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Cluster Hire Assistant Professor in Indigenous Studies (tenure track)

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Position description

The University of California at Riverside (UCR) is embarking on a major new hiring initiative that will add 300 tenure-track positions in 33 cross-disciplinary areas selected through a peer-reviewed competition (clusterhiring.ucr.edu). Over the next three years, we will hire multiple faculty members in each area and invest in research infrastructure to support their work. This initiative will build critical mass in vital and emerging fields of scholarship, foster truly cross-disciplinary work and further diversify the faculty at one of America’s most diverse research universities. We encourage applications from scholars committed to excellence and seeking to help redefine the research university for the next generation.

The faculty recruited in Indigenous Studies will join an active and vibrant community of scholars whose work is focused on North America, but is also hemispheric and global in both the sense of its international reach and its cross-disciplinary scope. We are seeking applicants to fill four full-time tenure-track and tenured positions at both the assistant and associate/full professor levels. We are seeking scholars with expertise in two areas: Native American/Indigenous Arts and Knowledge and Global Indigenous Medicine. The placement of each successful candidate may be in any CHASS department or the School of Medicine, depending on the preferences of the candidate and the host departments/schools.

Qualifications: Ph.D. or M.D. (BA and/or MFA/MA and extensive years of experience in the field for candidates in the performing and creative arts); college teaching experience; experience working with Native American/Indigenous communities; and interest in working in a diverse, multi-ethnic, international environment. Advanced ABD candidates will also be considered.

Preference will be given to candidates with one or more of the following research interests and expertise:

*Candidates whose research focus is Native American/Indigenous arts and knowledge, including, but not limited to: art, art history, comparative global Indigenous studies; dance; digital arts and new media; education; environmental justice/sustainability; film and visual culture; gender, queer, and sexuality studies; history; Indigenous methodologies; languages; legal studies; literary studies; music; performance and media arts; politics; public policy; public/contemporary art; sociology; sovereignty; and/or theater. Particular consideration will be given to scholars working in the field of California Indian Studies and scholars who are engaged in community-based research.

*Candidates with an interest in exploring scholarly and artistic intersections, interdisciplinary, community-based, and/or international collaboration.

*Candidates with expertise in Native American/Indigenous global health; Indigenous medical knowledge with a research orientation that recognizes connections between history, culture, policy and physical health of humans and the environment; Indigenous science and technology studies; property and intellectual rights vis-à-vis medicine; and/or health and social justice.

Responsibilities will include keeping an active research agenda and record of publications; teaching a regular course load (4 courses per year) at the undergraduate and graduate levels; and participating in departmental activities and administrative service at college and campus levels. The successful candidates will have the opportunity to teach required courses and electives in their areas of specialization. In addition, the successful candidates will actively contribute to developing and strengthening the campus’s cross-disciplinary Native American/Indigenous Studies program and is expected to advise and mentor graduate and undergraduate students’ research.

Application Procedure: Applicants are required to submit a two-page cover letter indicating current and future research interests, a curriculum vita, one writing sample or article reprint (additional writing samples may be requested later), two sample course syllabi, and teaching evaluations if available. Three letters of recommendation are required for junior level positions; those applying for senior positions should include contact information for three references. Candidates in the arts must also submit a website or media-player links with access to samples of their artistic work. A statement addressing potential contribution to academic diversity must also be included. To ensure full consideration, applications and all supporting materials should be received by January 4, 2016. All appointments will begin June 30, 2016. The positions will remain open until filled. Salary is commensurate with education and experience.

Applications and materials will be submitted using UCR’s on-line application system application portal.

Assistant Professor tenure-track: https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/apply/JPF00491.

Applicants who use Interfolio may utilize a feature provided by the Interfolio Service to allow Interfolio to upload their letters directly into AP Recruit. Applicants can input an Interfolio-generated email address in place of their letter writer's email address. Interfolio refers to this as Online Application Deliveries. The following link on the Interfolio website shows how to set this up (http://help.interfolio.com/entries/24062742-Uploading-Letters-to-an-Online-Application-System).

Letters and inquiries should be addressed to: Michelle Raheja, michelle.raheja@ucr.edu.

UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.

Advancement through the faculty ranks at the University of California is through a series of structured, merit-based evaluations, occurring every 2-3 years, each of which includes substantial peer input.

UCR is located fifty miles east of Los Angeles in a remarkably rich Native American and Pacific Islander cultural area. It is located in the heart of over twenty Native American communities, including the largest urban Native American population. The campus is home to the Rupert Costo and Jeannette Henry Costo Library, the Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs, the California Center for Native Nations (CCNN), the Center for Healthy Communities, Native American Student Programs, and a vibrant, cross-disciplinary Native American Studies program. Established in 1954, the UCR campus today has a fast-growing population of approximately 17,000 students, is the most diverse undergraduate student body in the UC system, and is one of the most diverse campuses in the nation.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer with a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Cover Letter - Two-page cover letter indicating current and future research interests

  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V. Candidates in the arts must also submit a website or media-player links with access to samples of their artistic work.

  • Writing sample - One writing sample or article reprint (additional writing samples may be requested later)

  • Two sample course syllabi

  • Teaching Evaluations (Optional)

  • Statement of Contributions to Diversity - A statement addressing potential contribution to academic diversity must also be included.

  • Misc / Additional (Optional)

  • Misc/Additional (Optional)

Reference requirements
  • 3-5 letters of reference required