Teaching Assistant Professor

Civic Life and Leadership - 312500

02/14/2024

Yes

Permanent Faculty

Teaching Assistant Professor

Fixed Term Faculty

FAC0004964

Full-Time Permanent

40

1

North Carolina, US

Dependent on Experience and/or Qualifications

07/01/2024

The School of Civic Life and Leadership (SCiLL) seeks to appoint a non-tenure track Teaching Assistant Professor to begin [on or after] July 1, 2024. We have a special interest in applicants with backgrounds in the liberal arts and humanities, social sciences, natural science and its historical roots and epistemology, civics and politics, and rhetoric and dialectic (especially discourse and classical texts). SCiLL seeks to offer students interdisciplinary training in civics, the humanities, and scientific literacy, while promoting a culture of reasoned and respectful disagreement, and openness to changing one’s mind, thus we are especially interested in applicants with experience in teaching undergraduate courses focused on productive dialogue and debate across multiple audiences. SCiLL is an interdisciplinary school, so the ideal candidate will be able to teach across traditional boundaries between disciplines.

As the acronym conveys, the emphasis of SCiLL is on building and rehearsing the foundational skills, knowledge, and capacities required for healthy civic life. To that end, the successful candidate is expected to participate in the work of the SCiLL including the Program for Public Discourse (PPD), a program formed in 2019 and housed in SCiLL. The mission of SCiLL and PPD lies at the heart of higher education and is reiterated in Carolina’s strategic framework, Carolina Next: Innovations for the Public Good, and in the strategic plan of the College of Arts & Sciences.

As the largest unit on campus, the College of Arts and Sciences is the academic heart of the Carolina experience. The College consists of 43 academic departments and curricula and numerous programs, centers and institutes. It is home to more than 18,000 undergraduate students, including all of the University’s first-year and second-year students. About 2,300 graduate students study and teach in the College.

Endorsed by the Board of Trustees on January 30, 2020, Carolina Next: Innovations for the Public Good, the strategic plan for the University includes Initiative 5, ‘Promote Democracy.’ Objective 5.2 is to ‘work constructively across differences in society, starting by promoting respect and listening.’ Here several strategic opportunities are listed to support the goal of ‘build[ing] the capacity to engage constructively across differences with evidence, intellectual humility, and respect’ – including to ‘develop the Communication Beyond Carolina capacity requirements in the IDEAs in Action General education Curriculum’ and ‘conceptualize and develop the UNC Program for Public Discourse, emphasizing respectful dialogue in classes and public events.’ Objective 5.3 calls for exploration of the relationship between ’humanity’s highest purposes’ and democratic life.

In 2019, UNC-CH formed the Program for Public Discourse (PPD), recognizing that the complex nature of the pressing issues of our day require reasoned debate rooted in a strong foundation of basic knowledge and a spirit of open intellectual inquiry. In 2023, to fulfill the ‘democratic competencies’ goals of Carolina Next (5.2-3) and in light of increased pressures and challenges facing our democracy, the Board of Trustees identified the need for degree-oriented programs in the area of Civic Life and Leadership and resolved that the campus accelerate development of a School of Civic Life and Leadership. Subsequently an ad hoc faculty committee refined plans for an interdisciplinary, degree-granting unit within the College of Arts and Sciences. In September 2023, SCiLL was established by the Provost and an act of the North Carolina General Assembly. In October 2023, the inaugural faculty, representing Communication, English and Comparative Literature, History, Music, Philosophy, Physics and Astronomy, Political Science, and Psychology and Neuroscience Departments within the College, was appointed, and an interim Director and Dean named.

This is a full-time fixed term position that will teach six courses each academic year, in particular, courses that fulfill the focus capacity requirement in our general education curriculum, Communication Beyond Carolina. The initial appointment will be for a term of three years with the possibility of renewal. We will consider applicants from any area of study as long as it aligns with the mission of the program. The successful applicant will also participate in workshops with faculty focused on how to foster productive dialogue across difference in the classroom, and work across disciplines to help SCiLL build bridges with multiple departments in the College.

PhD or equivalent degree in a relevant field.

Previous teaching experience

N/A

Not Applicable.

Candidates should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, teaching statement, and the names and contact information of two references. Please use the “Other Document” attachment to provide the teaching statement. Applications will be considered until the position is filled, but our review of applications will begin on March 1, 2024.