The Postgraduate Teaching Assistantship Scheme at Bristol offers postgraduate research students interested in future academic careers, the chance to develop teaching skills whilst carrying out their research. The scheme involves a structured programme of mentoring and classroom observation sessions alongside current academic staff, building towards independent tutorial teaching.

Postgraduate students will be introduced to the teaching and administrative duties of academic staff from unit design, class preparation and delivery to exam marking, assessment and progression issues. Students will be fully supported and encouraged throughout the scheme to prepare for a career in academia. The scheme is designed to offer practical first-hand experience of teaching in the higher education sector which will provide successful candidates with a competitive advantage when seeking academic appointments upon completion of doctoral study.

Duties will include:
- tutoring undergraduate seminar groups at level 1 and/or language groups at appropriate levels
- liaising with unit directors and providing feedback on student progress
- marking essays and/or language work
- providing feedback to students
- completion of the University of Bristol Teaching and Learning Programme for Postgraduates which consists of a two-day training programme and of a practice-based task and reflective account

Department of Italian
The Department has a distinctive profile nationally and internationally, notably in the burgeoning field of Italian Cultural Studies, with research interests from the Middle Ages to the present. Staff specialisms include Dante, early Italian poetry, travel writing, the memory of Fascism and the Second World War, postmodernism and the historical novel, representations of the anni di piombo, Italian colonialism and postcolonialism, gender and sexuality in the 20th and 21st centuries, Sicilian culture, Italian popular cinema, film, literature and migration.

Application process:
Candidates must first of all submit an application for postgraduate research within the Department of Italian to commence in October 2009.

Application forms can be downloaded from: http://www.bris.ac.uk/prospectus/postgraduate/2009/intro/8 Candidates who also want to be considered for the above position should email a covering letter explaining their suitability for the post, a full CV, and the name of one academic referee to: J.H.Bryce@bristol.ac.uk

Salary: £2,500 as a reduction of the tuition fee

Closing date for applications: 26th June 2009