As part of Vassar’s five-position Cluster Hire Initiative in the Study of Race, Racism, and Racial Justice, the Environmental Studies Program at Vassar College invites applications for a tenure-track hire in the field of environmental racism, environmental justice, and/or climate justice. This will be a joint appointment between Environmental Studies and one of the following departments: Chemistry, Biology, Physics, or Earth Science. Candidates in these or related fields are encouraged to apply. Position to begin fall semester 2022.
Vassar College is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to increasing the diversity of the campus community and the curriculum, and promoting an environment of equality, inclusion, and respect for difference. Candidates who can contribute to this goal through their teaching, research, advising, and other activities are encouraged to identify their strengths and experiences in this area. Individuals from groups whose underrepresentation in the American professoriate has been severe and longstanding are particularly encouraged to apply.
The successful candidate will split their teaching between environmental studies and biology, chemistry, physics, or earth science and will conduct research in environmental justice, broadly construed. Vassar College promotes closely mentored work between students and faculty with a special focus on community-engaged projects. Candidates are encouraged to consider how they might incorporate these opportunities into their scholarly work.
This position is part of a cluster hire initiative that aims to expand and strengthen Vassar’s longstanding and rich curricular focus on race, racism, and racial justice. The initiative seeks to open new possibilities for curricular innovation in this crucial area of study, provide new research and mentoring opportunities for students, help to forge new cross-disciplinary conversations, and create a faculty peer cohort for long-term support and collaboration.
Addressing environmental injustices involves work on intersecting disciplinary fronts. We seek candidates whose scholarship focuses on the use of natural sciences to study environmental or climate justice. The successful candidate should expect to teach and mentor students from diverse fields in this inquiry, both in their co-appointing science department and in Environmental Studies. Environmental Studies at Vassar is a multidisciplinary program that integrates faculty and students from natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities to explore relationships between people and the totality of their environments – natural, built, and social (Read more at this link). We hope this position will enrich the curriculum in Environmental Studies and the co-appointing department, emphasizing the importance of race and justice to these disciplines, support and enhance existing diversity in their student communities, and better prepare students to understand and respond to issues of environmental or climate justice in their communities.
Candidates should submit the following materials:
-A cover letter including work relevant to issues of environmental or climate justice, as well as to environmental studies in general. The letter should also state to which department(s) the candidate might be co-appointed;
-CV;
-Graduate transcript (an unofficial copy is acceptable for initial application);
-A diversity statement highlighting contributions to or future plans for promoting diversity
and inclusion through teaching, research, and other involvements; (https://offices.vassar.edu/dean-of-the-faculty/positions/candidate-diversity-statement/)
-A statement of teaching philosophy, including hypothetical course descriptions (100-150 words each) for 3 courses that the candidate would like to teach with at least one in Environmental Studies and at least one in the co-appointing department;
-A statement of research philosophy and plan, including plans for undergraduate participation;
-Three letters of recommendation.
-Up to three relevant publications and/or manuscripts
Applications should be addressed to Mary Ann Cunningham, Director of the Environmental Studies Program and submitted online at https://employment.vassar.edu/postings/2149 . PhD is required or must be in hand by August 1, 2022. Address any questions to Mary Ann Cunningham via email (macunningham@vassar.edu), with the subject heading “ENST search”. Review of applicant materials will begin on October 4, 2021 and will continue until the position has been filled. There is no guarantee that applications received after this date will be reviewed.