"Lecturer, Art and Visual Cultures c.1300–1700"

UCL - History of Art / Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences

About us

UCL History of Art is an internationally renowned department, based within the Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences. Academic staff have a wide range of approaches to the history of art, working across an expanded geography and with particular interests in image cultures, the materials and materiality of art, and visual technologies of all kinds. Presently, in terms of period coverage, we have concentrations of expertise in contemporary art, in art since c.1800, and in medieval and early modern art. In the 2026 QS World University Rankings the Department is placed 3rd worldwide for art history and its research was ranked 1st in London for Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory by REF 2021 (overall GPA rankings).

The Department has a large and productive research-student community, with an average of 30–40 research students registered in any one year, and a thriving MA History of Art programme. In 2023 we launched a new MSc Conservation of Contemporary Art & Media at UCL East, our campus in east London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Undergraduate programmes include a single honours History of Art degree and several combined honours programmes. As part of the single honours degree, students can choose to follow a unique degree course in History of Art, Materials and Technology (MAT).

About the role

UCL History of Art is seeking to appoint a full-time Lecturer (Grade 8) specialising in art and visual cultures, c.1300–1700. The successful appointee will have a relevant PhD and a track record of publications and research excellence in their field. They will join a thriving department with close links to London’s museums and gallery networks and a university with a vibrant and diverse research culture that is consistently ranked one of the top ten universities globally.

The advert will close on Sunday 26 April 2026 at 23:59 BST and the position will begin on 1 September 2026.

About you

UCL History of Art has a long-standing commitment to research on the art, visual and material cultures of early modernity, broadly understood. We are seeking a scholar whose work engages with current critical and theoretical debates in the discipline, and whose teaching and research will complement and enhance the Department’s existing expertise.

We particularly encourage applications from candidates invested in innovative conceptual approaches, who are able to connect their areas of expertise to larger intellectual and methodological frameworks. Interests may include, but are not limited to, cross-cultural and cross-regional interactions; mobility; gender, sexuality, race, class and their intersections; visual technologies; ecology and the environment. The role is not restricted in terms of geographical orientation, and applications are welcomed from candidates with regional specialisms in or outside of Europe, as well as from those whose work is in dialogue with London and its collections.

Customer advert reference: B03-02881