Story Foundry PhD (Low Residency)

The Story Foundry PhD places narrative-based practice at the centre of the research process. It enables individuals with specific artistic or scientific practices to re-engage with critical/narrative writing in new and imaginative ways. This opens up a vast amount of possibility for new knowledge to occur across disciplines. You'll develop a PhD that has the potential to impact areas of professional practice, the arts and industry, as well as the academic field.

Our interdisciplinary research environment will provide you with the space to develop an innovative approach to research that would not be possible in academic courses which focus on just one discipline.

A key, non-compulsory component of the programme is an intensive residency period where you'll attend workshops and other training events offered as part of our wider Story Foundry programme. This will take place over seven to ten days in the UK. During the residency period, you'll meet and work with your supervisors and the rest of your PhD cohort here at Bath Spa University. Please note: that this is an optional course component and you may study entirely at a distance if you wish.

You'll also engage in year-round peer support which is dedicated to creating a space for community. We'll host monthly virtual sessions to support your exploration of new knowledge and the creation of international networks for collaboration. Optional extra support for accountability is available through writing retreats, masterclasses and an annual conference.

This programme highlights and supports the value of working in new ways by combining subject methodologies and concepts. Rather than focusing narrowly on the discipline or subject, we'll support you to focus on the purpose of your research and help you to produce a thesis that aligns with your career goals.

You'll work with a team of up to two supervisors who will be chosen based on the nature of your individual research proposal and plan. You'll also have key submission points across the three years of your programme.

The majority of your PhD will be delivered through bespoke 1-2-1 mentoring sessions with your Director of Studies.

Throughout the programme you'll have access to a range of researcher development courses and groups. Towards the end of your PhD, we'll support you to prepare for your viva and to develop a career plan for life beyond your thesis.

You'll produce performative or creative outputs as your final thesis and will be required to submit a 20,000-word piece of contextual writing. Depending on the nature of your research and the intensity at which you work, you may be able to submit your PhD after a minimum of two years; however, this is to be decided by you and your supervisors and will be entirely dependent upon your progress at each submission point. The majority of people submit their thesis after three years of full-time study.

Situated in the Research and Enterprise Department as part of the Graduate College at Bath Spa University, The Story Society works closely with other departments and schools across the University. You'll automatically become a member of the The Story Society research centre and you can select which other research centres you would like to join.

At the start of every term, The Story Society publishes and shares a programme of events led by other research centres across the University.

As part of the Story Foundry PhD you'll be surrounded by leading professionals connected to a wide range of key networks in the UK writing industry. You can select which network you would like to work with to integrate and present your work, attend and present at conferences and submit publications. Our networks include:

The Story Foundry

The Story Foundry is a hybrid incubator-accelerator for researchers, writers, artists, imagineers, and other practitioners of story and storytelling across disciplines and cultures, and between academia and the wider private, cultural, and public sectors.

We seek to explore what can happen if we apply our understanding of story and the role of the storyteller to current societal challenges, such as increasing wellbeing, supporting ageing populations, economic renewal, cultural recovery, evolving technologies, facilitating next-generation job skills, and environmental sustainability.

Paper Nations

Paper Nations is a creative writing incubator funded by Arts Council England and founded by Dr Bambo Soyinka. It's a network of writers at all levels of their writing journey and initiates creative research projects which develop an inclusive and author-centred approach to writing practice. These projects include the Writing Producers’ Scheme, The Writer’s Cycle, The Great Margin and many more.

NCACE

This liberal arts PhD programme is supported by NCACE which is a new initiative funded by Research England to facilitate knowledge exchange across UK universities. Bath Spa University is one of the four university partners working to communicate the essential value of knowledge exchange across the arts and cultural sectors.

Transnational Literature Journal

The Transnational Literature Journal is an online, open access academic journal that releases bi-annually with an adjoining annual conference. Students would have the opportunity to submit publications and be involved in the yearly conference.

GALA

The Global Academy of Liberal Arts (GALA) is one of our international partners and consists of a select international community of institutions that seeks to develop new kinds of research and teaching collaboration, to support enhanced international mobility among staff and students, and to reimagine liberal arts education for the twenty-first century.

NAWE

As part of this PhD, you'll get the chance to join the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) as a member giving you access to their conferences and resources, enhancing your knowledge, good practice and facilitation in the creative writing education sector.

There are many different pathways to take once you have completed your PhD. You may want to get a job as a lecturer, work on funded research projects or pursue a career outside academia.

Whatever path you choose, creative interdisciplinary approaches are now making a big impact on the research scene as the future for arts research. Funded research projects within academia and the wider cultural sector now regularly require a collaborative or interdisciplinary element. Lectureship posts also typically require an understanding of collaborative approaches to knowledge generations.

Graduates of PhDs within the Research Centre for Transcultural Creativity and Education have gone on to be successful academics and creative practitioners. Alumni include published novelists, Hollywood scriptwriters, film festival directors, spoken word artists and broadcasters. For instance, the novel that Dr Elen Caldecott wrote for her PhD, titled The Short Knife, was published in 2020 and has since been long-listed for the Carnegie Medal and won the Tir Na n-Og Prize.

The annual Story Foundry low-residency workshop is a remote-working PhD with supporting staff based at either Locksbrook Campus or Newton Park. Our campuses are located within historical grounds providing you with opportunities for isolated writing retreats and city centre networking.

Accommodation is not included in the course fees but when you visit we can provide you with a list of recommendations based on your budget and requirement.

The PhD is truly global and forms part of a vibrant international community. You'll have regular 1-2-1 video sessions with your supervisor and access to online group events and activities.

Learning resources for the programme will be available through the University's library and Ultra, the University's Virtual Learning Environment. There is a wealth of material available via electronic sources that can be accessed on and off campus.

Key components of the programme are the support networks and expertise available within and across the Graduate College and the three strategic research centres: The Story Society, Environmental Humanities and Creative and Cultural Industries.

Students will also have access to the University's Researcher Development Programme and additional training and engagement opportunities with the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE).