PhD programme: general description

Our PhD programme trains students at the highest level in literary and linguistic studies through the integration of different methodological approaches and the acquisition of theoretical and critical tools, according to the specific competencies of the PhD Board members.

The PhD dissertation research proposals currently admitted to the programme also deal with topics and perspectives related to the field of multicultural and multilingual inclusivity (the programme includes special grants related to the Department’s “Inclusive Humanities” excellence project).

Students will acquire core analytical and critical skills – also in the field of digital humanities – that will allow them to carry out doctoral level research autonomously and to develop high research skills in order to successfully complete their PhD dissertation, making a substantial and original contribution to knowledge.

The programme is articulated into two core tracks:

• Foreign Literatures and Cultures (philology, literature and culture)
• Foreign Languages and Translation (modern languages and translation studies)

PhD programme: specific topics

Students enrolled in the Foreign Literatures and Cultures track will approach literary works, movements, and theory in an interdisciplinary, interlinguistic, and intercultural perspective, with special regard to philological, historical, philosophical, aesthetic, and cultural aspects, as well as in reference to literary translation studies.

Students enrolled in the Foreign Languages and Translation track will study languages in their different realisations, also with regard to linguistic variation phenomena. Special attention will be devoted to terminological, lexicological, and lexicographical studies, as well as discourse analysis, also in a contrastive perspective.

These tracks’ didactic and thematic specificity will be combined with seminars and conferences with a broader intellectual and cultural scope, especially related to the field of digital humanities and also relevant to the topics of inclusion and accessibility (see the “Inclusive Humanities” project).

PhD programme: career opportunities

The wide range of research opportunities and methodologies in the linguistic, literary, and cultural fields provided by our PhD programme responds to the shifting nature of the PhD job market and will favour the acquisition of higher skills that our PhD graduates will be able to rely on in order to enter an academic career, either in Italy or abroad.

Our PhDs will also benefit from other than academic career opportunities and can aspire to rewarding job options in many fields, including lexicography, translation, cultural mediation, writing and communications, journalism, traditional and digital publishing, as well as teacher education, public service within national and international cultural institutions, libraries, archives, etc.

Other non-academic job opportunities include expertise positions in cultural research centres, publishing houses, or in the fields of event organisation and cultural publicity as well as within EU or other internationally funded programmes in cultural and linguistic research and innovation (e.g. UNESCO, ONG, national and international research agencies, etc.).

Research facilities and services for PhD students

Rooms and equipment

• Digital Lab
• Co-Working room (for teaching activities and LiveLunches meetings)
• T.7 room (equipped with 50 computers)

Department research groups and centres

• ELIT “Empirical Study of Literature Innovative Training Network: https://www.elitnetwork.eu/
• DAIH “Digital Arena for Inclusive Humanities”, for the development of open-source tools and digital accessibility
• Skenè Research Centre - Interdisciplinary Theatre and Drama Studies: https://skene.dlls.univr.it/
• French Renaissance: http://www.cinquecentofrancese.it/
• Spanish Renaissance: https://www.mambrino.it/it
• Law and Literature: http://aidel.it/
• CRIER Romantic Europe: http://crier.univr.it/

Book collections

The “Arturo Frinzi” main Library and the other university libraries – mainly located in the department’s building – hold 430,000 ca volumes covering all branches and areas of interest for PhD students. The library staff collaborates with professors and researchers in order to improve and enlarge the existing collections, also thanks to the support of the University of Verona. Periodicals: the “Arturo Frinzi” Library and the other university libraries hold 4,000 periodical titles and provides access to more than 53,000 journals as well as around 100 data bases covering most branches of human sciences.

Data bases and e-resources

The “Arturo Frinzi” Library provides online access to a wide range of resources. For example: 

• Academic Search Premier (multidisciplinary full-text access)
• Bibliografía de la Literatura Española
• EEBO (Early English Books Online)
• Cambridge (University Press) Journals
• IBZ Online (bibliographical database, around 11,500 international titles)
• Jstor (digital library, provides users with full-text access)
• LION literature online (Anglo-American literature and language)
• MLA International Bibliography
• Oxford Journals
• Web of Science

Software and other digital research tools

• Edition Visualization Technology (manuscript digital editing tools);
• XML Editor
• TXM (platform for text mining)  

Other spaces and resources

PhD students are provided with a university email ID which grants access to wi-fi and Eduroam service, email and other online resources and materials. They can also benefit from the help of seven computer specialists in the department.
The human sciences buildings also host four computer rooms for PhD students (Windows/Linux and Macintosh), while the Department has two PhD working rooms equipped with computer and printing facilities.