Download School of Social Science and Public Policy

FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY
TEACHING FELLOW IN SOCIOLOGY
(0.75 FTE, Fixed Term for 12 months)
Grade 7, Starting Salary: £31,656 (pro-rata)
Further Particulars
Applications are invited for the post of Teaching Fellow in Sociology (fixed-term, 0.75
FTE) from 3rd January 2017 until 31st December 2017. You will be joining a highly
successful teaching and research group located in the School of Social Science and
Public Policy in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The School is
responsible for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes in Sociology,
Criminology, Education, and Social Work. Research activities are organised through
the Centre for Social Policy. The University itself has a strong track record of
innovation in higher education, with a major emphasis on encouraging links across
the major academic disciplines.
The University
Keele was the first new United Kingdom University of the 20th Century, established
with degree giving powers in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire.
University status, as the University of Keele, followed in 1962. The University was
founded to promote interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary scholarship and makes a
distinctive contribution to higher education by emphasising the strength of a broad
educational programme. It is the UK’s largest integrated campus university and
occupies a 617 acre estate, with Grade II registration by English Heritage, the central
feature of which is 19th Century Keele Hall.
Keele’s campus estate is one of the exceptional features of the University, and is
integral to the quality of experience enjoyed by students, staff and visitors alike. A
one hundred acre area of the estate, adjacent to Keele Hall, has designated
conservation status confirmed by Newcastle Borough Council. Many architectural
and landscape features dating from 19th century are of regional significance. Keele
has built on its pioneering campus role by maintaining the highest proportion, around
70%, of full-time students in campus residence, of any university in the country. Oncampus housing is also provided for a large proportion of academic staff. It is
situated in outstanding countryside about two miles west of Newcastle-under-Lyme,
and about six miles west of the centre of the Potteries.
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
The School of Social Science and Public Policy is one of five Schools in the Faculty
of Humanities & Social Sciences. The Faculty was created in 2004 and comprises:
Keele Management School; the Schools of Law; Politics, Philosophy, International
Relations and Environment; Social Science and Public Policy; and the School of
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Humanities. Schools are responsible for delivering undergraduate and taught
postgraduate programmes. The Faculty is also home to eight Research Centres
charged with generating and supporting research, enterprise and knowledge transfer
activities, hosting visiting academics, organising research seminars and conferences,
and for the training and supervision of research students.
School of Social Science and Public Policy
The School of Social Science and Public Policy is a new School, formed in 2015,
which draws upon a long and distinguished heritage. The disciplines of Criminology,
Education, Social Work and Sociology are highly respected internationally for our
world leading research and the quality of our education, which is both theoretically
innovative and relevant to application in the real world. Keele was the first university
in Britain to offer an undergraduate award in Criminology (1991), and in Education
(1994), while Social Work and Sociology have been taught at Keele for over 50
years. Our social work programmes are approved by the Health Care and
Professions Council (HCPC) and were endorsed by The College of Social Work
(TCSW).
The School is home to approximately 600 undergraduate students, 200 postgraduate
students and 120 doctoral candidates and 50 academic and professional staff. Staff
profiles can be found at http://www.keele.ac.uk/sspp/. We pride ourselves in the
quality of our teaching and the support we provide to students at all levels of study,
undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral. Staff are regularly nominated for
University Teaching Excellence Awards, and colleagues have won awards on
multiple occasions. Our satisfaction scores in the National Student Survey are
consistently high and show that our students enjoy what they do and value the
support they are given. We perform strongly in all the major league tables.
At postgraduate level the School runs an MRes in Social Science Research Methods,
an MA in Criminology and Criminal Justice, plus a range of other programmes.
Individual members of staff in Sociology make significant contributions to the dual
honours principal programme Media, Communications & Culture and an MA in
Global Media and Culture offered by the School of Humanities. The Sociology Group
is currently developing a taught Masters in Psycho-Social Studies.
For further information about the School of Social Science and Public Policy at Keele,
please visit our website (http://www.keele.ac.uk/sspp/) and the Sociology blogspot
(http://socandcrimatkeele.blogspot.co.uk/).
