Accessibility statement

About the Centre

The Centre for Modern Studies at York (CModS) is a vibrant research centre dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the period from 1830 to the present.

The work of CModS offers a panorama of Arts and Humanities Research in the culture and society of the last two centuries up to the contemporary - with key collaborators in the Social and Natural Sciences and Medical Humanities. Its conceptual reach covers many areas of cultural activity, related to four overarching themes: Sound, Vision, Word, Society.

Our innovative, world-class research thus stretches across the fields of literature, film, history, politics, philosophy, sociology, music, media studies, performance studies and the fine and applied arts. Along with Arts and Humanities in York its engagement with Contemporary Creative Arts continues to evolve.

CModS was launched in 2009 and is located in the Humanities Research Centre within Heslington Hall, where it has hosted numerous research events

The Director of CModS is Professor Matthew Campbell.

Research funding

Each year, CModS funds research strands directed by staff from participating departments, which provide a basis for developing interdisciplinary initiatives and the potential for large-scale external funding bids. The Centre also offers a number of small project grants each year to postgraduate students and to staff who wish to develop interdisciplinary research connections. There is also a small amount reserved for Rapid Response Funding.

Interdisciplinary collaboration

The Centre is funded directly by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and receives particular support from the departments of History, English and History of Art, but has a desire to foster collaborations across the humanities and with the social sciences and natural sciences.

The postgraduate activities and the research developed at CModS promote a wide variety of theoretical, methodological and historiographical perspectives, and connect Victorianists, Modernists, Post-Modernists and scholars of the contemporary.