Skip to main content

This job has expired

Teaching Fellow, School Government and Int'national Affairs

Employer
DURHAM UNIVERSITY
Location
Durham, United Kingdom
Salary
£33,797 - £40,322 per annum
Closing date
31 Oct 2020

View more

School Government & Int'national Affairs

Grade 7: - £33,797 - £40,322 per annum
Fixed Term - Full Time
Contract Duration: 12 months
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 31-Oct-2020, 7:59:00 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 global university 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.

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/ 

The Department

SGIA is amongst the World’s top 100 Politics departments (QS, 2019) and the UK’s top 10 units in the field (Complete University Guide).

SGIA attracts some of the most highly qualified undergraduates in the UK to its exciting undergraduate degree programmes, which are scheduled to expand significantly over the coming eight years. The postgraduate student community is large, at over 200 taught and research students, and highly international. We deliver 5 subject-specific taught Masters degree programmes, including in International Relations; Defence, Development and Diplomacy; Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, and Global Politics.

Our vibrancy is linked to the journals we host (Global Policy, Peacebuilding, and East Asia: an International Quarterly), to housing the administrative hub of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, and to our research Centres and Institutes in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Global Policy, Global Security, Political Thought and Contemporary Chinese Studies.

Our academic community ethos stresses equality and that we will provide an environment that supports all its members effectively. The successful candidate will join a vibrant School  providing a stimulating and supportive environment for educational innovation. All staff have access to excellent individual support and Durham University’s wealth of resources, as appropriate for a University that aims to be firmly within the world’s top tier of Universities.

The Role

Applications are invited for a Fixed term Teaching Fellow in International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies.

The successful applicant will play an important role in delivering modules at the postgraduate level on the MScs in Defence, Development and Diplomacy, and Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, in particular practice-orientated Continuing Professional Development modules. The successful applicant would also contribute to International Relations teaching.

Teaching Fellowships offer the opportunity of valuable experience to those early in their academic careers with access to opportunities for supporting the Fellow’s scholarship. The post of Teaching Fellow will involve a significant teaching load which may extend into the summer period, and administrative duties that 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 December 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 modules in appropriate learning environments at undergraduate/postgraduate levels, 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;
  • Lead some aspects of modules and contribute to modules led by others by collaborating with colleagues on course development;
  • Develop and deliver an inclusive curriculum and make an active contribution to an inclusive community in which diversity is embraced and celebrated;
  • Seek and take on board feedback on teaching and engage with others in CPD;
  • Supervise postgraduate dissertations;
  • Contribute to educational skill of colleagues, e.g. giving a seminar to colleagues or engaging in constructive discussion about a seminar;
  • 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 the Board of Studies, membership of some departmental committees 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 School.

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.

Candidates must also establish that their PhD and existing educational experience suits them to role to teach on practical elements connected to peacebuilding and/or humanitarian practice. Teaching is likely to be on Continuing Professional Development modules on practical aspects of programme management and participatory development.

Essential Criteria

  • A good first degree in Politics, International Relations or a closely related subject.
  • A PhD (or be close to submission) in Politics, International Relations or a closely related subject such as Peace and Conflict Studies.
  • Experience of teaching and examining 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 the design and creation of successful learning environments and curricula.
  • Demonstrable ability to participate 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.
  • Experience of successfully working in an administrative role within an organisation or department.
  • 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
    1. active membership and engagement with a professional body;
    2. demonstrable innovation in educational practice;
    3. publication in a scholarly journal or relevant professional publication;
    4. Attending and presenting internal and/or external seminars or at a regional conference; and/or Materials/curriculum development for wider use in a department.
  • Candidates may have, or should have the ability to attain the rank of Fellow of HEA (or equivalent for non-UK candidates).
  • Field experience in Peacebuilding and/ or development context.

How to Apply

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Gidon Cohen (gidon.cohen@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:

  • a CV and covering letter which details your experience, skills and achievements in meeting (or the potential to meet) the criteria set out above.
  • a 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 for the post will include a presentation on your approach to teaching a specific module (details provided to shortlisted candidates) and a panel interview. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview and assessment on or around November.

This is a TF post so we should refer to the TEF metrics.  We are a Silver Institution with aspirations for gold.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert