Associate Professor in Literature of the Long Eighteenth Century

The Department of English Studies seeks to appoint an Associate Professor in Literature of the Long Eighteenth Century, with research specialisms in the broad field of English literary studies from 1660 to 1789. We are particularly eager to hear from applicants who command range across the period in teaching and research, and who have interest in contributing to interdisciplinary initiatives in the ‘Transformative Humanities’ at Durham, including digital, environmental and medical humanities and cultural heritage.

The Department researches and teaches English literary studies from the early medieval period to the present day, as well as Anglophone literature from across the globe. The successful candidate will play a significant role in maintaining its reputation as a world-class department for conducting world-leading research. Our comprehensive full coverage of the subject is a defining feature of our academic profile and our international reputation. English Studies is a large department, consisting of over 50 FTE academic staff and around 700 undergraduates, 50 taught postgraduates and 50 PhD students. It is committed to diversity and inclusion and proudly holds an Athena Swan Bronze award.

The candidate will be joining a Department with strengths in many aspects of the Long Eighteenth Century, including: poetry and poetics; textual editing and the history of the book; classical, biblical, cross-European and Atlantic legacies; drama, music and folklore; slave narrative; the history of science and the senses. Colleagues are actively involved in the work of University Institutes and Centres, including the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) and Durham World Heritage Site, the Institute for Medical Humanities (IMH), the Centre for Catholic Studies (CCS), the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture (CVAC), the Centre for Death and Life Studies, and the Centre for Poetry and Poetics. Extensive rare book, manuscript and object collections are available at Durham Cathedral, Cosin’s Library, Palace Green, the Oriental Museum, and Ushaw College, an outstanding architectural ensemble designed by Pugin with not yet ful ly catalogued material from medieval times to the 19th century. A number of sites in the region (Raby Castle, the Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle, John Vanbrugh’s Seaton Delaval Hall, among others) invite collaborations on the public engagement of academic research. At Richmond (North Yorkshire), the Georgian Theatre Royal is the oldest surviving playhouse in the UK, offering opportunities for archival research and performance workshops with students of all levels. Finally, the North East Forum in Eighteenth-Century and Romantic Studies brings together staff and students from the Universities of Durham, Newcastle and Northumbria, fostering research into literature, history and culture in the Long Eighteenth Century (https://northeastforum.wordpress.com/).

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research and teaching while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages at https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/english-studies/.

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