Lecturer in Early Modern Literature in English

UCL - Department of English

About us

The English Department at UCL is one of the oldest the country, founded in 1828, and is recognised as among the leading departments of English Language and English Linguistics in the world.

The Department offers a single honours degree which covers the full range of the subject, and two MA programmes in: English Linguistics, and Issues in Modern Culture. These programmes and our PhD programme are successful in attracting students from overseas as well as the UK and EU. The Department consists of about 37 full-time permanent staff, approximately 350 single-honours undergraduates, 80 graduate students, 30 research students and, each year, about 30 affiliate students.

The Department is housed in one site on two floors of Foster Court, which is within the main part of UCL, and is close to such major research institutions as the British Library, the University of London Library, and the Warburg Institute.

The post is a full-time permanent appointment available from 1 September 2026.

Interviews will be on Monday, 18 May 2026.

About the role

We are looking to appoint a Lecturer who will conduct high-quality, original research and knowledge exchange in literature in English of the early modern period.

The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to scholarship and to the teaching of modules covering the early modern period at undergraduate level, including the compulsory Shakespeare module and the Renaissance Literature I (1520-1625) and Renaissance Literature II (1625-1700) option modules. The post-holder will also be expected to teach the compulsory Chaucer and his Literary Background module.

In addition, the post-holder will be expected to contribute to one or more of the following first-year undergraduate modules: Narrative Texts, Intellectual and Cultural Sources, Criticism & Theory, as well as giving tutorials to undergraduate students. The post holder will also contribute to the teaching programme of the Department, and to its planning and organisation, participate in the life of the Department and undertake other tasks that may be assigned by the Head of Department.

About you

Candidates must have a PhD by the time they begin their appointment and have a proven record of high-quality research and publication in some field of literature of the early modern period. Previous experience of teaching in a university English department will be expected. Please see the job description for a full person specification.

Customer advert reference: B03-02974