.
  2. Memory, Identity, and Heritage: we appreciate, explore, and critique the ways in which narratives of the past and present are shaped by memory and heritage, and the impact that has on societies and identities.
  3. Power, Violence, and Colonialism: we are sensitive to the inequities of power produced through violence and imperialism across time and space and seek to explore their origins and legacies, and how they are experienced and understood.
  4. Voice, Participation, and Governance: we evaluate the different ways that citizen voices are heard and silenced through participation, protest, and oppression in different political systems and processes of governance.

Our Research Institutes and Networks:

Our academic staff

Dr James Kelly Senior Lecturer J.Kelly@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Natalie Pollard Senior Lecturer natalie.pollard@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Rob Magnuson Smith  Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing R.Magnuson.Smith@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Hannah Jordan Pastoral Mentor H.Jordan@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Hannah Lyons Pastoral Mentor H.L.Lyons@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Timothy Cooper Senior Lecturer T.Cooper@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Jeremy DeWaal Lecturer in History J.DeWaal@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Jamie Hampson  Associate Professor of Rock Art and Indigenous Heritage J.G.Hampson@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Prof Gillian Juleff Associate Professor G.Juleff@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Emma Kluge Lecturer in Colonial & Environmental History E.Kluge@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Wendy McMahon Senior Lecturer in Environmental Humanities W.McMahon@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Alyson Mercer  Associate Lecturer in History A.L.Mercer@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Professor Richard Noakes  Associate Professor of the History of Science and Technology r.j.noakes@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Professor Bryony Onciul  Associate Professor of Museology and Heritage Studies B.A.Onciul@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Professor Catriona Pennell  Professor of Modern History and Memory Studies C.L.Pennell@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Jim Scown Lecturer in Environmental Humanities J.Scown@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Garry Tregidga  Senior Lecturer G.H.Tregidga@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Martha Vandrei  Senior Lecturer M.Vandrei@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Professor Nicola Whyte  Associate Professor N.M.Whyte@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Chris Kempshall      
Professor Kristofer Allerfeldt Associate Professor K.M.Allerfeldt@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Hannah Jordan Pastoral Mentor H.Jordan@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Hannah Lyons Pastoral Mentor H.L.Lyons@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Misan Afinotan Lecturer in Law U.Afinotan@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Tiago de Melo Cartaxo Senior Lecturer in Environmental Law t.m.cartaxo@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Miracle Chinwenmeri Uche Lecturer in Law M.Uche@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Alice Farthing  Associate Lecturer A.Farthing@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Camilla Gee  Lecturer in Law C.Gee@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Rema Ince  Lecturer in Law R.Ince@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Caroline Keenan  Associate Professor C.Keenan@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Janet Keliher  Lecturer J.Keliher@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Mark Mackarel  Senior Lecturer M.Mackarel2@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Elif Ceylan Ozsoy  Lecturer e.c.ozsoy2@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Mr Nick Pointon  Senior Lecturer N.Pointon@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Swastee Ranjan  Lecturer S.Ranjan@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr William White  Senior Lecturer W.White@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Ms Caroline Blay Associate Lecturer in French C.Blay@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Ms Maria Castillo-Ahuir Associate Lecturer in Spanish M.M.Castillo-Ahuir@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Shuo Huang  Associate Lecturer in Mandarin Chinese S.Huang5@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Jordina Sala-Branchadell  Lecturer in Spanish J.Sala-Branchadell@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Hannah Jordan Pastoral Mentor H.Jordan@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Hannah Lyons Pastoral Mentor H.L.Lyons@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Samer Bakkour Lecturer in ME Studies and Politics S.Bakkour@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Anjia Barbieri   A.Barbieri@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr David Benson  Associate Professor D.I.Benson@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Aneta Brockhill  Lecturer in Politics and International Relations A.A.Brockhill@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Sarah Bulmer  Senior Lecturer S.E.Bulmer@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Brendan Carey    b.carey@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Stuart Fox Senior Lecturer in Politics S.Fox2@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Xianan Jin  Lecturer in Politics X.Jin@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Deborah McFarlane  Lecturer in Politics and International Relations D.McFarlane3@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Shubranshu Mishra  Lecturer S.Mishra2@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr James Muldoon  Senior Lecturer J.Muldoon@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Cristiana Olcese    c.olcese2@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Catherine Owen  Senior Lecturer in International Relations C.A.M.Owen@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Harry Pitts Senior Lecturer in Politics F.H.Pitts@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Professor Clare Saunders  Professor in Politics C.Saunders@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Andrew Schaap  Associate Professor A.W.Schaap@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Karen Scott  Senior Lecturer K.E.Scott@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Professor Dan Stevens  Professor D.P.Stevens@exeter.ac.uk View profile»
Dr Joanie Willett  Senior Lecturer J.M.A.Willett@exeter.ac.uk View profile»

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