King's College London

About Us

The Department of History at King’s College London is one of the largest and most dynamic centres for historical research and teaching in the UK. Our undergraduate curriculum introduces students to world history from the early medieval period to the present; it then offers students pathways to study every continent through their second and final years. Our MA provision is similarly broad, developing students’ expertise in medieval, early modern and modern history. We are an intellectual home for scholars of every region of the world, who use approaches which range from local micro-histories to large-scale quantitative analysis. We particularly value conversation between scholars of different periods and places, with different approaches.

About the role

The Faculty of Arts & Humanities wishes to appoint a Lecturer in Medieval History to cover leave in the academic year 2026–27. Located in the Department of History, the purpose of this role is to provide teaching and research in Medieval History. The expertise of the postholder should include early Islamic history. The postholder will be expected to offer teaching on the following second-year undergraduate modules:

• The First Islamic State
• After Rome: Western Europe, Byzantium, Islam

In addition, they would be expected to contribute to the teaching of our first year undergraduate ‘Historical Skills, Sources and Approaches’ module, as well as other survey and team-aught modules as appropriate. The postholder may also be asked to contribute to the core module of the MA Medieval Studies, and supervise MA and BA dissertations, act as personal tutor, and undertake administrative duties as required.

This is a full-time post (35 hours per week) starting on 1 September 2026. This is a fixed-term post: the successful candidate will be offered a 12-month contract.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. PhD qualified in relevant subject area
2. Expertise in medieval world history, specifically early Islamic history
3. Excellent research track record, relative to career stage
4. Ability to teach, convene and assess undergraduate modules on ‘The First Islamic State’ and ‘After Rome: Western Europe, Byzantium, Islam’
5. Undergraduate Teaching experience relevant to the role
6. Ability to engage students, support their learning and wellbeing through their degree   
7. Some experience of effective and diligent academic administration and/or external networking (including, where appropriate, the engagement of non-academic audiences) 
8. Evidence of a collaborative ethos, capacity for team-working and enthusiasm for engaging with other colleagues   

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Further Information

At King’s, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at King’s guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.