Category: Jobs

History UK statement of solidarity with historians facing cuts at Aston University and London South Bank University

Communications, cuts, Jobs, News, Statement, Teaching

History UK is dismayed at yet further threats to History in higher education, as seen in news of course closures at Aston University and London South Bank University (LSBU). We stand in solidarity with colleagues at these institutions, alongside others whose jobs are at risk across the sector.

First, we would like to recognise the stress, anxiety, and uncertainty felt by so many historians working in higher education. There is never a good time to learn about cuts, but the timing of announcements at Aston and LSBU, coming on the eve of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, when access to mental health support was limited, raises questions about these universities’ duty of care for their staff and students.

Second, we are concerned by the apparent lack of consultation over plans to cut History provision in these institutions. Public statements outlining the reasons for such changes having not been forthcoming, making it difficult for colleagues, union representatives, and organisations such as History UK to respond. The implication that cuts to History at Aston is a result of it not being ‘identifiable with Aston’s image as a technical university with a focus on employability’ is particularly concerning, not least because such generalisations are not supported by evidence. History graduates are just as employable as those in STEM, yet also represent confident, well-rounded, flexible, and thinking individuals.

Third, we urge individuals and organisations to continue to make the case for the value of our subject—and related humanities disciplines—in response to such cuts. In addition to the need to shift false perceptions about the value of our degrees, and the prospects of our students, we need to continue to stress the importance of humanities subjects in universities that take widening participation seriously, and which have often been at the forefront of initiatives to create inclusive and dynamic curricula.

If you have ideas about how History UK and other subject organisations can respond to cuts such as these, please get in touch. We are on Twitter (@history_uk) and our DMs are open.

History UK Pandemic Pedagogy fellowship

accessibility, Digital History, e-learning, Education, Fellowship, Funding, inclusivity, Jobs, Pandemic Pedagogy, pedagogy, Projects, Report, Students, Teaching, Technology

At the beginning of June, History UK launched a ‘Pandemic Pedagogy’ initiative to help support historians move out of the ‘emergency’ phase of online teaching and start planning for a remote and socially-distanced campus in the Autumn. The aim is to produce short, user-friendly, and practical guides than can inform planning, including:

  • An overview of tools for online teaching – an annotated list introducing various digital tools people may have heard of but not used
  • An introduction to various ways of staging digital small-group interactions
  • A page on tools and strategies for collaborative close ‘reading’ and annotation of ‘texts’

History UK is seeking a postgraduate student for a fixed-term fellowship to support the initiative. The History UK fellow will conduct desk-based searches of websites, blog posts, and social media for relevant case studies, reports, and other practical guides. They will write clear and concise summaries of their findings to help inform the resources that History UK will produce and curate, and attend virtual team meetings. They will be encouraged to write a blog post for the History UK website on a topic of their choosing (relevant to the initiative), and may also be required to assist in the organisation of an online ‘Pandemic Pedagogy’ roundtable.

The fellow will be expected to work flexibly for 50 hours in total over four weeks, starting on Wednesday 17 June, or soon after. All work needs to be completed by Wednesday 15 July. The renumeration for the fellowship is fixed at £750.

Person specification:

  • A postgraduate student (MA or PhD) in History, or a related subject, based at a higher education institution in the UK
  • Strong research skills
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills
  • Ability to work independently and with minimal supervision
  • Excellent organisation, project management skills, and attention to detail
  • Expertise and interest in pedagogy (preferable)
  • Experience of writing for the web (preferable)

To apply:

Send a CV of up to two pages and a one-page cover letter to pandemicpedagogy2020@gmail.com. In the cover letter you should explain why you are interested in the role, how you meet the person specification, and what you will bring to the initiative.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 11 June at 2pm.

Applications will be reviewed by the team working on the Pandemic Pedagogy initiative: www.history-uk.ac.uk/2020/06/03/history-uks-pandemic-pedagogy-initiative-starts-today and the successful candidate notified by the end of Monday 15 June.

2020 Academic Job Boot Camp 

Boot Camp, Careers, ECR, Event, Events, Jobs

UPDATE – 2nd April 2020 – Please note that the academic boot camp has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 situation – we hope to run the event again in 2021, so please do check back for further news. 

Academic Job Boot Camp – Saturday 2nd May 2020 at Brunel University London. 

History UK is pleased to be running the Academic Job Boot Camp again this year, following its success in previous years. All early career historians are encouraged to apply, with preference being given to those who have already completed their PhDs. 

  • Are you starting to think about applying for your first lectureship in history? 
  • Submitting applications and never hearing back? 

The Academic Job Boot Camp is a free half-day event for early career historians sponsored by History UK and supported by History Lab. It will help you to structure your academic CV, hone your cover letter, rehearse your job presentation and undergo a mock interview, as well as demystifying some of the processes around academic recruitment. The experience, feedback and advice you receive at the event is designed to improve your chances the next time you apply for an academic job. 

How will the boot camp work? You will take part in a simulation of all stages of the job application process up to and including being interviewed as a shortlisted candidate. You will be interviewed by experienced academics drawn from universities nationwide. You will also deliver job presentations to other early career historians. 

You will receive feedback on your interview and presentation. You will have the opportunity to observe how others fare. The event will end with a roundtable, after which there will be drinks and a dinner(*) at a nearby pub and restaurant. 

You can read posts about the job boot camps in previous years, here, here, here and here. 

Itinerary (all locations at Brunel University London, exact rooms TBC): 

1-1.30: Lunch and Welcome. 

Please arrive at this event at 1pm. Please notify Simon Peplow if you have any dietary requirements. 

