The Department of History at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor of History in the period c.900-c.1250 (CE) whose research focuses on the Islamicate World (including North Africa, Sicily and al-Andalus, the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Khorosan and northern India). We particularly encourage candidates whose research complements and expands the department’s current strengths. Applications from candidates whose work draws connections between multiple geographical regions or takes a transcultural approach within the Islamicate World and with neighbouring cultures, and who share the department’s commitment to decolonising the curriculum, are especially encouraged.

The Department of History has an outstanding and long established reputation in the medieval field, and now has one of the largest concentrations of period specialists in the country. Our research spans the entire period from the late Roman Empire to the sixteenth century, ranging across, and far beyond, medieval Europe. The Department is closely involved in the interdisciplinary Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, which brings together colleagues from across the University. Our medievalists maintain strong links with Durham’s interdisciplinary Centres for Visual Arts and Cultures, Catholic Studies, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, and for the Study of the Ancient Mediterranean and Near East. We also have close ties with the departments of Classics and Ancient History, Theology and Religion, English Studies, and ! with the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (notably with Arabic, Spanish, Italian, French and German).

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to exploit Durham’s outstanding and wide-ranging resources for the study of pre-modern history, which include the manuscript collections at Durham Cathedral and the University (which form part of the Priory Library digitisation project), the Cathedral Priory Archive and the collections of the Oriental Museum.