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Postgraduate Teaching Scheme
As part of its commitment to providing opportunities for research students to gain teaching experience in the course of their doctoral studies, the History of Art Department offers a number of Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PGTA) positions each year, in various subject areas covered by the Department at undergraduate level. The Postgraduate Teaching Scheme is designed to enable research students to contribute to teaching and marking/assessment activities within the Department, within a structure that also offers training and support. The Scheme is convened by the Head of Education.
Teaching Opportunities 2024-25
There will be opportunities for postgraduate students to work as Teaching Assistants during the 2024-25 academic year. All registered research students, whether part-time or full-time, are eligible to apply for these posts. Normally Teaching Assistants are in their 2nd or 3rd year of their doctorate, but in some circumstances, where new students have had teaching experience, they may be offered teaching in their first year. Students in their fourth year may also be allowed to teach at the discretion of their supervisor. While the positions are open to students from outside the Department, we would be looking for evidence of relevant experience and interest in the discipline of History of Art. Priority will be given to applicants from within the Department.
The department is looking for TAs for the following modules.
- First Year BA Core Course
Suitable for 2nd year Research Students. Taught Fridays
The BA Core Course provides an introduction to a range of skills required to study the History of Art, including the first-hand study of works of art. It is designed to familiarise first-year students with some current debates in the subject, and introduce them to a variety of theoretical positions of which they need to be aware in the course of their degree.
HART0001: BA Core Course (4 posts, 2 per term)
Arrangements for 2024/25:Type Duties Hours (Autumn) Hours (Spring) Training Departmental training & compulsory Arena 1 Gateway workshop 8 8 Instruction and feedback on marking & assessment, including liaising with 2nd marker 7 4 Prep Teaching Prep (reading, PowerPoint etc.)
30 27 Contact Attending/supporting lectures (9/10*1 hour) 10 9 Running discussion groups (18/20*90 minutes) 30 27 Module admin [emails, student queries, digital registers, following up re: non-attendance] 6 6 Assessment Marking coursework (@ 30 mins/essay). Estimated numbers, additional payments will be made if student intake larger than expected. 25 13 Coursework surgeries 4 4 Total Contracted Hours 120 98 - First Year Survey Course
Suitable for 1st or 2nd year Research Students. Taught Wednesdays, 9-11am.
HART0005 and HART0006 are obligatory introductory modules for all first-year History of Art students. In ten lectures each term students are introduced to the dominant narrative of art history as an historical development ('the canon'), and are encouraged to look at that model critically. The periods covered in the lecture series ranges from Premodernity to c. 1600 in Term 1 (HART0006) and c.1600 to the Contemporary in Term 2 (HART0005).
HART0005 and HART0006: First Year Survey Course (2 posts, 1 per term)
Arrangements for 2024/25:
Additional posts are available to support exam marking for HART0005 and HART0006 in the Summer Term at an anticipated level of 15 exams @ 30 mins/scriptType Duties Hours (Autumn) Hours (Spring) Training Departmental training & compulsory Arena 1 Gateway workshop 8 8 Instruction and feedback on marking & assessment, including liaising with 2nd marker 4 4 Prep Teaching Prep (reading, PowerPoint etc.) (3 hours p/w unless personal tutor-led presentations in Term 2) 30 27 Contact Attending/supporting lectures (10*2hours) 20 20 Running discussion groups (9/10*90 minutes) 15 14 Module admin [emails, student queries, digital registers, following up re: non-attendance] 3 3 Assessment Marking (1st marker of c.40 exam scripts @ 30 mins/script) 20 20 Total Contracted Hours 100 96 - Second Year Advanced Lectures in the History of Art
Suitable for 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Taught Mondays, 2-4pm.
The two Advanced Lecture modules are compulsory for second-year students. In Term 1 HART0036 will be delivered by our new Lecturer in Contemporary Art and will develop and in-depth study of a significant art history theme with a particular focus on the contemporary. In Term 2 HART0035 will focus on 'Remaking the Early Modern Human Body: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Cenruty transofrmations of knowledge, polictical authority and image-making.
