Department of History

Grade 7: - £33,797 - £40,322 per annum
Fixed Term - Full Time
Contract Duration: 23 months
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 26-Aug-2021, 6:59:00 AM

This post is full-time and fixed term from 1 October 2021 to 31 August 2023

Durham University

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world.

As part of Durham University, you’ll be working with exceptional minds, all with the desire to ask, and answer, the big questions. Access to leading edge facilities and an active contributor to the global research and university community means you’ll be part of an international and diverse network of partners spanning the world’s best research institutions, organisations and businesses. All this within the evocative and historic surroundings of the city, county and community that is Durham.

We find it easy to be proud of the extraordinary people we have at Durham. We offer the inspiration, they achieve the outstanding. We invite you to join them.

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.

Durham University’s Athena Swan institutional award recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting and supporting the development of women. We have also signed up to the Race Equality Charter, a national framework for improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education.

The Department

The Department of History at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the fixed term role of Lecturer in Early Modern European History (1450-1750).

The Department of History is widely recognized as a leading centre of historical research and teaching, consistently ranking amongst the top UK History departments in league tables. More information about the Department is available at http://www.dur.ac.uk/history/.

About the Department 

Durham University History Department is one of the leading centres in the UK for the study of History, consistently ranked within the top departments in the country by the Complete University Guide, the Times and Sunday Times, and the Guardian University Guide. We place research at the very heart of our varied undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, inducting our students into a community of historians from the outset. Our research expertise and teaching provision extends from the early Middle Ages to the present day, and we are home to scholars of Europe (including Britain and Ireland), Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and the United States of America and of social, cultural, political, economic, religious, environmental, and gender history. We believe that this chronological range and breadth opens up possibilities of transnational, transhistorical and comparative work that tends to be the hallmark of ground-breaking research in our discipline. As a group of researchers, we are alive to the fact that historical questions constantly evolve, and we are committed to developing the intra-and inter-disciplinary breadth to respond to, initiate and shape the discipline and scholarship more broadly defined. This brings us together as historians and makes Durham an exciting place to work, research and study.

As a Department, we work closely with the Faculty’s Research Institutes and Centres: the Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture, the Centre for Modern Conflicts and Cultures, the Centre for Nineteenth Century Studies, the Centre for Political Thought, the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics and the Institute for Medical Humanities. Historians play a leading role in many of these (leading one, and co-directing two more), and we are keen to build upon and strengthen our existing research expertise in these areas. Our postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers are also active in this interdisciplinary environment. We are currently home to two doctoral training centres: the AHRC Northern Bridge Partnership and the ESRC DTC.

Durham University has an outstanding reputation in the field of Early Modern history, with thirteen colleagues working on Early Modern Britain, Europe, East and South Asia, and North America. The Department is closely involved in the multi-disciplinary the Institute for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, which brings together over 120 permanent colleagues from across the University.

We are committed to developing the careers of our historians and to maintaining a healthy work-life balance. We have a mentoring scheme designed to assist all staff in developing as historians, teachers, and leaders in the discipline and beyond. We pride ourselves on the support we give to colleagues in managing their careers and in creating a positive working environment for all. We have achieved a bronze Athena SWAN award and regard this award as only the beginning of our commitment to equality and diversity, which is embedded in all areas of departmental life. We particularly welcome applications from women, minority ethnic candidates, and other groups under-represented in the historical profession.

Lecturers (Fixed term) at Durham

The role of a fixed term Lecturer at Durham provides the opportunity to deliver outstanding education and research within an inclusive and supportive environment that is staffed by world class colleagues. Guided by a designated mentor, Lecturers will be supported to develop their academic careers with training and financial support in research and education.

The primary focus of this role is on research and teaching but there will also be the opportunity to engage in wider citizenship within the University and beyond.

This role of Lecturer is for a fixed term of 23 months. It is not anticipated that this post would be extended beyond the initial fixed term.

Lecturer in Early Modern European History (1450-1750)

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in Early Modern European History (1450-1750), with the ability to teach our students to an exceptional standard and to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University. The University provides a working and teaching environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly and with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate commitment to these key principles as part of the assessment process.

