Job Profile

Core Job Information
Job Title / Postdoctoral Research Assistant
School / School of Geography / Faculty / Humanities & Social Sciences
Career Family / Research / Grade / 4 through 5
Working hours per week / 35 / Appointment period / 1 March 2018 to 31 August 2021
Reports to (job title) / ProfessorAlastair Owens, Head of School (from 1 January 2018) / Current location / Mile End Campus
Job Purpose
This 3.5 year fixed term post is to support ProfessorAlastair Owens as Head of School from 1 March 2018 to 31August 2021. The PDRA will have two main roles:
(i)to conduct research on the social and cultural history of urban Anglican vicarages in late twentieth-century Britain at ProfessorOwens’s direction. This will involve:surveying existing scholarly literature and writing reviews, conducting primary archival and oral history research, transcribing interviews, analysing research material, collaborating with academic and non-academic partners, developing AHRC and other research grant applications, making presentations at conferences and seminars, co-authoring papers with Professor Owens and other duties as required.
(ii)to support Professor Owens’s wider research and his collaborative work with museums and other non-university partners. This will involve supporting the activities of the Centre of Studies of Home (a joint partnership between Queen Mary University of London and the Geffrye Museum of the Home); sustaining and developing other partnerships through supporting public engagement and other activities; assisting in applications for research, public engagement and impact funding and other duties as required.
Although this is primarily a research post, there will also be an opportunity to undertake a limited amount of teaching (e.g. tutorials, occasional lectures, participation in field trips) relevant to the successful candidate’s interests and professional development.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
Requirements / Essential/Desirable
Qualifications /
  • Undergraduate degree in History, Geography or related discipline in the humanities or social sciences
  • PhD in History or Historical Geography or related discipline in the humanities or social sciences
/ Essential
Essential
Experience /
  • Experience of appraising historical scholarship and writing a critical review of academic literature
  • Experience of undertaking archival research drawing upon a variety of source materials
  • Experience of conducting oral history interviews
  • Experience of analysis and interpretation of archival and other research materials
  • Experience of writing for publication
  • Experience of undertaking research in modern British social, cultural, urban or religious history
  • Experience of collaborative research, particularly with the museum sector
  • Experience of developing research grant applications
  • Experience of organizing and delivering events
/ Essential
Essential
Desirable
Essential
Essential
Essential
Desirable
Desirable
Desirable
Knowledge, skills & abilities /
  • Knowledge of academic scholarship and debate on urban social and cultural change in late twentieth-century Britain
  • Knowledge of academic scholarship and debate on religion and urban change in late twentieth-century Britain
  • Knowledge of academic scholarship and debate on the changing role of the Church of England in late twentieth-century Britain
  • Knowledge of archival and qualitative research methods (including at least one of the following: oral history and other interviews; analysing written texts, visual images and material culture)
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills
  • Excellent organizational skills
  • Good IT skills
  • Ability to deliver high-quality research under the direction of Professor Owens
  • Ability to work independently and show initiative
  • Ability to organize working time effectively between different elements of the role
  • Ability to prioritise and balance competing demands and to meet deadlines
  • Responsiveness to feedback
  • Ability to writeco-authored papers for publication with Professor Owens
  • Ability to collaborate with colleagues at QMUL and with museums and other partners
  • Ability to manage budgets and mailing lists
/ Essential
Desirable
Desirable
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Attitude & disposition /
  • Ability to communicate effectively
  • Self-motivated, hard-working and co-operative
  • Commitment to collaborative research and public engagement
  • Interest in and commitment to working with colleagues in the museum and heritage sector, the Church of Englandand other partners
  • Professional attitude towards work
  • Willingness to learn new skills
  • Ability to take clear direction from ProfessorOwens
/ Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Essential
Main Duties and Responsibilities of the Role
Research
To conduct research on the social and cultural history of urban Anglican vicarages in late twentieth-century Britain at Professor Owens’s direction. Focusing on the period from c. 1960 to 1990, this research will investigate the changing role and function of Anglican vicarage in urban communities. This was an important era of change for the Church of England as it sought to respond to the impacts of economic restructuring and urban deprivation,and to shifting social circumstances and cultural contexts brought about by mass immigration, multiculturalism and the rise of a multi-faith society on the one hand, and secularism on the other. Vicarages have been described as ‘ideological households’ (Davies and Guest 2007, 110)that uphold certain models of domestic morality and religiously-informed ways of living. But they are also sites for more practical forms of ministry, pastoral care and hospitality, while simultaneously serving as a home for clergy and their families. Vicarages offer a fascinating vantage point from which to observe the changing role of Christian religion within urban communities and the negotiation of private and public domesticity by clergy and their families. The research will therefore focus on three key questions: (i) How were vicarages embedded in local urban communities and what role did they play in responding to wider processes of urban change? (ii) How did vicarages operate as a domestic space – for clergy and their families and also for parishioners and the wider community? (iii) How were vicarages represented in popular culture and literature and how did this change between 1960 and 1990? The research will draw upon a range of source materials including: oral history interviews, diaries and personal memoirs, parish magazines, photographs, local newspapers, surveys of extant buildings, diocesan records and a variety of cultural representations of vicarage life (fiction, plays, TV, film etc.).
It is expected that applicants will have research experience relevant to the themes of the project, and that research grant applications will be developed to appoint additional PDRAs to conduct research where required. The main duties and responsibilities of the role are:
  • To survey and write reviews of existing relevant scholarship.
  • To develop an application to the QMUL Ethical Review Committee.
  • To conductprimary archival and oral history research on the social and cultural history of the urban Anglican vicarage in late twentieth-century Britain.
  • To transcribe oral history interviews, analyse the research findings and catalogue material for deposition in the collections of the Geffrye Museum.
  • To develop AHRC and other research grant applications.
  • To write at least three co-authored papers with Professor Owensand colleagues based on this research.
  • To present the research at seminars and conferences.
  • To organize a one-day conference on the research.
  • To meet regularly with Professor Owens, providing written reports and verbal feedback about the research.
  • To undertake other research duties as required by Professor Owens.
Teaching
  • To undertake limited teaching activity (e.g. tutorials, occasional lectures, participation in field trips) relevant to the successful candidate’s interests and professional development.
Administration
To support Professor Owens’s wider research and collaborative work with museums and other non-university partners. The main duties and responsibilities of the role are:
  • To help support Professor Owens’s other research, assisting in the organisation of events and in applications for funding.
  • To help support the activities of the Centre of Studies of Home (a joint partnership between Queen Mary University of London and the Geffrye Museum of the Home), including attending steering group meetings, organizing activities such as seminars and workshops, and offering support for events.
  • To help sustain and develop other museum and non-university partnerships through supporting public engagement and other activities; assisting in applications for research, public engagement and impact funding and other duties as required.
  • To work closely with colleagues at external organizations to ensure successful collaboration.
  • To undertake other administrative duties as required by Professor Owens.

