Fellowship and half-time College Lectureship in English
(five-year fixed-term appointment)
Further Particulars
The College
Selwyn College is a college of the University of Cambridge situated ten minutes' walk from the City
Centre. There are presently more than 60 Fellows on the Governing Body of the College, the majority
of whom are teaching Fellows who together cover a wide range of disciplines. In addition, there are
360 undergraduates in residence and approximately 130 graduate students drawn from universities all
over the world.
The College is located within two hundred yards of the University's main Arts, Humanities and
Social Sciences site on Sidgwick Avenue, which includes the English Faculty and Library. Further
details of the College may be found at
http://www.sel.cam.ac.uk/.
English at Selwyn
Selwyn normally admits six to eight students per year for a BA degree in English (the English
Tripos). Lectures and classes are organized by the Faculty, while the weekly supervisions are the
responsibility of the College. Supervisions are designed to supplement the teaching provided by the
Faculty and revolve around essays or other written assignments submitted to the supervisor in
advance.
The current vacancy has arisen because Dr Sarah Dewar-Watson, the current holder of the post, is
leaving Cambridge due to family relocation. The College's other Fellows in English are Dr Philip
Connell, University Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of English, whose interests are in literary and
intellectual history between 1650 and 1840, and Dr Sarah Meer, University Senior Lecturer in the
Faculty of English, whose interests are in nineteenth-century literature and culture (American,
British and Transatlantic), nineteenth-century popular theatre, especially melodrama, and African
American literature.
The Post
The College therefore seeks to appoint a successor to Dr Dewar-Watson as Fellow and College
Lecturer in English from 1 October 2012, although a later starting date may be acceptable, for a
fixed period of five years. The successful applicant will also be appointed to a College
Lectureship that will run concurrently. The successful candidate will have completed, or be about
to complete, a PhD in English Literature, and should be able to fulfil the College's teaching needs
in the following areas: Renaissance literature; Shakespeare; Tragedy. He or she will be expected to
be active in research in any area of English Literature.
The successful candidate will be expected to undertake an average of six hours. supervision per
week for, or on behalf of, the College during the twenty teaching weeks in each academical year.
The supervision of students from other colleges will often be in order to secure, by mutually
beneficial trade, supervision for students in those areas of the subject that cannot be taught
in-house.
The successful candidate will also be expected to act as Director of Studies for one of the Parts
of the English Tripos. The principal duty of the Director of Studies is to advise students on their
courses, to allocate them to appropriate supervisors, to meet with them on a regular basis to
discuss their progress.
In collaboration with the College's respective Tutor for Admissions and the other Fellows in
English, the successful candidate will be expected to participate in the selection of candidates
for admission to Selwyn. This includes interviewing applicants (mainly in December each year) and
liaising with Directors of Studies in other colleges in December and during the Winter Pool in
early January in order to ensure that the most promising applicants are offered places across the
colleges. The person appointed will also be expected to assist the College in recruiting applicants
from as wide a range of schools as possible. This will require attendance at the College's various
Open Days and a willingness to see potential candidates at other points during the year.
The stipend for the post is expected to be within points 36-41 on the University scale, currently
£25,251- £29,249 for a full time appointment. The initial placing will be determined by the
candidate's experience. Thereafter the stipend will be reviewed annually. The post is pensionable
(USS). Any hours of supervision over and above the first 120 hours in any academical year will be
remunerated at the standard rate. (For this purpose, the sum payable to the successful candidate
will be the surplus in the fees earned following the retention by the College of a sum equivalent
to 120 hours of supervision given to a group of two students.) An additional stipend is attached
to the post of Director of Studies, the sum payable being determined by the number of students for
whom the Director of Studies is responsible. There is also a small entertainment allowance. An
invitation to teach or examine for the Faculty would attract additional remuneration.
As this appointment is half time, it will be compatible with the successful candidate undertaking
other paid employment, provided that this does not take them away from Cambridge during term time
or otherwise impede the performance of their duties in connection with this post.
The successful candidate may be invited, at some point during his or her tenure of the Fellowship,
to hold one of a number of College offices, for which separate remuneration would again be made.
The successful candidate will normally be entitled to living-in accommodation if single, or will be
allocated a teaching room if he or she lives out of College. No charge is made for a teaching room,
but there is a nominal charge for living-in accommodation.
The successful candidate will be a member of the Governing Body of Selwyn and will be entitled to
the normal privileges of a Fellow, which include seven free meals a week at the High Table, modest
allowances for travel and other expenses incurred in the course of the Fellow's research, and an
interest-free loan to aid in the purchase of a personal computer.
The successful candidate will be expected to apply for any vacant Cambridge University post for
which he or she is eligible under the terms of its advertisement.
Method of Application
Applications, to include the
application form, the
equal opportunities form, and a full curriculum
vitae, with details of qualifications, publications and experience, and listing the topics within
the English Tripos that the applicant could teach, should reach the
Master's Assistant, Selwyn
College, Cambridge, CB3 9DQ by 5pm on Monday 21 May. Candidates should also arrange for
two confidential references to be sent to the
Master's Assistant by the same date. Short-listed
candidates may be asked to submit copies of written work. It is expected that interviews will be
held on 21
st June 2012.
All Candidates should note that they are responsible for checking their eligibility to take up the
post under current UK immigration regulations, and if shortlisted will be required to provide
documentary evidence to support their right to reside and work in the UK.
Informal enquiries about the teaching duties associated with the post can be addressed to
Dr Philip Connell. Any other questions relating to the appointment should be addressed in
the first instance to the Master's Assistant (email:
masters-assistant@sel.cam.ac.uk), Tel: +44 [0]1223 335890.
Selwyn College operates an equal opportunities policy.