In the first year, the post-holder will be expected to contribute to the team-taught level 1 module ‘Connected Histories: Early Modern Europe c.1450-c.1750’ and to offer a strand for the core Level 1 module ‘Making History’. They may also be expected to offer an optional module for the MA. They will undertake some undergraduate and MA dissertation supervision and, where appropriate, carry out other teaching duties specified by the Head of Department. In the second year, they will be expected to offer additional teaching on new or existing level 2/3 modules. You can review the Faculty Handbook using this URL - www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook/module_search - On this page you can select "List Modules by Department" and then please select "History".

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

Key responsibilities: 

• Pursue research that is, or has the potential to be, world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour;
• Undertake teaching and research supervision, and contribute to ongoing curriculum development;
• Contribute to the citizenship and values of the Department;
• Deliver lectures, seminars and tutorials at undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels, with the opportunity to teach more widely within the Department, as well as engaging in related activity such as assessment;
• To fully engage in and enhance the values of the Department and University;
• To carry out such other duties as specified by the Head of Department.

How to Apply

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

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

• A CV and covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above;
• PDFs of up to two pieces of research focused work;
• A personal research plan of 500-1,000 words, setting out your intended research programme for the coming three-five years, with some indication of possible publications and sources of funding.

Where possible we request that you provide web links to these, which the hiring Department will access to read your work. The application form contains fields in which to enter each of the web links.

In the event you are unable to provide accessible links to online hosting of your work, your work should be uploaded as PDFs as part of your application in our recruitment system. Please ensure that your PDFs are not larger than 2mb. Please note that your work may be read by colleagues from across the Department and evaluated against the current REF criteria.

Please save all application documents with your name and document type as PDF files.

Referees

You should provide details of 3 academic 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 the academic references during the application process. We would ask that you alert your academic referees to this application as soon as possible so that we can quickly obtain references should you be progressed to the long list stage. 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.
• Academic references sought for long-listed 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 which referee is your current line-manager and please let us know 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.

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds and the provision of other information (which is satisfactory to the immigration rules) which are applicable to some visas.

Next Steps

All applications will be considered; our usual practice is for colleagues across the Department to read the submitted work of long-listed candidates.

For short-listed candidates, the assessment for the post will include a presentation on research, the submission of some teaching material, and an interview. We anticipate that the presentation and interviews are to be confirmed.

In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date.

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries

Professor Len Scales, l.e.scales@durham.ac.uk 

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email.  Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing to michele.groark@durham.ac.uk

Person specification

Candidates will normally 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.

Research

Candidates must have capacity for and be progressing towards the independent development of internationally excellent research that produces high quality outcomes, including some work that is recognised as world class.

The essential research criteria for this post are:

• Qualifications – a good first degree and a PhD in Early Modern European History (1450-1750) (which may be completed or under examination).
• Outputs - experience, skills and/or achievements which demonstrate experience of or the potential to produce high quality outputs in the area of Early Modern European History (1450-1750), some of which is recognised as world-class.
• Personal Research Plan - evidence of a personal research plan which supports and enhances the Department’s research strategy.

Teaching

Candidates must demonstrate the ability to develop and deliver high quality teaching, including online teaching, that contributes to a world class learning environment and curricula which enable students to achieve their potential.

The essential teaching criteria for this role are:

• Qualification - the ability to attain the rank of Fellow of HEA
• Quality - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to deliver high quality teaching, including online teaching
• Innovation - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of, or the potential to, innovate in the design and delivery of high quality teaching or assessment of learning including lectures, small group learning and/or using technology or other techniques to enhance learning and/or assessment
• Strategic - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to engage in the design of excellent teaching programmes which are research informed and led 

Services, Citizenship and Values

Candidates must positively contribute to fostering a collegial environment; as well as demonstrating their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

The essential services, citizenship and values criteria for this role are:

•  Collegial contribution - experience, skills and/or achievements that demonstrate experience of or the potential to participate in the collegial/administrative activities or an academic Department, Faculty or University.  (Candidates may choose to evidence departmental or University roles, mentoring activity, engagement with widening participation, involvement in equality and diversity initiatives and membership or engagement with external bodies).
• Communication - excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to engage with a range of students and colleagues across a variety of forums.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.