Lecturer in European History (excluding Britain) 1450-1750 CE

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. And 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 is widely recognized as a leading centre of historical research and teaching, consistently ranked amongst the top UK History departments in league tables. More information about the Department is available at History - Durham University

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 for 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 Research Institutes and Centres: the Institute of 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 Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, which brings together over 130 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 University is committed to enabling all of our colleagues to achieve their full potential. We promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment to ensure that all colleagues can thrive.  

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.  Lecturers will be supported to develop their academic careers by training and financial support in research and education, guided by a designated mentor.

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 12 months.  It is not anticipated that this period would be extended beyond the initial fixed term.

Successful candidates will ideally be in post by 12 September 2022

Lecturer in Early Modern European History (excluding Britain) 1450-1750 CE

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

The role is full time but we will consider requests for flexible working arrangements including potential job shares.

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in the field of European History 1450-1750 CE,  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 with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

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 will undertake some undergraduate and MA dissertation supervision and, where appropriate, carry out other teaching duties specified by the Head of Department. You can view the Faculty Handbook using this URL: Faculty Handbook 2022-2023: Programme Search - Durham University .

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.

Person Specification

Candidates will normally have recently completed 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 or that has world-class potential. 

Essential Research Criteria – Grade 7

Teaching

Candidates must demonstrate the development and delivery of high quality teaching that contributes to providing a world-class learning environment and curricula which enables students to achieve their potential. 

Essential Teaching Criteria – Grade 7

Services, Citizenship and Values

Candidates must actively engage in the administrative and collegial requirements of the Department and positively contribute to the University Values and to fostering a respectful environment; as well as demonstrating their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values criteria – Grade 7

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries

Professor Len Scales, [email protected] 

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 [email protected]

University contact for general queries about the recruitment process

Michele Groark, HR Administrator (Recruitment) [email protected]

How to Apply

We prefer to receive applications online.   

Please note that in submitting your application, we will be processing your data.  We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/  which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data. 

Information if you have a disability

The University welcomes applications from disabled people. We are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on [email protected] .

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

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 5mb. 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.

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.

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.  Academic referees should not (if possible) include your PhD supervisor(s) and a majority should be from a University other than your own (save for early career applicants applying for their first post).  We would ask that you alert your academic referees to this application as soon as possible, and provide them with a copy of the CV you submit with your application, so that we can quickly obtain references should you be progressed to the interview stage. As part of your application you will be asked whether you give your consent to your academic references being sought should you be invited to attend interview.
• Academic references sought for short-listed candidates may be made available to the panel during the interview 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.

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. 

Short-listed candidates will be invited to the University, either virtually or in-person and will have the opportunity to meet key members of the Department.  The assessment for the post will include a presentation on research, the submission of some teaching material, and an interview. We anticipate that the assessments and interviews will take place over two days in August 2022.

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.  A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

All new staff are given membership in a Senior Common Room in one of our 17 colleges for their first year and thereafter they may choose to remain and/or to join additional SCRs.  SCR membership offers the opportunity to participate in social and scholarly events - dinners, lectures, debates, research talks (colleges are all interdisciplinary), music and drama.  Membership includes past and present University staff, alumni, and members of the wider Durham community and gives the opportunity to engage with the College’s students. 

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. The University provides a range of benefits including pension and childcare provision and the University’s Relocation Manager can assist with potential schooling requirements.

If you’d like to find out more about the University or relocating you and your family to Durham, please visit https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/recruitment/