In addition to their teaching work, all members of staff in Sociology are members of
the Centre for Social Policy (CSP) and work collaboratively with colleagues in other
parts of the Faculty.
Sociology at Keele
Keele University has a distinguished history in the field of Sociology. The programme
has been taught at the University for over fifty years and historically has been
distinctive for its cultural/social anthropological perspective and its commitment to
testing the boundaries of the field through constant innovation. This cultural focus
and commitment to innovation remains central to the Keele approach to Sociology
today where topics such as global cultures, urbanism, consumption, and everyday
life are key staff interests.
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Teaching programmes
There are over 200 students studying Sociology in 2015/2016. Reflecting the history
of innovation in Sociology teaching at Keele, the undergraduate programme
comprises a range of core and research-led modules that represent the current state
of the discipline. Research-led modules at level 5 and level 6 have included electives
focused on home and material culture, parenting, psychoanalysis, medical sociology,
and digital cultures. As well as offering a Sociology route through the MRes Social
Science Research Methods, the Sociology Group also contribute to the
undergraduate programme in Media, Communications, and Culture and co-teaches
the Masters in Global Media and Culture with colleagues in Humanities. These
programmes recruit internationally and reflect the Sociology team’s distinctive
strength in the field of cultural analysis.
The Sociology teaching team currently consists of nine members of staff: one reader,
five senior lecturers and three lecturers. The Group provides innovative, researchled, student-focused teaching in Sociology as part of Keele’s wider commitment to
providing a high quality student experience. Sociology achieved an overall result of
93% for student satisfaction in the most recent NSS (2014/2015), which is above the
sector average for Sociology of 87%. Sociology members of staff are regularly
nominated for Keele Excellence in Learning and Teaching and Student Union
Awards. A full staff list with details of teaching and research interests is appended to
these further particulars.
Research activity
Research in Sociology is conducted in the Centre for Social Policy in the Faculty of
Humanities and Social Sciences. The Centre includes social scientists working in all
three faculties within the University. It brings together a number of research active
groups covering research in the fields of Sociology, Human Geography, Criminology,
Education, Health Policy, Social Gerontology and Social Work.
Current research activity within the Centre takes place within five main clusters:
Ageing and Intergenerational Relations; Children, Families, and Society;
Communities, Identities, and Mobilities; Crime, Social Justice, and Policing; and
Public Policy. Research in the Centre is supported through major funding from the
British Academy, ESRC, AHRC, MRC, Leverhulme Trust and the Higher Education
Academy. In the 2014 REF Keele Social Policy scored very highly for Environment,
with 100% graded as internationally excellent (3*). 74% of overall research was
judged world leading or internationally excellent in quality (4* and 3*) and it ranked
15th in the country for its ‘Research Power’.
Sociological research within the Centre for Social Policy is reflected in two broad
research themes:


Cultural Analysis
Families, Communities, and Well-Being
Within these broad themes, we recognise the need to constantly innovate and
challenge disciplinary boundaries. In this way we embrace the diversity of the
discipline and see interdisciplinarity as a strength. This celebration of innovation
through interdisciplinarity is reflected in the research specialisms of Keele
sociologists, which include media and culture, consumption, urbanism, globalisation,
ageing, health and parenting. Recent projects have included an examination of the
consumption habits of baby boomers; utopianism in China; graffiti as transgressive
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art; children and consumption; the experience and management of AIDS in later life;
the construction and reproduction of Muslim identities in the European media; and
West African witchcraft in a global context. Support for these projects has come from
various sources including two substantial awards from the ESRC, MRC, and
Leverhulme.
Sociologists in the Centre for Social Policy supervise students studying for full and
part-time PhD and MPhil degrees across a range of topics. Current and recently
completed projects include work on: anti-capitalist thought and the crisis of
capitalism, the ethics of online sociological research; the Iranian diaspora in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne; neoliberalism in secondary education; rural/urban decay and
wellbeing; social media and youth identity; online fan communities; and growing up in
a ‘third culture’. Postgraduate students make a full contribution to the research life of
Sociology at Keele and we recognise the importance of their work in maintaining our
position at the cutting edge of the discipline.
