College of Arts and Law

Closing date: 17 February 2011

Interview date: 18 March 2011
Job reference: 44413

Director of the Shakespeare Institute

The Organisation
The University of Birmingham is a thriving and dynamic institution that combines a century of heritage
with one of the most compelling and ambitious agendas in higher education. Ranked amongst the
world’s top 100 institutions, it has recently restructured to promote faster decision making and to
enable it to capitalise on its academic range and financial strength. The University is now organised into
five academic Colleges, with a University Executive Board, led by our recently-appointed Vice-Chancellor,
Professor David Eastwood.

Birmingham is now embarking on the next phase of its development based on a new strategic plan
articulated around the triptych of Birmingham Civic, Birmingham National and Birmingham Global. The
confidence of the University’s ambition is, in part, underpinned by one of the strongest financial positions
in the UK HE sector. The University is currently forecasting a turnover of £470 million for financial year
2009/2010 and carries significant cash surpluses with no borrowings. This is enabling it to invest in
high quality research and to enhance still further the educational experience for its students, as well
as to continue to improve its estate and infrastructure, despite the prevailing economic conditions.

Over the past 18 months the University has undergone an important restructure in support of its
ambition to promote faster decision making and a better translation of its financial strength into academic
performance. Central to this agenda is the development in 2010 of the University’s new five year plan
building upon an existing and ambitious programme of change, ‘Sustainable Excellence’, which sets
the goal of establishing Birmingham securely in the UK’s top ten and the world’s top fifty Universities.

Over 90% of Birmingham’s research was rated as world leading or of international quality in the 2008 UK
Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). With world leading activity across a range of subjects, it remains
one of the UK’s most broadly-based research-led universities.

The University cultural and intellectual assets include the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon,
the Barber Institute for Fine Arts and the Ironbridge Institute. In total the University’s economic value to
its region is £780 million. This range of activities illustrates the ways in which it links to its region, country
and the wider world.

Founded in 1900 as the UK’s first redbrick university, Birmingham established a new model for higher
education, breaking away from the Oxbridge tradition. Through the foresight of our founders we have
inherited one of our greatest assets – our beautiful parkland campus, located less than 5 miles from
the centre of a city undergoing a remarkable renaissance.
Director of the Shakespeare Institute

The Organisation continued…

The University was founded through philanthropy and fundraising. This is just as important today.
Birmingham’s ‘Circles of Influence’ campaign aims to raise £60 million by 2011 for universal themes –
Health and Lifestyle, Society, Heritage and Culture, and Creating the Leaders of Tomorrow. £50 million
has been raised to date.

With 28,000 students from 150 countries, the quality of the student experience offered at the University of
Birmingham remains of paramount importance. The University is one of the leading members of the Russell
Group in terms of the size of its Graduate School and the quality of its student experience as shown by
the National Student Survey. As well as high quality teaching, students also enjoy an enriched experience,
through other activities such as sport, for which Birmingham is ranked third in the UK.

As Birmingham seeks to extend its global footprint further it is investing in its international strategy,
having established a presence overseas in Delhi and Shanghai. These new offices will develop existing
contacts and forge new partnerships with academic colleagues and businesses across the Asia Pacific
region. Birmingham is also building strategic partnerships in North America (notably Chicago) and
through its membership of Universitas 21.

The University has developed a new Strategic Framework that captures its aspirations and ambitions
for the next five years, based upon three interconnected themes – Birmingham Civic, Birmingham
National and Birmingham Global.

The College of Arts and Law

With over 5,000 students and in excess of 400 staff, the College of Arts and Law encompasses a vibrant
range of subject areas from archaeology to drama, and from history to music, as well as world-renowned
research centres such as the Shakespeare and Ironbridge Institutes.

Arts and Law consists of the following six Schools, making it the second largest College on campus
in terms of student numbers:
n Archaeology and Antiquity;
n Birmingham Law School;
n English, Drama and American and Canadian Studies;
n History and Cultures;
n Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music;
n Philosophy, Theology and Religion.

Each School offers a varied suite of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and a vibrant and
supportive environment that allows research to flourish. The College also possesses excellent facilities
including several libraries and collections, a number of dedicated computer clusters and a cyber cafe.

Located centrally on the University campus is the renowned Barber Institute of Fine Arts. Work is currently
underway to build a new 450-seat concert hall for the Department of Music which is due to be completed
in 2012. This auditorium, with its associated research, teaching and rehearsal facilities, will complete the
redbrick semicircle of buildings which have been the heart of the University since 1909.

The diversity of the College’s activities is one of its biggest strengths. Its academic reach spans
established groups with rich heritage (such as its 80-year-old Law School and a Music Department whose
first Professor was Edward Elgar) through to emerging strengths and new interdisciplinary areas of study
(such as Global Ethics and Conflict and Security Studies).

