2021-22 Open-Rank, Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Ethics and Media Systems

The School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for a full-time faculty member to begin in Fall 2021. This is an open-rank search for an individual to be hired as a tenure-track assistant professor or a tenured associate or full professor. Early career scholars are strongly encouraged to apply. The School is part of the top-ranked Moody College of Communication, which includes the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations and the Departments of Radio-Television-Film, Communication Studies, and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. The School, which offers B.J., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees, is housed in the Belo Center for New Media.

This position is one of three in a cross-campus cluster hire focused on ethics and technologies. The successful candidate will have expertise in the ways that evolving technologies and applications such as Internet-based platforms, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, surveillance and monitoring technologies interact with journalism and media systems. Candidates should have teaching and research interests in ethical issues in media and information settings plus at least one of the following: (1) AI-driven media flows and circulation within the platform environment; (2) the role of automated systems in media engagement, circulation, distribution and use; (3) social justice and equity, trust, choice, control, democracy and algorithmic justice; (4) surveillance, information privacy and/or access issues; (5) global frameworks for ethical media system performance; (6) critical thinking around data rights and data ethics; (7) the design of ethical technology; (8) the philosophy of ethics and technology; and (9) the policy implications of ethical media technologies.

School of Journalism and Media: https://journalism.utexas.edu/

Moody College of Communication: http://moody.utexas.edu/

By the start of the appointment, candidates must have a Ph.D. with a promising program of research and publication, a commitment to teaching excellence as well as diversity, equity and inclusion, and interest in mentoring graduate students and undertaking collaborative research. We will consider a range of disciplinary, theoretical and methodological expertise.

Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, statements on teaching, research and diversity (each one no more than 500 words) and the names and contact information for three references. Letters of recommendation will be requested of finalists.

The School of Journalism and Media and the Moody College of Communication are committed to achieving diversity in our faculty, students, and curricula, and we welcome applicants who advance these objectives.

Screening of applicants will begin December 15 and will continue until the position is filled. Applications must be made via Interfolio's ByCommittee solution. If you do not have a Dossier account with Interfolio, you will be prompted to create one prior to applying for the position. If you have questions about using Interfolio, please email help@interfolio.com or call (877) 997-8807.

The successful candidate for this position will be joining the UT Austin faculty as part of the Cluster and Interdisciplinary Hiring Initiative , designed to supplement departmentally-based hiring practices and norms and extend collaborative research and scholarship. This new initiative has authorized 40 new faculty hires whose interdisciplinary areas of knowledge cross the boundaries of existing academic departments. The selected candidate will be expected to actively participate alongside faculty members from the School of Information and the Department of Philosophy as a core member of an Ethics and Technology cluster affiliated with the interdisciplinary research group Good Systems, a UT Grand Challenge . Contributions to this research group will be a facet of the faculty member’s annual performance evaluations and consideration for promotion/tenure.

One of the Bridging Barriers Texas Grand Challenge initiatives, Good Systems aims to help ensure that artificial intelligence technologies benefit society. Bringing together faculty from across the University--from the Schools of Engineering, Information, and Public Affairs, and the Colleges of Communication, Liberal Arts, and Natural Sciences, among other units--Good Systems sponsors research projects aligned with its mission, partners with the City of Austin on a range of endeavors, and is affiliated with the NSF-sponsored Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning currently being organized on campus. Good Systems includes eight research focus areas: Critical Perspectives on Surveillance, Disinformation, Future of Work, Public Interest Technology, Racial and Social Justice, Robotics and Machine Learning, Smart Cities, and Transparent and Explainable AI.

Questions can be directed to the chair of the search committee, Professor Sharon Strover at Sharon.strover@austin.utexas.edu .