Lecturer, Modern Art and Theory

UCL - History of Art

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. The Department’s 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 histories and theories of modern art. 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 in 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

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. We embrace critical perspectives on the modern that stem from multiple geographies and points of origin and we welcome applications from scholars attending to questions of cross-cultural exchange. Research that engages with the social, political, or aesthetic stakes of modern art and its histories is welcomed. However, we invite applications from all candidates invested in current critical and theoretical debates in the discipline, and whose teaching and research will complement and enhance the Department’s existing expertise.

Customer advert reference: B03-02880