Postgraduate Teaching Opportunities

Postgraduate Teaching Assistant vacancies 2026/27 

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. 
 
There will be opportunities for postgraduate students to work as Teaching Assistants during the 2026-27 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. 
 
Further details of module descriptions are available here. 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 introduces 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 during their degree. 

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). Both modules are assessed by an exam in term 3, so applicants to both roles must be available for marking during May.  

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/script 

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 HART0035 will focus on Making the Body from Late Medieval to the Early Modern.  In Term 2 HART0036 will explore the histories of live art in Europe, the U.S. and Japan from Gutai to contemporary practice, with a strong emphasis on technologically mediated performance. Both modules are assessed by an exam in term 3, so applicants to both roles must be available for marking during May. 

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/script  

HART0031: History of the Category Art   

Suitable for 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Taught Tuesdays in the Spring Term, Lecture 09:00 – 10:00, discussion group 11:00 – 12:00.  

This module aims to familiarise students with the ways in which the concept of art has evolved in Europe.  

HART0034: Methodologies of Making 

Suitable for 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Taught Thursdays in the Spring Term, 14:00-16:00. 

This module focuses on the experimental system of art making, remaking, collecting, mediating, and conserving. It encompasses readings and discussions centred 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. 

HART0032: Methodologies of Art History  

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 

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. 

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. 

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 several 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.  

Writing Support Teaching Assistant  

Suitable for 1st, 2nd or 3rd year Research Students. Timing of workshops and drop-in sessions TBC.   

We are looking for one or two TAs to provide supplementary writing support to our first-year undergraduates. This role will be held in term one and will involve leading or co-leading a series of three one-hour workshops, open to all BA1 students, focused on developing skills to complete writing assignments especially associated with the BA Core Course and Thematic Seminars. The TA/s will also lead a series of drop-in consultation hours through the term to enable students to bring in samples of writing that can be read in draft with a view to providing suggestions and feedback, as well as directing the students to further sources of support where applicable.  

Further information

View the full job description. 

View the application form.