Application Information
Applicants are directed to the link at the end of the Job Description. In addition you
should attach a full CV and a supporting statement outlining your reasons for
applying, with key features of your experience and interests. Short-listed candidates
will be asked to send in one piece of published academic work, and to give a short
presentation.
Candidates’ attention is drawn to the University’s website (www.keele.ac.uk) which
provides an overview and further details of the University, and to the School’s
website: http://www.keele.ac.uk/sspp/
References
You are asked to provide details of three referees, including your current or most
recent employer, on your application form. Referees should be able to comment on
your work and/or educational background and may be approached before interview.
In providing these details you are giving the University permission to request
personal information about you from your referees, which may include confirmation of
your previous salary, disciplinary and work history.
Enquiries
We welcome informal enquiries from prospective applicants. Please contact Dr. Mark
Featherstone, Subject Lead for Sociology at [email protected] (tel:
01782 734179) or Dr. Emma Head, Undergraduate Programme Director for
Sociology at [email protected] (tel: 01782 733898).
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Sociology Staff: Teaching and Research Interests
Dr Mark Featherstone (Senior Lecturer)
Social Theory, Critical Theory, Psychoanalysis, Cultural Analysis, Utopianism,
Globalisation, Urbanism.
Dr Emma Head (Lecturer)
Family, Parenting, Care, Motherhood, the Home, Work, Poverty, and Social
Exclusion.
Dr Siobhan Holohan (Senior Lecturer)
Media Representation, Cultural Analysis, Deviance, Discourses of Social Exclusion,
Confession, Ethnicity and Migration, Identity, Multiculturalism.
Dr Rebecca Leach (Senior Lecturer)
Consumption, Material Culture, the Home, Sociology of the Body, Cultural Analysis,
Taste, Community, and Identity.
Dr Lydia Martens (Senior Lecturer)
Consumption, Material Culture, Domestic Life, Gender, Feminism, Mundane Cultures
of the Everyday, Qualitative and Ethnographic Methods.
Dr Jane Parish (Senior Lecturer)
Anthropology, West African Societies, Deviant Beliefs, Witchcraft, Conspiracy, Moral
Obligation, Trust, and Secrecy, Qualitative Methodology and Ethnography.
Dr Dana Rosenfeld (Reader)
Health, Illness, Lifecourse, Ageing, Qualitative Methods, Everyday Life, Sociology of
the Body.
Dr Ala Sirriyeh (Lecturer)
Migration, Refugee Studies, Young People, Gender, Identities, Ethnicity and Class,
Social Interactions and Relationships, Urban Spaces and Urban Regeneration.
Dr Andy Zieleniec (Lecturer)
Social Theory, Urbanism, Space, Cultural Analysis, Globalisation, Leisure,
Recreation, Youth.
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Post Ref:
KU00000155
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY
TEACHING FELLOW IN SOCIOLOGY
School
Job Description
School of Social Science and Public Policy
Responsible
to:
Head of School
Grade:
Grade: 7
Incremental Scale: Yes
Starting Salary: £31,656 (pro-rata)
Hours:
26.5hrs pw
(0.75 FTE)
Fixed term
(12 months)
Role Summary:
You will be responsible to the Head of School and will undertake teaching and
administrative duties as may be assigned by the Head of School. You will be
expected to undertake teaching and administrative duties efficiently and effectively
within the guidelines operated by the School.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Teaching duties and responsibilities include:
 To deliver lectures, seminars, and tutorials as appropriate.
 To develop own teaching materials and approaches to delivery.
 To supervise undergraduate research and project work.
 To engage in the development of innovative teaching techniques and materials in
sociology.
 To undertake standard academic duties, e.g. setting of examination papers,
marking, invigilation, according to School procedures.
 To provide support and guidance for students in their studies and to undertake any
required pastoral support of students.
 To maintain a broad knowledge of up-to-date research and scholarship in the
relevant fields to ensure that teaching is of the quality expected by a leading
university.
 To comply with university standards and procedures for ensuring teaching quality.
Administrative duties and responsibilities include:
 To undertake any specific task as may be reasonably requested by the Head of
School
 To attend all staff meetings and to participate in other committees and working
groups within the School, Faculty and University for which they are selected.
