Assistant Professor in Black Geographies

The Department of Geography at Rutgers University invites applicants for a Tenure Track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Black Geographies. We seek a candidate whose teaching and research interests offer innovative theoretical or methodological perspectives to understand the experiences of Black communities in relation to pressing environmental and social transformations. Topical areas might include, for example, racial justice movements, carceral and abolition geographies, environmental racism, Black autonomous spaces, diaspora studies, or digital geographies. We will give preference to a candidate whose interests complement and build upon the existing profile of Geography faculty, and whose scholarship demonstrates empirical and theoretical rigor. We will also give preference to a candidate who can help diversify our faculty or draw a more diverse student body to our discipline through the substance of their research and teaching. The candidate will be expected to teach and advise students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in relevant topics such as urban environmental justice, Black Geographies, or race and ethnicity. Interest in innovative pedagogies, civic engagement and activism, or new geographical research methods would be an added benefit.

Rutgers University offers a dynamic and diverse intellectual environment with multiple interdisciplinary centers connected to the study of the Black experience, including the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice, Center for Cultural Analysis, Center for Historical Analysis, Institute for Research on Women, Advanced Institute for Critical Caribbean Studies, and Center for Social Justice Education and LGBTQIA Communities. Rutgers Geography, founded in 1949, has twelve core and eighteen additional graduate faculty. The department is built on a tradition of critical spatial analysis across the discipline’s subfields and draws from decades of collaboration with area studies and other interdisciplinary units on campus.

The anticipated start date for this position is September 1, 2022. Additional information about the Department of Geography and Rutgers University can be found at geography.rutgers.edu.

Qualifications:

Required qualifications: A PhD by September 1, 2022 in Geography or a related field such as African American Studies, Anthropology, Black Studies, Environmental Studies, Ethnic Studies, Sociology, Urban Studies, or Urban Planning. Desired qualifications: teaching experience in a college or university setting in Geography or a related discipline; demonstrated capacity to secure external research funding; experience advising graduate students or preparedness to begin such responsibilities.

Application instructions:

Application materials include: cover letter, CV, a combined statement of research, teaching, and contributions to diversity, two writing samples, and a list of three references. For additional information about the application process, please contact Kelly Bernstein (kellbern@rutgers.edu), Sr. Department Administrator. For additional information about the position please contact Dr. Asher Ghertner (a.ghertner@rutgers.edu), Search Committee Chair. Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2021.  Applications will only be accepted via the online portal. 

Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

It is university policy to provide equal employment opportunity to all its employees and applicants for employment regardless of their race, creed, color, national origin, age, ancestry, nationality, marital or domestic partnership or civil union status, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability status, liability for military service, protected veteran status, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical cellular or blood trait, genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing), or any other category protected by law. As an institution, we value diversity of background and opinion, and prohibit discrimination or harassment on the basis of any legally protected class in the areas of hiring, recruitment, promotion, transfer, demotion, training, compensation, pay, fringe benefits, layoff, termination or any other terms and conditions of employment. For additional information please see the Non-Discrimination Statement at the following web address: http://uhr.rutgers.edu/non-discrimination-statement.