AHRC Cultural Engagement Fellowship

Job title: Cultural Engagement Fellow

Contract type: Fixed-term for 3 months from 15th February - 15th May 2016.

Salary: Grade 5 £25,023 (pre-viva)/Grade 6 £28,982 (PhD holder) p.a. pro rata

Department: French Studies (NB a background in French Studies is NOT essential)

Deadline: 23:59 on 25th January 2016.

Method of application: CV and Cover Letter (max. 2 sides A4) to artsimpact at warwick dot ac dot uk.

The Cultural Engagement Fellowship is a three-month position beginning 15 February 2016, based in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University Of Warwick. It offers an exciting early-career opportunity for a recent PhD graduate to gain experience of organising a public engagement programme linked to an interdisciplinary research project, ‘Cultures of Addiction since 1800’. The Cultural Engagement Fellowship is funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to support public engagement with Arts and Humanities research within the university’s wider cultural and civic context. The funding is also intended to provide broader development opportunities to support early-career researchers in the Arts and Humanities.

The Fellow will research and organize all aspects of two cultural engagement events, scheduled to take place in late March and early May 2016, and will develop a social media strategy and blog to support these events and raise public awareness of the project. The first event will be an evening of book readings, panel discussion and debate to be hosted in Warwick Arts Centre, along with a related one-day academic workshop on the theme of Prohibition. The second will be a gastronomic event to in London, designed to enable historical and philosophical debate of the new Psychoactive Substances Bill (currently in the process of passing into law in the UK). The post-holder will be responsible for organizing and delivering the two events under the direction of the PI and with support from Research and Impact Services.

You will have or be very close to completion of a PhD (thesis must be submitted by 12 February) in any Arts and Humanities discipline. and you must be available to begin on 15th February 2016. Experience of project management and delivery and excellent communication skills are essential.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Organise and publicise an evening of panel discussion, debate and book readings on 22 March 2016
• Organise a gastronomic event scheduled to take place in early May 2016
• Carry out publicity and communication activities via a concerted social media operation with the aim of gaining national media attention, and to liaise with the University Communications Office to this end
• Assist with running the Prohibition workshop on 23 March 2016
• Any other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post

Person specification:

Applicants should provide evidence in their applications that they meet the following criteria.

ESSENTIAL:

• Hold or be very close to completion of a PhD qualification (thesis must be submitted by 12 February)
• Experience of project management and delivery
• Ability to assess and organise resources and plan and progress work activities
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Experience of using social media for the purpose of research dissemination
• Experience of delivering presentations and adapting communication methods to suit the needs of varied audiences
• Experience of data gathering, storage and organisation
• Experience of developing and maintaining a network of contacts in own work area
• Experience of adapting own skills to new circumstances
• Ability to work independently and with initiative

DESIRABLE:

• Event management expertise
• Experience of working collaboratively with a wide range of partners
• Ability to develop creative approaches to problem solving
• Experience of organising research-related public engagement events
• Experience of working with media stakeholders

Informal enquiries about the role can be directed to: artsimpact at warwick dot ac dot uk.