1.30-3.45: Presentation or Job Interviews.  

During the afternoon you will be asked to participate in four activities: 

  1. a 30-minute interview; you will be informed of the exact time of your interview on the day. 
  1. observing a 30–minute interview; the time of this will also be made clear to you on the day. 
  1. give a 5–minute presentation, followed by 3-4 minutes of questions; led by an experienced academic in front of other early career historians who will provide written feedback. 
  1. listen to presentations from other attendees, ask questions and provide written feedback. 

3.45-4.00: Coffee and Tea Break. 

4.00-5.00: Dr Sara Wolfson to lead a session on ‘Top Ten Tips for Securing an Academic Job’. 

5.00-7.30: Networking and dinner (*please note that participants will have to cover the costs of their own dinner). 

This event is free and sponsored by History UK and History Lab Plus. 

To participate, you will need to apply for an imaginary lectureship in a real history programme. Please read the job advert for the Imaginary Lectureship in History here and look at the further particulars for the job http://bit.ly/2o696yy, then submit a letter of application and CV to Sue Davison (Sue.Davison@sas.ac.uk). 

Questions should be directed to Simon Peplow (Simon.Peplow@Warwick.ac.uk). 

We have a limited number of travel bursaries that you will be able to apply for. We will cover part or full costs of travel. Please indicate whether you will be applying for a travel bursary, as well as the approximate cost of advance tickets, in your email applying for the job. We reserve the right to pay full or partial costs, depending on demand. 

The deadline for your application is noon on Friday 3rd April and applicants will be contacted by the following week to let them know if they have been successful. 

Perspectives on the New to Teaching workshop 2018

Digital History, Education, Event, Events, Jobs, New to Teach, Teaching

Below we collect some perspectives from participants in the New to Teach event that was held at the IHR in September 2018. Sponsored by the Royal Historical Society, HUK provided travel funding to enable participants from outside London to attend. We share some of their thoughts below.

Amy King (Bristol)

With the start of my new job looming (thanks in no small part to the Academic Job Boot Camp earlier this year!), I was delighted to sign up for the New To Teaching training held in September. The day started with an introduction to writing new courses, including an overview of the principles of backwards design and some practical exercises to get us started. Needless to say, I feel much less daunted by the prospect of writing two new modules this year thanks the session! We were also given a taste of how to use digital humanities to improve the student experience, shown some exciting examples of the use of social media in the classroom, and given some top tips and tricks for delivering lectures and seminars. Thank you to History UK for another brilliant, practical training day; I look forward to putting what we learned into practice in the new academic year.

 

Marc Collinson (Bangor)

Although I have taught seminars for four years, being offered the opportunity to convene a module for the first time had proved daunting. Likewise, my simultaneous entering the Job market after just shy of four years enrolled on a PhD forced me to reassess my employment situation – was I fully equipped? Was I prepared? The session was enlightening in helping me to consider the fundamentals of lecturing, seminar leading and course design – revisiting these in a friendly environment was fruitful and encouraging. This session helped me ignore some of the pettier concerns I had and prepare to rethink what I could do differently, it also made me more confident for an interview for a post-doc I had the following week. At time of writing, I had not heard back, but I felt more prepared for the interview, and comfortable with the line of questioning. I would thoroughly recommend others attend this event in future. Even if you think you are a good tutor, it is important to be able to reflect and reassess. That is, after all, a cornerstone of the teaching in higher education.

 

Liz Brooker (Leicester)

Having done a PGCE in Secondary History, I thought I would attend this course to update my practice now that I am teaching in Higher Education. I thought the course was very well structured and it covered lots of different teaching styles such as small group teaching and lecturing. I found these sessions useful and have tried to implement some of the strategies in my own teaching. The careers development session at the end of the day was very informative. It was especially nice to hear the thoughts and experiences of the other academics in attendance.

 

Thomas Davies (Bangor)

The History UK New to Teaching event was a thoroughly enjoyable day, raising some interesting points and encouraging thought on how to structure lessons, how to engage students and ensure they obtain as much as possible from lectures and seminars, providing a forum for discussion with peers and with an opportunity also to discuss with individuals experienced in teaching techniques. I have managed to incorporate some of the ideas in semester of teaching – together this has helped in my professional development and made me keen to continue teaching in the future!

Another post on our Academic Job Boot Camp

Boot Camp, Careers, Events, Jobs

Amy King, a PhD candidate in the Department of Italian at the University of Bristol/Bath, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and currently working on oral history project @bristoldockers, has written a short post about her (positive!) experience at this year’s boot camp:

Amy King presenting on her research“I was fortunate enough to attend the Academic Job Boot Camp five days before an interview for a university post. Having sent in my CV and cover letter, made my slides for the presentation, and planned for the mock interview, I felt as prepared as I could be for the training day. It’s not often that training allows for one-to-one sessions and advice for each and every attendee, but the Boot Camp gave us just that. No matter how much interview preparation you do at home, nothing beats having the feedback of experienced interviewers on your delivery, the way you sell yourself (and if your CV/cover letter is matching up!) and your approach to answering questions. The presentation session was equally as useful, and a reminder of how important it is to clearly communicate a subject that is all too familiar to us, but perhaps new to our audience. It was also a great opportunity to recognise (and adopt) some of the impressive presentation tricks used by peers! Thank you to all involved for their generosity in the time they gave each of us for personal feedback. I’m absolutely sure this training helped me to get the job!”

Viewing Message: 1 of 1.
 Notice

We use cookies to understand how visitors use our website and to improve the user experience. To find out more, see our Cookies Policy.