About the PhD Track

The PhD track at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem emphasizes the close connection between the PhD candidates and their supervisors. The supervisor directs the PhD research project but also has additional functions. Together with the PhD advisory committee convened for each student, the PhD supervisor makes recommendations concerning the 12 credit points in graduate courses that candidate is required to complete towards the PhD (on the basis of active participation in these courses).

The Program in Cultural Studies prides itself on offering two extremely rich courses for students working in the field of cultural studies: Critical Theories of Culture and Methodological Approaches for Cultural Studies Students. These courses form the hub of a network of intersections and collaborations tailored to our growing cohort of doctoral students. Details of our current PhD cohort can be found here.

The Research Students' Authority does not require the submission or publication of one or more articles in order for the doctoral dissertation to be submitted for review.

How to find a supervisor?

At least one of the PhD supervisors must be a tenured faculty member at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The research interest of faculty members across the Humanities and the Social Sciences can be accessed using keywords in the search function of the University website. Note that your supervisor does not have to be a faculty member of the Program in Cultural Studies in order for you to register with the Program as a doctoral candidate. Co-supervision with external supervisors from other research universities is also possible.

It is important to realize that supervision is based on a match between the candidate and a supervisor (or supervisors) as well as with the dissertation topic. If you carried out your Masters studies at the Hebrew University (in Cultural Studies or elsewhere) you may be acquainted with some potential supervisors. Alternatively, you may be acquainted with a potential supervisor through her/his publications. Students are also welcome to consult with the Head of the Program in Cultural Studies for suggestions regarding potential supervisors.

Students wishing to register for the PhD in Cultural Studies are advised firstly to write a short abstract describing their proposed research question and research directions and to circulate this by mail to potentially suitable supervisors at HUJI. When you approach a supervisor, you should expect that s/he would like to know as much as possible about you as well as about the topic you would like to focus on – this information will allow a potential supervisor to assess if they are willing or able to undertake supervision duty. It is important therefore to be proactive, investigating how your proposal can be relevant for a potential supervisor's interests and publications. In this respect, you may want to consider the relevance of your work to a supervisor on a number of levels: thematic, methodological and theoretical.

When scheduling an initial meeting with a potential supervisor, make sure to share an updated CV, transcripts of your previous academic record, a short abstract of your research proposal and a sample of your written work (MA thesis, an article or an advanced seminar paper).

It is not enough to approach a supervisor only on the basis of interest in a particular field of research in which he or she works. Typically, it may take a number of meetings until a faculty member can determine whether s/he can undertake such a project as a supervisor. During the process of establishing a fit with a potential supervisor, expect to prepare a 3-page summary of the objectives of your project, explaining the issue(s) you wish to study, specifying possible research question(s), the theoretical and spatial-historical context, the corpus/field you wish to investigate and the methodologies you may employ, as well as the relevance of these to prior work of the potential supervisor. When you finally have the agreement of a faculty member to supervise your work, you can then proceed and contact the head of the Program for Cultural Studies as well as officially apply through the Authority for Research Students.

How to apply?

At this point, applications for admission into the PhD program can be made through the Authority for Research Students' website that contains detailed information concerning the various stages of the process.

During the application process, students in the Program in Cultural Studies will be asked to complete a letter stating your research intentions. Relevant instructions are available here (in Hebrew) and here (in English).

Lastly, please see instructions for writing the doctoral dissertation here.