Professor of Digital and Computational Studies

The Digital and Computational Studies (DCS) Program at Bates College invites applications for an open-rank tenure-track position, to be appointed as a faculty of Computer Science within the DCS Program, beginning employment in August 2024.  We seek a computer scientist whose interests include undergraduate teaching, active scholarship, and interdisciplinary work.  Candidates should have a strong interest in being located in a program that is highly interdisciplinary in nature, with flexibility in curricular and co-curricular offerings not necessarily found in more traditional computer science programs. While we are especially interested in expertise in human-computer interaction (HCI), artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML), and/or natural language processing (NLP), we welcome and encourage applicants from any specialization in computer science.

Candidates must have completed their Ph.D. in Computer Science or equivalent degree by 01 August 2024.  They should demonstrate ability to:  engage students in an undergraduate liberal education that develops intellectual curiosity, reflection, and critical thinking;  contribute to an equitable and inclusive learning environment that educates the whole student and cultivates informed civic action; mentor and advise undergraduate students; teach courses involving introductory and intermediate levels of undergraduate computer science; and develop upper-level courses – which could be interdisciplinary in nature – based on their expertise and interests.  Candidates should also show evidence of an active program of peer-reviewed scholarship that can be continued at a predominantly undergraduate institution, which may include undergraduate student researchers.

The teaching load is 5 courses per academic year, either as a 2-3 or 3-2 across two semesters, or as a 2-2-1 across two semesters and the Bates short term.  Candidates can find information about current Bates salaries and benefits in Part 2 of the Faculty Handbook.

About DCS at Bates:  Established in 2017, DCS is an interdisciplinary program that, collectively, seeks to build bridges between core elements of computer science, data science, and digital studies, connecting to the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and/or other existing interdisciplinary programs on campus.  The DCS curriculum asks students to interrogate the practices, values, cultures and assumptions of the digital world, while engaging with computing for social good.  This work is happening in conversation with a Bates-wide effort to interrogate how race, power, privilege, white supremacy, and colonialism relate to our curriculum.  For more information about Digital and Computational Studies at Bates, see our webpage. Bates DCS faculty are prepared and eager to support candidates as they develop courses designed for an interdisciplinary program.

Resources at Bates: 

Bates College is a residential liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine.   Details about the college and its community can be found here.  Lewiston is a diverse and growing city in Maine, two and a half hours north of Boston and 45 minutes from a burgeoning Portland technology start-up scene that includes the Roux Institute.

Bates supports new faculty through competitive startup packages, a course reduction in the first year of teaching, and a paid pre-tenure leave.  Bates offers a new-faculty mentoring program through the Office of the Dean of Faculty, and career-long faculty development programming through the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning.

Bates supports faculty scholarship via professional travel funding, internal grants, support for post-tenure sabbaticals, and a robust external grants office. Faculty research is routinely supported by the NSF, NIH, and other external funding sources. 

Bates also partners with the nearby Roux Institute (affiliated with Northeastern University).  This partnership allows Bates students to take select computer science courses within the Roux's Align Program.  The proximity of the Roux Institute (Portland) and Northeastern (Boston), along with the breadth in expertise of their faculty and staff, also provides potential research collaborations and sabbatical opportunities for Bates faculty.

Additional interdisciplinary opportunities at Bates are available through the new Bonney Science Center as well as the new Immersive Media Studio, funded by a grant from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, opening in Fall 2023. Additionally, Bates is home to the Digital Media Studios, a facility providing equipment and expertise for a wide range of audio and visual media, as well as the Visualization Lab, which includes VR studios and 3D printing. 

Bates is committed to supporting educational access for all.  Educational access and justice are central to Bates’ history and mission.  That work is supported in a variety of ways, including an HHMI Inclusive Excellence Grant to support transforming how we teach STEM, a Schuler Education Foundation Grant to support financial aid for Pell-eligible students, low income, and undocumented students, and a Mellon Foundation Curricular Transformation Grant. Community-engaged learning and study abroad are encouraged and robustly supported.  Read more about our faculty’s commitment to equity and inclusion here.

Review of applications begins on 01 November 2023, and will continue until the search process is concluded. Applicants should submit all requested materials through Interfolio at APPLY NOW.

Applications should include the following:

• A cover letter summarizing your qualifications, both scholarly and pedagogical, for this position as well as your interest in teaching at an all-undergraduate small liberal arts college such as Bates College.
• A current CV.
• A teaching statement that includes a clearly articulated pedagogical philosophy; a discussion of your experience related to teaching undergraduate computer science courses and, if applicable, interdisciplinary courses;  and a description of how your teaching can contribute to a campus community that values equity and inclusion.
• A research statement that describes your current scholarship and future plans in a way that is accessible to a hiring committee of faculty having varied interdisciplinary specialties, and that includes discussion of how you would incorporate undergraduates in your research agenda.
• We want to learn about your past and potential contributions to equity, inclusion, and diversity with regard to underrepresented groups, and ask that you describe them either in a separate additional document, or integrated into your teaching and research statements.

• The names, affiliations, and contact information for three references.   Letters of reference will be solicited when candidates are invited to the first round of virtual interviews.

Employment is contingent on successful completion of a background check.