Further information about the College, including additional details about its departments, research
institutes and facilities, can be found at www.about.bham.ac.uk/colleges/artslaw
Director of the Shakespeare Institute

School of English, Drama and

American & Canadian Studies
The School of English, Drama and ACS is one of six schools within the College of Arts and Law.
It comprises three departments (English; Drama and Theatre Arts; American and Canadian Studies) that
teach undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and two units (the Shakespeare Institute and the
Centre for English Language Studies) that focus on postgraduate provision. Areas of research excellence
in the School include: theatre history; textual and cultural studies; early modern literature; modernism and
contemporary British and American literature; discourse studies and corpus linguistics. There is growing
interest in practice as research across different areas of the School, bringing together performance
specialists in Drama and the Shakespeare Institute, film experts in American & Canadian Studies, and
creative writing practitioners in English.

There are presently just under 70 academic staff in the School, of whom 7 are located in the Shakespeare
Institute. Support staff provide secretarial and administrative support. All full-time members of the
academic staff are allocated single-occupancy rooms equipped with up-to-date computer equipment.

The administration and management of the School is led by the Head of School (currently Professor
Susan Hunston). The Head of School is advised on matters of policy by the School Executive Committee,
on which the Shakespeare Institute is represented by the Director. Members of the Shakespeare Institute
sit on other School committees, such as the Research Committee and the Postgraduate Committee and
all staff in the School are members of the School Committee. All members of the academic staff are
expected to participate in the running of the School.

The Shakespeare Institute

Located in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Shakespeare Institute of the University of Birmingham offers
postgraduate students and scholars an academic experience unequalled by any other university.
Students study Shakespeare within walking distance of his birthplace, school and grave, and the
theatres of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

The Institute was founded in 1951 by the theatre historian Allardyce Nicoll, who was its first Director.
It is housed in fine seventeenth and eighteenth-century buildings, which were the home of the novelist
Marie Corelli until 1924. The Institute retains its domestic atmosphere, providing a working environment
where learning spills over beyond formal tuition into play-readings in the Lounge, performances in the
Lecture Hall, and discussion and debate in the Common Room, kitchen and extensive gardens and
grounds. Every space gets filled during national and international Shakespeare conferences.

As part of the College of Arts and Law, the Institute sits within the School of English, Drama and
American Studies. In the 2008 RAE staff were returned to the English Unit of Assessment (UoA57).
In that UoA, 25% of research activity was graded 4* and a further 35% was graded 3*, with 42 members
of staff returned. Research within the Institute explores the work of Shakespeare and the drama of
his time, broader aspects of early modern culture and literature, its subsequent cultural significance
and performance on stage and screen. This is underpinned by one of the largest Shakespeare
libraries of any UK University. Staff and students also have access to the outstanding picture collections,
records and holdings of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which curates the archives of the Royal
Shakespeare Company.

The Institute offers a range of postgraduate programmes that attract both home and international
students. A fairly recent development is the establishment of distance learning programmes which will
enable students who are unable to spend a year in Stratford to obtain a qualification from the Institute,
through a combination of remote study and shorter focused periods at the Shakespeare Institute.
Director of the Shakespeare Institute

The Shakespeare Institute continued…

Programmes currently on offer through the Institute include:

n MA in Shakespeare Studies;
n MA in Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon and the Cultural History of Renaissance England;
n MA in The Cultural Heritage of Shakespeare’s England;
n MA or Postgraduate Diploma in Shakespeare and Theatre;
n MA or Postgraduate Diploma in Shakespeare and Education;
n Research Degrees in Shakespeare: 26 current students are working on topics that include print
culture, new media, and historical and contemporary performance.

The Shakespeare Institute is also responsible for providing a compulsory final year module – Shakespeare
Work, Times, Impact – to over 150 students taking BA English.

The University has expressed its confidence in the excellence of the Shakespeare Institute by investing in
both staff and infrastructure. A major refurbishment of the building is planned for 2012. Two recent new
appointments include a Professor of Shakespeare Studies (Prof Ewan Fernie) and a Lecturer in Global
Shakespeare (Dr Erin Sullivan).

The City of Birmingham

Birmingham is a major European centre and the second city of the United Kingdom. It is a city of business
and ballet, canals and world class concerts, jewellery and jazz, historical interest and cosmopolitan
atmosphere. Birmingham is also the ideal base for exploring one of Britain’s most fascinating regions for
tourism, being within an hour’s drive of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, the Potteries, and the Cotswolds.

The new heart of Birmingham is symbolised by Symphony Hall, considered one of the finest concert
venues in the world. Symphony Hall forms part of the impressive International Convention Centre, which
overlooks attractive canals at the hub of the UK’s canal network. This setting is a very suitable venue
for the CBSO, one of the world’s great symphony orchestras. The internationally renowned Birmingham
Royal Ballet, based at the magnificent Hippodrome Theatre, adds further cultural depth to the city.
In addition to regular tours by the major opera companies, Birmingham boasts the highest concentration
of live theatre excepting London’s West end.

