Position Title: Lecturer (CAS/ELL), Humanities

Requisition ID: 897

Department: Faculty of Humanities

City: Cape Town

LECTURER

The Department of English Literary Studies (ELS) in collaboration with the Centre for African Studies (CAS)

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

The Department of English Literary Studies (ELS) in collaboration with the Centre of African Studies (CAS) at the University of Cape Town has an opening for a position at Lecturer level. This will be a joint post linking these two parts of the Humanities Faculty and fostering inter-disciplinary collaboration, with a focus on African literary studies and its intellectual histories. Teaching, administration, supervision and research will be equally split between ELS and CAS.

We invite applications for appointment to this full-time, permanent position, with a starting date as soon as possible.

The Department of English Literary Studies is home to a wide range of creative and critical engagements in literary and cultural studies. Our curriculum centralises South African and African literatures while remaining in constant dialogue with global intellectual traditions, with emphasis on literary and epistemological interventions from the global South. We also seek to strengthen our thriving research culture and to continue to build a profile as a leading centre of South African, African, and diasporic literary and cultural studies.

The Centre for African Studies, which forms part of the department of African Studies and Linguistics (ASL), has been formative to the debates on curriculum transformation and the project of deracializing and decolonizing the university in Africa: by problematizing the study of Africa, and by offering new courses and curricula that are available across disciplines and faculties. The Centre now has strengths in citizenship and political violence, African intellectual traditions, land and agrarian studies, critical heritage studies, and in the literary and visual aspects of the study of Africa. CAS seeks to build on this strength in literary and aesthetic studies, and to appoint a scholar who can provide intellectual leadership, teaching and supervision in these areas.

For this position, we seek applicants with research and teaching expertise that will help ELS and CAS to deepen their historical and geographical reach through a focus on literatures and archives from a range of centres of cultural production within the African continent, and in that way expand their competencies in contemporary literary studies. We seek candidates whose scholarship engages with current debates relating to migration, diaspora and transnationalism across a range of contexts. We particularly seek to attract candidates with research and teaching expertise beyond the South African literary system.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE JOB:

A completed PhD Degree, with disciplinary experience in literatures from the African continent beyond South Africa.
Evidence of engagement with theoretical and historical debates in African Studies.
The ability to teach across a broad range of literary and cultural studies.
Experience of teaching at undergraduate level.
Evidence of an emerging research record that shows theoretical and historical competencies to support the research, and that shows the potential towards publication.

THE FOLLOWING WILL BE ADVANTAGEOUS:

Experience of supervision at postgraduate level.
Experience of departmental administration/management, or management of projects, or tutor-team building.
Experience convening large courses and postgraduate programmes.
A strong willingness to contribute to strengthening support for students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, and to creating an intellectual climate in which research, teaching, and debate are able to flourish.
Evidence of participation in global scholarly and public-facing institutional networks.
Evidence of successful fundraising for research projects.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Postgraduate seminars to be taught may include ‘Modern African Literature’ (ELS) and ‘Representations of Africa’ (CAS).
Supervision of Honours, MA and PhD dissertations.
Contributing to the research and publication output of both ELS and CAS.
Contributing to ELS, CAS and faculty administration and leadership.
Course convening.
Social responsiveness/public engagement.

The annual cost of employment for 2024 including benefits is R901 517

To apply, please visit the UCT Jobs Site (www.jobs.uct.ac.za). View (For Internal Applicants) and View (For external applicants) to create a candidate profile and to submit your application.

Please complete/attach the following to your profile before submitting your application:

Curriculum Vitae (CV).
A letter of motivation that speaks to the requirements of the role and identifies the ways in which your teaching and research interests address the above needs of both English Literary Studies and African Studies.
A scholarly writing sample (5000 – 8000 words)
Three referee names which must include their title and name, position details, relationship to you, their e-mail address and telephone number.

An application which does not comply with the above requirements will be regarded as incomplete.

Shortlisted candidates may be required to undergo competency assessments and relevant background checks. References may be requested by UCT at any stage of the selection process.

Any enquiries for the position to be addressed to Mr Ian Petersen at Ian.Petersen@uct.ac.za or 021 650 2163

Closing date: 13th December 2024

Website: www.humanities.uct.ac.za

UCT is a designated employer and is committed to the pursuit of excellence, diversity, and redress in achieving its equity targets in accordance with the Employment Equity Plan of the University and its Employment Equity goals and targets. Preference will be given to candidates from the under-represented designated groups. Our Employment Equity Policy is available at https://uct.ac.za/media/9482.

UCT reserves the right not to appoint.