Dear colleagues,

This is a preliminary announcement; we would be grateful if it could be
brought to attention of anyone who might be interested.

We will very shortly be advertising a permanent lectureship and a one-year
contract lectureship in the Department of Italian at Trinity College,
Dublin. We will be looking for proven research ability in any of the
following areas: post-renaissance drama, eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, twentieth century, women writers.  Other areas of expertise are
not included.  Particular emphasis will be placed upon innovative methods
of language teaching.

Below is some general information about the Department. We will mail some
further details of the salary ranges next week. Application forms and
further particulars will be obtainable from:

Establishment Officer
Staff Office
Trinity College
Dublin 2
Tel. 353-1-608-1678/FAX 353-1-677-2169
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]

--- but please wait until next week before contacting them, as they are
only now preparing the advertisements.

Some information about the Department and what we do can be found at
http://www.tcd.ie/Italian

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Italian at Trinity

Trinity College has some 13,000 students spread over six Faculties. It is
situated in the centre of Dublin, with many fine buildings and a copyright
library which houses the largest book collection in Ireland, including good
holdings in Italian.

Trinity's Department of Italian, which dates from 1776, is the oldest in
Ireland or Britain. Over 140 students study Italian in two four-year degree
programmes: a joint honour degree known as the Two-Subject Moderatorship,
and the European Studies degree. These programmes are described in the
attached pages from the current Calendar. Most students start as beginners
in Italian. There are SOCRATES exchange programmes with several Italian
universities.

The Department currently has three permanent members of staff (one
Associate Professor and two Senior Lecturers), one contract lecturer, an
Italian Government sponsored lecturer, a language assistant, and a
part-time Executive Officer. The Head of Department is Professor Corinna
Salvadori Lonergan. The permanent appointment now advertised will replace
our contract post at the end of the current academic year. The temporary
appointment is to allow one of our Senior Lecturers to take a year's study
leave. Staff teach an average of 9 or 10 hours per week in a 24-week
teaching year: roughly half of this is language work, while the other half
is concerned with literature and other cultural or historical topics.
Secretarial support is necesssarily limited, but staff members are provided
with computer equipment for teaching, administration and research.

Recent developments in our course structure include an increased emphasis
on options which students choose from a list of topics in Italian
literature, language and society; the introduction of videos and computers
in language teaching at junior and senior levels; and the availability of
optional courses in technology awareness and linguistics.

The New Posts

The continuing permanent members of staff have particular competence in
medieval and Renaissance literature and contemporary Italian literature and
society. With the new permanent appointment the Department will consolidate
its strengths in the areas of post-Renaissance drama, the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, twentieth century, women writers; the contract
lecturer will teach mostly in the modern area.

The Department expects a good standard of language performance, and
teaching methods are kept under constant review. Lecturers are expected to
have a native or near-native level of competence in Italian. There is
considerable expertise in language learning among our colleagues; Trinity
teaches a wide range of languages, and the Centre for Language and
Communication Studies provides research and active support in this field.
The Collegeís European Studies programme also places a strong emphasis on
language competence.

Lecturers are expected to teach both language and literature courses, and
to offer option courses in areas of special interest. Some of the teaching
is thus related to oneís personal interests and research, but one may be
called upon to contribute to various parts of the degree programme. In
addition to normal contact hours, staff members provide supervision for
Senior Sophister dissertations. All lecturers are expected to share in the
administrative work of the Department, including SOCRATES exchanges,
European Studies contributions, and other projects.

The Department has a tradition of open discussion at both formal and
informal meetings; new ideas are welcomed and colleagues are encouraged to
bring their own perspectives to the future development of Italian in
Trinity.

The Selection Procedure

Candidates shortlisted for interview will be invited to present a short
paper on a research topic and to demonstrate the teaching of a language
topic.

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We hope that this advance notice may be of interest to some colleagues.
Buona Pasqua a tutti!

Cormac O Cuilleanain
Department of Italian
Trinity College Dublin




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