HART0036 and HART0035: Second Year Advanced Lectures in the History of Art (2 posts, 1 per term)
Additional posts are available to support exam marking for HART0035 and HART0036 in the Summer Term at an anticipated level of 15 exams @ 30 mins/scriptType Duties Hours (Autumn) Hours (Spring) Training Departmental training & compulsory Arena One Gateway workshop 8 8 Instruction and feedback on marking & assessment, including liaising with 2nd marker 7 7 Prep Module admin [emails, student queries, digital registers, following up re: non-attendance] 3 3 Reading the course readings 6 6 Contact Attending/supporting lectures 20 20 Coursework surgeries (2 x 2 hours) 4 4 Assessment Marking coursework (36 essays @ 30mins/essay) 18 18 Marking exams (1st marking 46 scripts @ 30 mins/script) 23 23 Total Contracted Hours 89 89 - HART0031: History of the Category Art
Suitable for 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Taught Tuesdays in the Autumn Term, Lecture 10:00 – 11:00, discussion group 12:00 – 13:00.
This module aims to familiarise students with the ways in which the concept of art has evolved in Europe.
HART0031: History of the Category Art – Autumn (1 post)
Type Duties Hours (Autumn only) Training Departmental training & compulsory Arena One Gateway workshop 8 Instruction and feedback on marking & assessment, including liaising with 2nd marker 7 Prep Teaching Prep (reading, PowerPoint, etc.) (2 hours p/w) 20 Module admin [emails, student queries, digital registers, following up re: non-attendance] 3 Contact Attending/supporting lectures 10 Running discussion groups 10 Coursework surgeries 5 Assessment Marking coursework (@ 30 mins/assignment) 17 Total Contracted Hours 80 - HART0034: Methodologies of Making
Suitable for 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Taught Mondays in the Spring Term, 11:00-13:00.
This module focuses on the experimental system of art making, remaking, collecting, mediating, and conserving. It encompasses readings and discussions centered around theories related to materiality and the immaterial, makers and their tools, the workings of institutions and collections, alongside the notions of time and the archive.
HART0034: Methodologies of Making - Spring (1 post)
Type Duties Hours (Autumn only) Training Departmental training & compulsory Arena One Gateway workshop 8 Instruction and feedback on marking & assessment, including liaising with 2nd marker 7 Prep Teaching Prep (reading, PowerPoint, etc.) (2 hours p/w) 20 Module admin [emails, student queries, digital registers, following up re: non-attendance] 3 Contact Attending/supporting lectures 10 Running discussion groups 10 Assessment Coursework surgeries 5 Marking coursework (@ 30 mins/assignment) 17 Total Contracted Hours 80 - HART0032: Methodologies of Art History
Suitable for 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Taught Tuesdays in the Spring Term, Lecture 10:00 – 11:00, discussion group 12:00 – 13:00
HART0032 introduces students to the diverse ways in which art historians engage with and write about visual art and culture. Students will be asked to analyse a range of art historical methods as well as varied approaches to critical writing, with the goals of becoming familiar with recent methodologies that pertain to the visual image and developing ways of bringing critical issues to their research and written work.
HART0032: Methodologies of Art History - Spring (1 post)
Type Duties Hours (Spring only) Training Departmental training & compulsory Arena One Gateway workshop 8 Instruction and feedback on marking & assessment, including liaising with 2nd marker 7 Prep Teaching Prep (reading, design of tutorials, etc.) (2 hours p/w) 20 Module admin [emails, student queries, digital registers, following up re: non-attendance] 3 Contact Attending/supporting lectures 10 Running discussion groups 10 Coursework surgeries 5 Assessment Marking coursework (@ 30 mins/assignment) 17 Total Contracted Hours 80 - Undergraduate Dissertation Coordinator
The Dissertation Coordinator provides support to the academic tutor who has overall responsibility for the administration of the undergraduate dissertation and long-essay modules HART0018, HART0019 and HART0120. This is a relatively light role, which would particularly suit a 1st or 2nd year PhD student.
