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Postdoctoral Fellow, Black Studies Program

Employer
Skidmore College
Location
New York, United States
Salary
Salary Not Specified
Date posted
Jan 19, 2022

Job Details



The Black Studies Program of Skidmore College, a selective liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York, invites applications for two Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships, both beginning in September 2022. These two-year appointments were created in conjunction with “Africana Studies and the Humanities at Skidmore: Transnational Explorations in Social Justice,” an institutional grant supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

We assert that enthusiasm for teaching a diverse population of students is essential for transformative liberal arts educational experiences. We welcome candidates from underrepresented groups, as well as individuals who have experience with diverse populations, who can contribute to intellectual life at Skidmore. Furthermore, we assert that individuals who embrace a social justice trajectory—activism, teaching, and scholarship in pursuit of fundamental human rights, and a commitment to antiracist, antisexist, and decolonizing work—will have opportunities to grow intellectually and build community here. We encourage you to discuss any aspects of your candidacy relevant to these issues in your application materials.

Mellon Fellows in Black Studies will be chosen based on their ability to teach courses in humanistic subfields in need of more representation and coverage by faculty affiliated with the Black Studies Program and Skidmore at large. These fields can include, but are by no means limited to areas such as Afrofuturism and Afro-pessimism in literary studies, critical digital humanities, history of the Black Atlantic, and transnational approaches to Black religious studies . We seek to hire two individuals with grounding in Africana Studies, a keen appreciation of interdisciplinary methodology, and able to contribute to concrete and long-term curricular change by designing new courses or revising existing ones. Specifically, the successful candidates will teach two courses per year—one course per semester during their first year and in their second year, the option to teach one course per semester or two courses in a single semester, leaving one term free of teaching obligations.

Education:

A Ph.D. in Africana Studies or a related field with a humanities emphasis, or Ph.D. in a humanities field with an explicit Africana Studies emphasis is required.

About the Black Studies Program and the “Africana Studies and the Humanities at Skidmore: Transnational Explorations in Social Justice” Mellon Grant:

Black Studies is a recently established interdisciplinary program at Skidmore that began offering a minor two years ago, as well as programming such as last year’s “COVID-19 and the Global African World Virtual Symposium.” The postdoctoral fellowships are but one component of “Africana Studies and the Humanities at Skidmore,” an institutional grant funded through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities for All Times Initiative. The grant seeks to increase enrollments in humanities courses, but also, to establish anti-racist inquiry broadly, and Africana Studies methods and pedagogies specifically, as indispensable to humanistic inquiry. Above all, the grant seeks to both solidify the institution’s commitment to social justice through innovative course creation and teaching, undergraduate research, and cross-constituent collaboration, as well as establish a supportive, equity-minded community of individuals who are committed to Africana Studies and embrace doing this challenging work. Postdoctoral fellows will be paired with a faculty mentor and are expected to participate each year in one learning community (of their choosing) designed to support course development and research focused on social justice.

Review of applications will begin on Monday, February 21, 2022.

Questions can be directed to the search committee chair, Winston Grady-Willis, at wgradywi@skidmore.edu .

Required documents needed to apply:

  1. Online Application
  2. Cover Letter – please include how your teaching, research and/or service experiences would contribute to the college’s goal of building a diverse, inclusive, and interdisciplinary educational environment focused on social justice.
  3. Teaching Statement
  4. Curriculum Vitae
  5. Article-length Writing Sample (published or unpublished)
  6. List of Three References


Pay Range: Commensurate with experience

This system can support attachments up to 1.9MB. All “required” documents must be attached through the online application system to complete the application process. If you have questions please contact Jim Calhoun, Employment Coordinator in Human Resources, at: jcalhoun@skidmore.edu or (518) 580-5802.

The department will interview candidates via Skype and/or Zoom in early March 2022.

Skidmore College is on a semester calendar and offers a comprehensive benefits package to employees and their qualified dependents, including domestic partners and same-sex spouses. In keeping with Skidmore’s strategic plan to enhance the diversity of our campus community, we particularly encourage applications from members of historically underrepresented groups.

In order to prevent or significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at Skidmore College and protect all members of the College community from infection, successful candidates will be required to submit proof of full vaccination as a condition of employment, unless exempted as a reasonable accommodation of a medical condition or sincerely held religious belief or practice.

EEO STATEMENT

Skidmore College is committed to being an inclusive campus community and an equal-opportunity employer. The college therefore prohibits discrimination against any individual or group of its students, prospective students, employees or candidates for employment on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, national or ethnic origin, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, domestic violence victim status, familial status, dating violence, and stalking or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, need not be based on an individual’s protected status to be a violation of this policy.

Employment at Skidmore College is contingent upon an acceptable background check result.

CREATIVE THOUGHT MATTERS.

Company

Skidmore College

Skidmore College is a highly ranked, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York, where Creative Thought Matters. 

We're a four-year private, nonsectarian, coeducational school that invites 2,700 undergraduate students to engage in 44 majors, 19 varsity athletics teams, and more than 100 student clubs. They also benefit from award-winning dining and residential halls and lifelong connections with some of the smartest and most dedicated and passionate faculty in the industry.

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