Pathways to the Professoriate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

**Call for Applications**
Pathways to the Professoriate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

As part of a continuing commitment to build a culturally diverse intellectual community and advancing scholars from underrepresented groups in higher education (including, but not limited to, individuals from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (“BIPOC”), and others), the School of Communication at Northwestern is pleased to announce the Pathways to the Professoriate Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, made possible by the Office of the Provost and SoC through the David Mancosh Pathways to the Professoriate Postdoctoral Fellowship Fund. The goal of the program is to transition fellows to faculty members after two years.

Field(s):
Applications are being accepted in the following departments within the School of Communication:

- Communication Studies: Emerging Technologies
To build on the department’s strength in technology and communication, the Department of Communication Studies seeks to hire a scholar in the area of emerging technologies such as Human-Artificial Intelligence (HAI) communication, or human-robot communication. We are interested in individuals who can imagine, examine, and create empirically-grounded alternative futures that influence the design of emerging technologies for social justice.

- Radio, Television & Film: Screen Cultures
The Department of Radio/TV/Film seeks to recruit a scholar doing innovative work in the study of race and media (including film, television, sound media, and/or digital media). We welcome applicants exploring race and media within national, transnational, and/or global contexts. Additional desirable areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, queer or transgender media, media industries, and new media.

- Theatre: Theatre Design (Lighting or Set)
The Department of Theatre seeks a postgraduate (MFA or equivalent) fellow in Design. The successful candidate will show strong interest and experience primarily in the area of lighting design, with secondary interest and/or experience in other areas of theatrical design broadly conceived, including, but not limited to, projections and media technology.

Please specify your discipline and department of interest when applying, with an understanding that SoC is particularly interested in fellows who can leverage their specific expertise across one or more communication fields within the School.

Preferred Start Date: September 1, 2022

Eligibility:

• Applicants must have completed their doctoral degree or terminal degree (e.g., MFA, M.M.) in their field within the past five (5) academic years and no later than September 1, 2022.*
• The primary criterion for selection is evidence of scholarship and creative work competitive for a potential tenure track appointment in the School of Communication at Northwestern University.
• An important secondary criterion is the support of the proposed department to host the fellow.
• Applicants will be expected to teach one (1) academic course in their area of expertise each year of the fellowship program.

*If a selected applicant has held a tenure-track appointment(s) at other institutions prior to joining this program, we will consider this service when determining the length of the applicant’s probationary period (“tenure clock”) upon transition to a tenure-eligible position at Northwestern, following the successful completion of this program.

Award Details:

• $65,000 per calendar year, plus health benefits
• $5,000 per year research funds for research expenses, including travel
• $5,000 in moving expenses
• Office space and computer
• Departmental mentoring and workshops
• Offer of a tenure-track position at the end of the fellowship, subject to satisfactory performance

Application:
Applications will only be accepted via online submission to our recruiting system. For full consideration, please be sure to include the following materials in your application:

1. Cover letter addressed to Mancosh Pathways Postdoctoral Fellowship Committee
2. Curriculum vitae
3. A statement of research plans (1-3 pages)
4. A Contribution to Diversity Statement articulating why you should be selected for this program
5. Writing samples (e.g., publications, dissertation chapters, no more than 25 pages); Creative scholars should submit a portfolio in lieu of writing sample (e.g., play, screenplay, or a link to a film portfolio)
6. Three (3) contacts for letters of recommendation, including the applicant’s dissertation or thesis advisor

Email your questions regarding the program to mancoshpostdoc@northwestern.edu.

Closing Date: December 15, 2021. Review of applications will begin immediately.

The School:
The School of Communication has five departments and offers a suite of interdisciplinary undergraduate, professional, and graduate programs. The departments span the communication arts and sciences including the Department of Radio-Television-Film, the Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, the Department of Communication Studies, the Department of Performance Studies, and the Department of Theatre (which includes music theatre and dance). The faculty of over 180 includes 102 tenure-track faculty. The school offers instruction to roughly 1000 undergraduate majors and 650 graduate and professional students. Founded over 135 years ago, the School has been a leader in developing the communication disciplines and professions, and continues to be a center of excellence in the communication arts and sciences. Our current Dean is E. Patrick Johnson.

The University:
Northwestern University is one of the nation’s largest private research universities. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, the main campus is in Evanston and the medical campus is 12 miles south in downtown Chicago. There is continuing expansion of University facilities and programs, particularly in the sciences and medicine. Diverse cultural, social, and recreational activities abound on and near each campus.

The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.

Northwestern University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and does not discriminate against qualified individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, marital status, age, disability, citizenship status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected class. Individuals from all diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the United States. For more information, please visit the University’s Policy on Institutional Equity.