Durham Law School

Grade 7: - £33,797 - £40,322
Fixed Term - Part Time
Contract Duration: 13 weeks
Contracted Hours per Week: 17.5
Closing Date: 21-May-2020, 6:59:00 AM

Durham University

Durham University is one of the world’s top universities, boasting a welcoming and vibrant international community. Durham is an exceptional place in which to base your career. Our strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Sciences and Social Sciences see us listed as a top 5 UK and top 100 University (QS World University Rankings 2019) with our students and our world leading academics sitting at the heart of delivering our ground-breaking work. As part of our ambitious strategy we are growing and we look forward to welcoming your application.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University. We are committed to equality: if for any reason you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on your career path, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will recognise that this may have reduced the quantity of your research accordingly.

The Department

Durham Law School is a world leader in legal education and research with a distinguished 50-year history. Our award-winning 53 academic staff are producing ground-breaking research with significant impact and are highly active in public engagement both nationally and internationally. We are a top 50 QS World Ranked law school and our research ranked 3rd by grade point average in the UK’s last national Research Excellence Framework exercise in 2014. Durham Law School is consistently ranked among the top ten or higher UK law schools across various league tables, including 3rd in The Daily Telegraph, 8th The Times and The Guardian.

Our Law School enjoys a supportive and engaging research environment strongly committed to equality and diversity. We offer personal research allowances, additional research funding through our research committee and research groups, and mentoring support to all academic staff. We have particular research strength in the areas of Public Law and Human Rights, Commercial and Corporate Law, EU and International Law, and Biolaw broadly construed. Other areas of broad research expertise include Chinese Law, Comparative Law, Law and Gender, and Legal Theory.

We are home to a wide-range of research groups including the Centre for Chinese Law and Policy, Centre for Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS), the Durham European Law Institute (DELI), Gender and Law at Durham (GLAD), the Human Rights Centre, the Institute for Commercial and Corporate Law and Law and Global Justice among others. Outside the Law School, our academic staff are active in various research groups, including the Global Policy Institute, the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Well-being, the Centre for Political Thought and much more.

Durham Law School has approximately 900 undergraduates, 160 postgraduates and 60 postgraduate research students. Our LLB entry requirements are A*AA/AAA or equivalent. Over the last three years, three Law staff have won the University’s top award for excellence in teaching and learning presented at summer congregation in Durham Cathedral. We are proud to deliver some of the best results for student satisfaction and employability among law schools – and our graduates include some of law’s leading figures, such as current members of the UK Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Government, Members of Parliament and beyond.

Our top-ranked global law courses are very competitive with an excellent and diverse student population of high ability and potential from across the world. We deliver a cutting-edge, research-led curriculum with a commitment to small group teaching through seminars and tutorials much prized by employers. Our academic staff are either currently members of the Higher Education Academy or pursuing accredited qualifications in higher education teaching. We promote both research and teaching innovation series fostering new ideas at all stages of development and engaging with best practice internationally. All teaching is supported through a virtual learning environment hosted on Blackboard, where Durham University is a leading adopter of this technology.

The Role

Applicants must demonstrate teaching the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University. The applicant must demonstrate the potential to provide excellent teaching in Media Law, but it is not essential that he/she has previously taught that subject. The University provides a working and teaching environment that is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

Teaching Fellowships offer the opportunity of valuable experience to those early in their academic careers and the University is keen to maximise the benefit to as many people as possible. The post of Teaching Fellow will involve a significant teaching load, which may extend into the summer period, and there may be related scholarship and the opportunity for administrative duties which relate to education and pedagogy.

The post is for a fixed term only, and it is not anticipated that the post will be extended beyond this fixed term.

Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 5 October 2020.