Working Environment
  • Ability to work effectively in collaboration with other academics and professional support staff in the School of Geography and with colleagues in collaborating academic and non-academic organisations
  • Ability to work effectively in archives, libraries and repositories of specialist collections, engaging with staff and finding aids to ensure a productive use of research time

Freedom to Act & Decision Making
  • Use expertise, experience and judgement to develop the research project with Professor Owens
  • Use experience, knowledge and judgement to support Professor Owens’ collaborative work with museums, the wider heritage sector and other partners
  • Provide advice as needed to Professor Owens on the research project and administrative work
  • Comply with relevant QMUL policies and regulations with due regard to financial matters, harassment, equal opportunities, public interest disclosure, health and safety, intellectual property and patenting, data protection or any other rules, regulations or codes binding on the member of staff.

Communication & Networking
With Professor Owens
  • To communicate effectively with Professor Owens in regular meetings via written reports and verbal feedback.
  • To take clear direction from Professor Owens about the design and completion of the research project and in relation to wider collaborative work with museums and non-university partners.
  • To respond positively to constructive feedback.
With colleagues at QMUL and beyond
  • To work closely with the wider research project advisory group.
  • To develop research links with a range of individuals and organizations central to the research project.
  • To disseminate the research findings via seminar and conference presentations and at least three co-authored papers with Professor Owens
  • To participate in the activities of the School of Geography and the Centre for Studies of Home.
  • To help organize seminars, conferences, workshops and other events relating to the research project and Professor Owens’s other research and external collaborative partnerships.

Finance/Resource Management
  • To monitor budgets as requested by Professor Owens
  • To develop costings for research grant applications with Professor Owens and other professional support staff

This job description sets out the duties of the post at the time it was drawn up. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the duties or level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot of themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post.