The City Museum and Art Gallery houses the world’s finest collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings,
alongside a major collection of Old Masters, Modern and Contemporary pictures. The Barber Institute
of Fine Arts houses one of the best UK University collections of Impressionist and Renaissance art.
The restored Gas Hall Gallery has international touring exhibitions, while the Halcyon and Ikon galleries
feature innovative contemporary works. National landmark sites abound, including the National Indoor
Arena, the National Exhibition Centre, National Motorcycle Museum, National Car Heritage Museum
and the National Sealife Centre.

The high quality new Bullring Centre is the largest dedicated shopping facility in Europe. Sports
and recreation are well served, complemented by International Test cricket, Premier League football with
Aston Villa, International Championship golf and top class rugby. The International Convention Centre and
National Indoor Arena have spawned a whole new Downtown area at the centre of the City. The National
Exhibition Centre, on the outskirts to the city, remains one of the largest exhibition facilities in Europe.

Birmingham is at the crossroads of the UK’s motorways. From Birmingham International Airport, more than
a dozen different airlines operate scheduled services to 60 destinations worldwide. Fifty million passengers
a year use Birmingham New Street Station, which is at the centre of the high speed rail network. London
is 90 minutes away by shuttle service, with trains every 30 minutes. There is a high standard of all types of
private accommodation, with high quality affordable family housing in several attractive residential suburbs.
Public parks and large domestic gardens are a special feature of this greenest of European cities. Quality
public and private schools are widely available, with several consistently rated in the top 10 on examination
performance in annual league tables of England and Wales.
Director of the Shakespeare Institute

Job outline
n Duration of post – open ended
n Post is open to external candidates
n Grade – Professorial Grade 10
n Salary – Competitive package for an outstanding candidate.
n Informal Enquiries to Professor Susan Hunston, Head of EDACS, 0121 414 5675.

The appointment
The University’s renowned Shakespeare Institute, located within the College of Arts and Law, is currently
looking to appoint an outstanding individual as its Director. This will be a professorial appointment.
The successful candidate will have an excellent international-level scholarly reputation and considerable
experience of academic leadership. He or she will be responsible for overseeing the day to day running
of the Institute and managing the academic staff there, as well as taking a more strategic role in developing
the national and international profile of the Institute’s research. They will also make a major contribution
to the University of Birmingham’s strategic priorities of Culture and Heritage.

Main responsibilities
fulfilling the role of Director of the Shakespeare Institute: developing and implementing strategy;
n 
acting as immediate line manager for the academic staff of the Institute; taking responsibility for
ensuring maximum student recruitment and satisfaction and for the day to day running of the Institute;
providing significant research leadership within the Shakespeare Institute and within EDACS more
n 
generally, and developing a distinguished international research profile commensurate with successful
inclusion in the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework;
enhancing the Institute’s national and international profile and reputation through vigorous and
n 
distinctive programmes of personal research and publication and through subject leadership
nationally and internationally;
applying for and attracting significant research funding, both on an individual and a collaborative basis;
n 
providing high-quality supervision;
n 
maximising recruitment, retention and employability of postgraduates;
n 
promoting the integration of the Institute’s research with other areas of the University;
n 
leading and participating in programme review and curriculum development;
n 
exploiting opportunities to attract financial resources to the Institute;
n 
contributing fully to the general life and management of the Institute, the School and the College
n 
of Arts and Law;
representing the Institute effectively within the School, College and broader University;
n 
developing the strategic relationship with local and international partners.
n 

The candidate profile

It is expected that the Director will be highly esteemed within his or her field.
Candidates should be able to demonstrate achievement against the following criteria:
n  a significant and original contribution to their field of research;
n  effectiveness and flair in teaching;
n  a track record of successful academic leadership and the capacity to develop and lead initiatives
in their specialist area and more broadly (this will include evidence of the ability to work collaboratively
and to encourage and stimulate the research work of colleagues);
n  a track record of successful academic management, including the ability to manage people, to think
imaginatively, and to develop strategy;
n  a commitment to, and vision for, the development of the Shakespeare Institute as the international
centre of excellence for the study of Shakespeare as playwright, poet and cultural icon;
Director of the Shakespeare Institute

The candidate profile continued…

a proven ability to attract research funding and to identify and exploit different sources of income;
n 
a range of generic skills to support and enhance research and teaching activity, including excellent
n 
organisational, communication and person management abilities;
an understanding and experience of the administrative requirements of higher education and the
n 
expectation of playing a part in the committee structures, management and administration of the
School and College.

How to apply
Applicants are invited to submit their application on-line via www.hr.bham.ac.uk/jobs.
You will be asked to provide basic personal information and contact details and give the details of three or
more referees. You will then be asked to attach a covering letter and up-to-date curriculum vitae. These
documents must be in either PDF or Word format and should address how you would be able to fulfil the
requirements of the post, including a statement of teaching and research plans. Also please provide links
to online copies of recent research papers or equivalent publications. Any applicants who would prefer to
submit this information in hard copy should please send to: HR Shared Service Centre, The University of
Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT.