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Citizen Science Faculty

Employer: Bard College
Location: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Employment Type: Full Time
Institution Type: Four-Year Institution

Job Details
Organization

Job Details

Citizen Science Faculty

Location:
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Open Date:
Mar 26, 2019
Description:

Citizen Science at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY is seeking instructors for January 2020. Citizen Science is an innovative program designed to provide opportunities for students in their first year of college to develop their personal science literacy through hands-on, real-world coursework and projects. We ask…

What does it mean to be scientifically literate?
What is the role of citizens when it comes to weighing in on important scientific issues?
How can citizens find the scientific information they need in order to meet the challenges they face in their lives and respond to the scientific issues of their day?
What are the skills we all need in order to adequately and thoroughly interpret scientific claims, and how can we be sure that the conduct, analysis, and interpretation of science are not unduly influenced by political or other potentially distorting factors?

Inspired by stories from places like Flint, MI, and Hoosick Falls, NY, the 2020 Citizen Science program will tackle urgent, present-day questions related to water. We will explore the properties of water, as well as how these properties influence the contamination (and decontamination) of drinking water. We will also consider the extent to which problems of contamination are not purely scientific in nature: where and how does politics enter the picture? In what ways are social, historical, and political factors at work even when we think we are engaged in “objective” science? Using laboratory investigations and active classroom discussions during these few intensive January weeks, the focus will be on the creation, analysis, and interpretation of scientific evidence. The program consists of a common core of coursework and one of four lab strands: Research, Community Action, Science Communication and Science Education. Faculty will be assigned to teach one of these lab strands based upon their expertise and the needs of the program. For details on the different labs visit

What does it mean to be scientifically literate?
What is the role of citizens when it comes to weighing in on important scientific issues?
How can citizens find the scientific information they need in order to meet the challenges they face in their lives and respond to the scientific issues of their day?
What are the skills we all need in order to adequately and thoroughly interpret scientific claims, and how can we be sure that the conduct, analysis, and interpretation of science are not unduly influenced by political or other potentially distorting factors?

Qualifications:

Successful candidates will possess or be near completion of a Ph.D. or equivalent in a STEM related discipline and be willing to engage students of all disciplines in a common educational experience. No specific background in the science of water is required. Prior teaching experience is not a requirement. Candidates with evidence of training in or experience that aligns with one of the four lab strands will be given special consideration.

All hired faculty will be required to attend mandatory training at Bard College campus July 21-26, 2019. Faculty will be required to return to campus for the Citizen Science program the first week of January for pre-program work. The program runs through Friday, January 24, 2020. Travel, food and dormitory housing will be provided for both the July and January sessions, and faculty will receive a stipend payable at the end of the January session.

Application Instructions:

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. We will give preference to applications received by Monday, April 29, 2019. Submit completed applications through Interfolio.com. Please include the following:

Your current CV
Three letters of recommendation (see link above for information on Letter Writers)
A letter of interest specific to this unique program which gives a sense of your philosophy on teaching and pedagogy as well as your approach to diversity and inclusion. We particularly invite you to address the four cornerstone questions of the program as represented at the beginning of this document.

All applicants must be authorized to work in the United States, and are responsible for determining their own eligibility. Applications received after April 29th will be accepted and considered on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.

Bard College is a private liberal arts institution with approximately 2,000 students, located in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Additional information about the Citizen Science program can be found on our website, http://citizenscience.bard.edu/.

Organization

Undergraduate Degrees

Bard offers courses of study in four divisions—Arts; Languages and Literature; Science, Mathematics, and Computing; and Social Studies—and in interdivisional programs and concentrations. Students may also earn a five-year B.S./B.A. degree in economics and finance. The Bard College Conservatory of Music offers a five-year program in which students pursue a dual degree—a B.Music and a B.A. in a field other than music. Bard and its affiliated institutions also grant the following undergraduate degrees: A.A. at Bard High School Early College; A.A. and B.A. at Bard College at Simon’s Rock: The Early College; and through the Bard Prison Initiative at six correctional institutions in New York State.

Graduate Degrees

More than 200 students are seeking graduate degrees: M.A. in curatorial studies, M.Music in vocal arts, conducting, and curatorial, critical, and performance studies, and M.S. in environmental policy, climate science and policy, and economic theory and policy at the Annandale campus; M.F.A. and M.A.T. at multiple campuses; M.B.A. in Sustainability in New York City; and M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in the decorative arts, design history, and material culture at the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan. M.Music degrees are also offered at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Early Colleges

Bard's early colleges educate the next generation of thought leaders, preparing them to be lifetime learners. Bard High School Early Colleges in New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and Cleveland, Ohio; Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts; and Bard Early College New Orleans and Bard Early College at the Harlem Children's Zone Promise Academy all serve the needs of highly motivated younger students.

International Degrees

Internationally, Bard confers dual B.A. degrees at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Russia (Smolny College); American University of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan; and Bard College Berlin: A Liberal Arts University; as well as dual B.A. and M.A.T. degrees at Al-Quds University in the West Bank.

Cultural Life

Campus life in Annandale is vibrant, with world-class performing arts venues; continuous and varied student activities; and numerous cultural and recreational opportunities in the surrounding historic Hudson River Valley and in New York City. Students choose from more than a hundred active clubs on campus, and new clubs begin every semester. The Bard College athletic teams are the Raptors. The College’s colors are red and white. The critically acclaimed Bard Music Festival is presented on campus each summer, exploring the life and work of a single composer through chamber music, choral and orchestral performances, symposia, panel discussions, and preconcert talks. Since 2003 the festival has been part of Bard SummerScape, which annually presents operas, films, and theatrical productions that complement the festival’s theme.

Outstanding Faculty

Bard's undergraduate faculty-to-student ratio is 1:10 and courses are taught by full faculty members. Among the many distinguished faculty at Bard College are five MacArthur Fellows—poets John Ashbery and Ann Lauterbach, novelist and memoirist Norman Manea, painter and multimedia artist Judy Pfaff, and journalist Mark Danner. Other notable faculty members include soprano Dawn Upshaw, journalist Ian Buruma, composers Joan Tower and George Tsontakis, poet Robert Kelly, and writers Luc Sante and Francine Prose. Over the years, four recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature have taught at Bard—Saul Bellow, Isaac Bashevis Singer, José Saramago, and Orhan Pamuk.

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