Personal development / performance
 To demonstrate a commitment to continuing personal/professional development.
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

Ability to observe and define priorities and timetables in the achievement of
strategic and operational objectives.
To adhere to the University's environmental policy and procedures and seek to
promote environmental sustainability within area of responsibility.
Equality, diversity, and health and safety
 To demonstrate a strong commitment to the principles and practice of equality and
diversity.
 Thorough understanding and application of the Dignity and Respect Framework.
 To take reasonable care of the health and safety of yourself and that of any other
person who may be affected by your acts or omissions at work.
 To co-operate with Keele University in ensuring as far as is necessary, that
statutory requirements, codes of practice, University policies and School health and
safety arrangements are complied with.
This is not intended as an exhaustive list of duties or a restrictive definition of the
post but rather should be read as a guide to the main priorities and typical areas of
activity of the post-holder These activities are subject to amendment over time as
priorities and requirements evolve and as such it may be amended at any time by the
line manager following discussion with the post holder.
This post is unlikely to meet the relevant criteria to allow the University to issue a
Certificate of Sponsorship. Applications from candidates who require a Certificate of
Sponsorship to work in the UK will be considered against the requirements as stated
in the recruitment documentation. Recruitment decisions will be made in accordance
with the UK Visas and Immigration guidance.
Two Ticks Scheme
Keele University is committed to taking positive steps to employ,
keep and develop the abilities of disabled staff and has been
awarded the disability symbol. We undertake to offer all applicants
with a disability and who meet the minimum essential criteria an
interview. If you wish to be considered under this scheme, please
state this, providing specific information of any requirements/adjustments you may
require to assist you during the recruitment process or to enable you to carry out the
duties of the post, within your supporting statement of your application.
The information you provide on your application will be forwarded to the recruiting
area so that they may consider whether they can facilitate your requested
adjustments. Please note that if you do not state that you wish to be considered
under the Two Ticks Scheme in your supporting statement, you will not be
considered under this Scheme.
For full post details please visit: www.keele.ac.uk/vacancies Keele University
employees wishing to apply for this vacancy should login to Employee Self
Service and click on the 'View current vacancies' link.
Closing date for applications: 21 August 2016
Interviews will be held on: 22 September 2016
Post ref: KU00000155
Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity
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Post Ref:
Evidence Key
A = Application
I = Interview
R = References
T = Test
P = Presentation
(or a combination)
KU00000155
TEACHING FELLOW IN SOCIOLOGY
Qualifications/  Postgraduate qualification,
or equivalent qualification
Education/
in Sociology or a cognate
Training
discipline
A
Skills/
Aptitudes/
Competences/
8
 Qualification in
teaching in higher
education
A, I
A
A
 PhD, or near
completion, in
Sociology or a
cognate discipline
 Willingness to complete
training in/obtain a
qualification in teaching in
higher education
Experience
Desirable
Evidenced
by
Essential
Evidenced
by
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Criteria
Headings
 Teaching in core areas of
Sociology at undergraduate
level
A, I, R
 Teaching at
Master’s level in
Sociology
A, I, R
 Administering teaching
programmes and
supporting student learning
A, I, R
 Supervising
undergraduate
research projects
A, I, R
 Marking undergraduate
work in Sociology
A, I
 Using a virtual
learning
environment (VLE)
and other
technologies in
supporting student
learning
A, I
 Ability to teach and
supervise undergraduates
on taught programmes
A, I, P &
R
 Ability to teach
postgraduate
students
A, I
 Ability to contribute to the
administration of teaching
A, I
A, I
 Ability to provide students
with appropriate academic
and pastoral support
A, I
 Ability to work effectively
both independently and as
a member of a team
A, I
 Ability to contribute
to activities aimed
at marketing
educational
programmes in
Sociology and/or
widening access to
higher education
 Effective communication,
presentation and
interpersonal skills
 Competence in the use of
IT in administration,
research and the
enhancement of learning
and teaching
Other
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A, I, P
A, I, P
 Demonstrate a
commitment to continuing
personal and professional
development
A, I
 Demonstrate a
commitment to promoting
diversity and equal
opportunities in the work
and place
A, I