Research

Research leading to action

As well as understanding the complexities of what it is to be human, our mission is to put human dignity and human rights at the heart of how we study the humanities, as well as to ground our work in real-life problems.

Working across disciplines – new methods for a new world

Universities are typically organised according to subject boundaries and are assessed and peer-reviewed along these lines. Yet the most pressing human problems of our time lie across and between such disciplinary areas.

Essex was founded on the principle of interdisciplinarity, and we maintain the flexibility of spirit and collaborative ethos to work across these areas as the situation demands.

Real people with real problems

Our common focus is on people in positions of vulnerability and marginality. We use our research and education to engage with the most urgent challenges to human dignity, in the places where they are most severely felt.

Our academics cover a broad range of interests and expertise but are bound by a shared set of concerns and a common social agenda.