Faculty position: Critical Race Studies at George Mason University

George Mason University is hiring an Assistant or Associate Professor of Critical Race Studies to teach in the Cultural Studies PhD Program, the Philosophy Department, and the Women and Gender Studies Program. See the full job at <https://jobs.gmu.edu/postings/49041> — details also posted below.

Tenure Track Assistant or Associate Professor

The George Mason University College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) invites applications for an interdisciplinary full-time, tenure-line position (assistant or associate level) with a research and teaching specialty in critical race studies, and an emphasis on how race and racialization interact with other forms of socially constructed identities, including but not limited to, gender, sexuality, class, and disability. George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason’s academic and culturally inclusive environment.

Position Description:

This position is a part of the College of Humanities and Social Science’s diversity cluster hire initiative designed to create a cohort of faculty across departments whose scholarship focuses on issues related to inequalities; underrepresented regions and languages of the world; underserved, vulnerable populations; race, racism, and antiracism; and intersectional approaches to the study of difference, diversity, discrimination, and social justice. This cohort will contribute to interdisciplinary programs and enhance the mentorship of a diverse student population. The College and the University are committed to providing a robust structure to support this cohort of interdisciplinary positions and those who hold them. Agreements will be worked out to ensure an equitable and just allocation of teaching and service responsibilities across participating units.

We seek applicants whose work addresses such matters as environmental racism; connections between racial formations and capitalism; indigeneity; blackness and the afterlives of slavery; whiteness, colonialism, and decolonization; neoliberalism; or the prison-industrial complex. Disciplinary training is open. Preference will be given to approaches in the critical Humanities, including critical race studies, cultural studies, gender/sexuality/queer theory, media, globalization, articulation theory; or in philosophical approaches that connect directly with one or more of these fields.

The appointment will begin in August 2021.

Home Department:

  • Departmental home in Cultural Studies, Philosophy, or Women and Gender Studies, to be determined based on disciplinary expertise of candidate;
  • 2:2 teaching load, with releases as appropriate for administrative work.

Responsibilities:

  • Sustain an active program of scholarly research in their areas of expertise, produce peer-reviewed publications, and participate in professional organizations and societies;
  • Complement existing faculty expertise in critical race studies and intersecting areas;
  • Contribute to interdisciplinary research and teaching collaborations within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences;
  • Teach courses in the BA and MA programs in Philosophy and/or Women and Gender Studies, and/or the PhD program in Cultural Studies, and develop new courses that will expand the College’s offerings and serve students in related disciplines;
  • Mentor undergraduate and graduate student research; serve on thesis, field, and dissertation committees;
  • Advise students and contribute to the College’s commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive academic community.

Required Qualifications:

  • Ph.D. in relevant field with evidence of completion by August 2021;
  • Area of specialization: critical race studies;
  • Demonstrable potential for excellence in scholarship and in graduate and undergraduate teaching.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Teaching expertise in areas that complement existing teaching capacity in at least two of the participating units (Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Women and Gender Studies);
  • A commitment to activism, community engagement, and/or public-facing scholarship that reaches beyond the classroom to the wider community.

Information about the University and College:

George Mason University is a Carnegie Tier 1 Research [R1] university located in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and is the largest public university in the state of Virginia, with the most diverse student body in the state.

In the summer of 2020, the Presidential Initiative on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) was established to ensure that George Mason University creates an inclusive and equitable campus environment in which every member of our community, without exception, is valued, supported, and experiences a sense of belonging. The primary purpose of this initiative is to position the university to become a national exemplar of anti-racism and inclusive excellence through its own reconciliation work.

To ensure the greatest collective impact, the work of the task force is anchored in the scholarly, teaching and learning, and administrative expertise that exists within Mason’s colleges and schools around issues of diversity, inclusion, equity and social justice, conflict resolution and analysis, and the histories and social identities of individuals from marginalized groups.

The Programs in Cultural Studies and Women and Gender Studies and the Department of Philosophy at Mason are committed to excellence in teaching and research across diverse perspectives and disciplinary lines.

Each of these departments or programs collaborates with one another and with many other departments and units including African and African American Studies, Economics, Global Affairs, the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, and the Schar School of Policy and Government, as well as the Center for Climate Change Communication and the Institute for a Sustainable Earth.

  • The PhD program in Cultural Studies was the first standalone Cultural Studies PhD program in the US.
  • The Philosophy department is home to the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy (IPPP) and to faculty who work on pressing issues of public and global concern, including climate change, international criminal law, global health justice, bioethics, and philosophies of race and gender.
  • The program in Women and Gender Studies is based on an integrated, co-curricular model, serving as both an academic unit in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and as a student affairs unit in University Life. Its undergraduate minor in LGBTQ studies was one of the first in the state.
  • George Mason University has recently chartered a Center for Humanities Research, which will both support faculty research through study leaves, and serve as an intellectual hub on campus.