The University provides a working and teaching environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

Key responsibilities:

• Teach on the undergraduate ‘Media Law’ module and possibly another relevant module, demonstrating an increasing awareness of different approaches to and methods of teaching and supporting student learning;
• Demonstrate the ability to manage own teaching and designing, planning and writing teaching materials;
• Provide planning and teaching for Media Law and possibly contribute to a module led by others by collaborating with colleagues on course development;
• Collaborate in developing and delivering an inclusive curriculum and make an active contribution to an inclusive community in which diversity is embraced and celebrated;
• Supervise undergraduate student(s);
• Contribute to educational skill of colleagues, e.g. giving a seminar to colleagues or engaging in constructive discussion about a seminar;
• Build internal contacts and participate in networks to exchange information;
• Start to engage in scholarship (the creation, development and maintenance of the intellectual infrastructure of subjects and disciplines) e.g. develop online teaching resources;
• In addition to Board of Studies, possible membership of a departmental committee and professional body memberships;
• Student support, assessment of academic performance and provision of feedback, dealing with student disciplinary matters and complaints;
• Undertake effectively and efficiently any administrative role allocated by your Head of Department.
• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.
• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.
• To engage in continuing professional development by attending relevant training and development courses.

Person Specification

Candidates applying for a grade 7 post will have recently completed or be concluding their PhD and, while they may have limited direct experience of the requirements for the post, they must outline their experience, skills and achievements to date which demonstrate that they meet or that they have the potential to achieve the essential criteria.

Essential Criteria

• A First degree in law.
• A PhD (completed or quite close to completion) in law or a related subject, or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Experience of teaching and assessing at University level with positive student feedback gained.
• Experience of contributing to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching and/or assessment of learning, including in the design and creation of successful learning environments
• Demonstrable ability to participate potentially in the collegial/administrative activities of an academic department and/or discipline.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to engage with a range of students and colleagues across a variety of forums.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of successfully developing innovative teaching methods for the design/delivery of high quality teaching or potential ability to do so.
• Experience of successfully working in an administrative role within an organisation or department or potential ability to do so.
• Experience of providing high quality one-to-one student supervision.
• Evidence of work undertaken (or which would be undertaken) in preparation for teaching and keeping up to date with developments in the subject area, such as:
  • a) active membership and engagement with a professional body;
  • b) demonstrable innovation in educational practice;
  • c)  publication in a scholarly journal or relevant professional publication;
  • d) Attending and presenting internal and/or external seminars or at a regional conference; and/or e)

Materials/curriculum development for wider use in a department.   Candidates should have or have the ability to attain the rank of Fellow of HEA.

How to Apply

For informal enquiries please contact Professor Helen Fenwick (h.m.fenwick@durham.ac.uk).

All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.

We prefer to receive applications online via the Durham University Vacancies Site. https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University.

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

• CV and covering letter which details your experience, skills and achievements in meeting (or the potential to meet) the criteria set out above.
• Statement as to your aspirations as a Teaching Fellow in terms of what motivates you, what you would like to achieve and what your broad approaches to teaching excellence and innovation are (maximum 2 pages).

Referees

You should provide details of 3 referees and the details of your current line manager so that we may seek an employment reference (if they are not listed as an academic referee).

Please note:

We shall seek references during the application process. Unless in the case of very early career candidates, referees should not (if possible) include your PhD supervisor(s) and include references from a University other than your own. We would ask that you alert your referees to this application as soon as possible so that we can quickly obtain references. If you do not wish (some or all) of your referees to be approached during the recruitment process; you must clearly indicate this to us at the time of your application. References sought for candidates may be made available to the panel during the shortlisting process. We will seek a reference from your current line-manager if we make you an offer of employment (albeit you may have also nominated your line manager as an academic referee). Please clearly indicate on the application form which refereee is your current line-manager and indicate if we should only approach them once an offer has been made.

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

Next Steps

The assessment process will include a short presentation followed by a formal interview. The presentation should be in the style of part of an undergraduate lecture on a topic relevant to the undergraduate module in ‘Media Law’, such as an introduction to the value of media freedom/freedom of expression: https://www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook/module_description/?year=2019&module_code=LAW3461

About Durham University

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career while enjoying a high quality work/life balance. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives. The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral, the greatest Romanesque building in Western Europe. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience. Less than 3 hours north of London, and an hour and a half south of Edinburgh, County Durham is a region steeped in history and natural beauty. The Durham Dales, including the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, are home to breathtaking scenery and attractions. Durham offers an excellent choice of city, suburban and rural residential locations. If you’d like to find out more about the University, please visit https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/recruitment/ 

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.