Undergraduate Dissertation Coordinator (1 post across Autumn & Spring)
Duties Hours Departmental training & compulsory Arena One Gateway workshop 6 Attending and helping moderate dissertation/long essay meetings 6 Updating Moodle (updating all documentation and maintaining sites with announcements) 4 Replying to emails, and office hours to help answer and field general questions 10 Total Contracted Hours 26 - Art in London Modules
Suitable for 2nd and 3rd year Research Students from within the Department and externally
Each year the History of Art Department offers a number of exciting gallery and/or building-based Art in London modules, which offer students the opportunity to study at first hand the extraordinary wealth of London’s architecture and museum and gallery collections. These are introductory first year level courses for non-History of Art students and affiliate students. We plan to offer up to 8 modules in the following areas: Art in London before 1600, Modern and Contemporary Art in London, Architecture in London.
Art in London (8 posts, 4 per term)
Type Duties Hours Training Departmental planning meetings, compulsory training and briefings with Academic Affiliate Tutor 12 Prep Teaching preparation, research and module design 50 Moodle design 20 Contact Teaching 20 Office hours 10 Assessment Marking for two essays/term @20 mins for 750 word response paper; @40 mins for 2000-2500 words essay 18 Total Contracted Hours 130 Further details of module descriptions will be posted online early in 2024. The module descriptions from 2023/24 are available here for reference in the meantime.
Application procedure
Applicants to the Postgraduate Teaching Scheme should consult the UCL job description and person specification for PGTA roles before completing the following:
- A completed application form which should be signed by your supervisor:
- A copy of your CV
Please ensure that the application explicitly addresses the criteria of the person specification.
Please email your signed application form and covering letter to Eleanor Day, Departmental Manager, by 17.00 on Friday 29 March 2024.
Previous TAs should also submit an application if they wish to be considered again for 2024-25.
A panel of departmental staff will assess the applications and applicants will be notified of the outcome in early May.
Eligibility criteria
- PGTA roles are normally only available to existing research students registered in the History of Art Department, in another UCL Department, or in another institution in London where History of Art is taught (Warburg, Courtauld etc.). Priority will be given to UCL students.
- Students entering into the final year of research or those in their ‘CRS’ year are eligible to apply, but priority will be given to students entering into the second year of full-time research (or the part-time equivalent) and/or those with no prior teaching experience in the Department.
- You need to be on track with your doctoral research and to obtain your supervisor’s approval. Although the result of your upgrade may be pending at the time of application, your supervisor will be asked to comment on your progress toward the upgrade.
Contracts & Pay
The contracted hours for each module are determined by the Departmental Workload Allocation Committee. Some modules have an examination component in the summer term, so availability for marking will be important. Payment is made at grade 6 (which in 2023/24 is £18.18 inclusive of London Allowance per hour).
If teaching at UCL is your second job or one of several jobs, you may be taxed at Basic Rate (especially if you take it on as a second job while already employed elsewhere).
Training & Mentoring
We are holding a workshop for prospective PGTAs on Wednesday 21 February 2024 at 12:00 via Teams. This is mandatory for UCL applicants who have not taught previously in the Department and is optional for those from outside the department.
Register for the workshop via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/online-history-of-art-graduate-teaching-scheme-intro-session-202425-tickets-808838366327
Successful applicants are expected to attend an induction session before they start teaching (normally late September each year), at which you will be issued with a comprehensive PGTA Handbook. You are also expected to attend a session on marking, assessment and feedback, normally in late-October/ early-November.
You will also be required to complete the online mandatory training for all UCL staff and to attend the Gateway Workshop at Arena, if you have not already done so. You will then have the opportunity to join the UCL Teaching Associate Programme if you wish to further develop your teaching practice and work toward a nationally recognised teaching award. For further information see the Arena One website.
PGTAs will also have the opportunity to participate in UCL’s Continuous Dialogue Scheme, which will normally take the form of a paired teaching observation with another PGTA. Each PGTA will be assigned a marking mentor (normally the module organiser) during the time they are employed by the Department.
Any questions?
If you have any queries about the Postgraduate Teaching Scheme or the application process, please direct them to Eleanor Day, Departmental Manager or Jacob Paskins, Head of Education.
Job Description
Download the full job description here.