Department of Archaeology

Grade 7: - £34,304 - £40,927 per annum (pro rata)
Fixed Term - Part Time
Contract Duration: Until 31 August 2023
Contracted Hours per Week: 10.5
Closing Date: 18-May-2022, 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 global universities 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.

The Department

Durham University’s Department of Archaeology is one of the UK’s best Departments of Archaeology with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our students. We are regularly ranked one of the top two Archaeology departments in the UK (e.g. Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, The Guardian University Guide 2021, Complete University Guide 2021) and one of the top 4 globally (World University QS rankings 2021).

Our vision is to build upon our strengths as a world-class research department, whilst remaining ethical, authentic and sincere. We are firmly committed to the principles of equality and diversity for all our staff and students. We will offer broad thematic, chronological and geographical coverage, with world-class fieldwork projects, scientific expertise and a laboratory and commercial infrastructure to match. We are an outward-looking community – collaborating strategically with a worldwide network of scholars, institutions and heritage agencies and our archaeological and interdisciplinary research creates demonstrable societal and economic impacts, both in the UK and around the world.

The Role

The Department seeks to appoint a Teaching Fellow at 0.3FTE, to cover the teaching of a colleague who is undertaking another role on secondment within the University. Durham Archaeology has a strong reputation for teaching and research excellence in human skeletal remains. The successful candidate would be expected to contribute to and enhance this world-class teaching environment at both Undergraduate and Master's levels. We are looking for a highly motivated and inspirational teacher who is passionate about the subject and is able to transmit this enthusiasm to the students.

The successful candidate would be expected to teach practical laboratory classes and lectures at both undergraduate and taught postgraduate levels. In particular, we are looking for a candidate with a high level of technical knowledge and expertise in palaeopathology and human bioarchaeology required to provide lectures and practical laboratory teaching support for the MSc Human Bioarchaeology and Palaeopathology degree.

The successful candidate should have excellent communication skills and be sensitive to the needs of students from different cultural and academic backgrounds. The candidate will be expected to supervise dissertations at the undergraduate and master's level.

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 the post by June 2022.

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 human bioarchaeology / forensic archaeology and anthropology 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 of teaching materials;
• 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 undergraduate student(s) and taught postgraduate student(s).
• Contribute to the 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;
• Undertake an assessment of academic performance and provision of feedback, and signpost students to appropriate colleagues for student support.
• 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.

How to Apply

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Mark Shaw - Department Manager (m.r.shaw@durham.ac.uk) or Professor Rebecca Gowland (rebecca.gowland@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 referee 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 short presentation and a formal interview. Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview and assessment approximately 3-4 weeks after the close of the advert.

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 below criteria:

Essential Criteria:

• A good first degree in Archaeology or Anthropology.
• A PhD (or be close to submission) in Human Bioarchaeology or a related subject, or equivalent demonstrable practitioner experience which may include appropriate certification and/or membership of a relevant professional body.
• Experience of teaching and examining at the University level with positive student feedback gained.
• Experience of contributing to the development and delivery of high-quality teaching and/or assessment of learning.
• 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 excavating and analysing human skeletal remains in a commercial context.
• Experience of providing high-quality one-to-one student supervision.
• Candidates may have, or should have the ability to attain the rank of Fellow of HEA.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.