Job location: Washington State University

Employment Type: Full-time
Posted data: 2020-12-22
Req: R-24

 

Title:

270-NN - Assistant Professor

 

 

Business Title:

Assistant Professor of Indigenous Knowledge, Data Sovereignty, and Decolonization

 

Additional Titles:

 

Location:

Washington State University

 

Area:

College of Arts and Sciences

 

Department:

Digital Technology and Culture

 

Employee Type:

Faculty

 

Job Family:

Faculty - Academic - Not OT Eligible

 

Position Number:

 

Position Details:

This tenure track recruitment is included in the Washington State University Racism and Social Inequality in the Americas cluster hire. For more information and the list of the other positions included in this cluster hire, please visit the Office of the Provost website at https://provost.wsu.edu/clusterhire/.

 

Position Summary

The Digital Technology and Culture (DTC) program at Washington State University (WSU) invites applications for a tenure track, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Knowledge, Data Sovereignty, and Decolonization starting August 2021 on the Tri-Cities campus. Part of a University system-wide cluster hire initiative in Racism and Social Inequality in the Americas, this position will join an initial cohort of five new hires and existing faculty to build a network of scholars who are committed to conducting research on racism, ethnicity, social justice, power, and structures of inequality in their diverse fields of specialization. Specifically, the position in DTC will bring a diverse, interdisciplinary, and publicly engaged lens to broad issues of technology, data, design, and information-based challenges based in systemic injustices and focused on restorative human centered, technological and data solutions.

 

The Digital Technology and Culture program is an interdisciplinary program within the newly authorized School of Information in the College of Arts and Sciences emphasizing humanistic understandings of technology, technological histories and futures, and publicly engaged research and creative production. Candidates should have a research focus and/or creative agenda in one or more of the following broadly interpreted areas: archival sciences, visual arts, data-driven storytelling, critical design, digital media arts, integrative media and design, data visualization, critical code studies and practice, artificial intelligence, or human-computer interaction with an emphasis on ethical, social and cultural considerations of Indigenous knowledge, data sovereignty and decolonization theories, methods and practices. The program values creative, collaborative, and publicly engaged scholarship that places an emphasis on explicitly anti-racist pedagogies, practices, and production in teaching, research, service, and scholarship that work to advance racial justice, reconciliation, and repair.

 

WSU is a public research university committed to its land-grant heritage, its formal Memorandum of Understanding with Native American tribes in the region, and tradition of service to society. We are committed to ensuring that this appointment builds bridges with Native communities in the Pacific Northwest as part of a decolonizing process through which WSU can confront its roots as an instrument of settler colonialism. As a land-grant institution, the university is particularly interested in hiring scholars who are deeply connected to and integrated into the communities that they study, as a means to build on our strong tradition of engaged and applied scholarship at WSU. The College of Arts and Sciences and the Digital Technology and Culture program thus encourages applications from individuals who identify as members of Indigenous, Native American, and/or First Nations populations.

 

In addition to focusing on an area of significant public concern, this timely hire will sustain a rapidly growing DTC program on the Tri-Cities campus and become a foundational hire in the newly authorized School of Information, one that establishes from the outset our unit's commitment to social justice and community engagement. Locating this position at Tri-Cities will ensure that the new School is a system-wide effort and will also allow the new hire to expand efforts in the region to focus research and engagement with Native American communities locally.

 

Salary is competitive nine-month academic year with all university benefits. The position carries a standard 2-2 teaching load and will provide support for initial moving expenses.

 

 

Summary of Duties: As an Assistant Professor in the Digital Technology and Culture (DTC) Program on the Tri-Cities campus the successful applicant will teach undergraduate courses within their area of expertise and within the core undergraduate course curriculum; aid in the management and development of collaborative practices, spaces, and projects that engage the university and other publics; be an active part of the DTC faculty; engage in creative production and/or conduct scholarly research in areas of expertise; and support current and emerging research, teaching, and creative activities in digital research on campus and within the region. The DTC program is committed to building a diverse faculty and to the retention of new faculty and as such the successful candidate will be provided with a faculty mentor within the College of Arts and Sciences and have access to university programs such as the External Mentor Program (https://advance.wsu.edu/externalmentors/).

 

Campus and Program Description:

WSU is a land grant, multi-campus, state university. The Assistant Professor position will serve on the Tri-Cities campus, located in Eastern Washington on the shared traditional homelands of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. This hire would also have a formal connection with Native American Programs and the Center for Native American Research and Collaboration joining a system network of researchers, scholars and practitioners focused on Native American, Indigenous and First Nations issues. The successful candidate will join a growing interdisciplinary program consisting of scholars, teachers, and practitioners of design, data analysis, data visualization, archival sciences, animation, critical digital literacy, digital media studies, web development, information ethics, critical game studies, and software studies across campuses. The formation of the new School of Information highlights the commitment of the College of Arts and Sciences and the University to value, nurture, and expand interdisciplinary work and foster broad collaborations and extend to meaningful partnerships with the multiple publics the university serves. The DTC program offers the B.A., cross-listed classes with Data Analytics, and a graduate certificate in Digital Humanities and Culture.

Tenure Track : Yes
Monthly Salary: Salary is competitive nine-month academic year with all university benefits.
FTE: 100%
Position Term in months: 9 months

Required Qualifications: MFA, MDe, MAD, MGraph, or Ph.D. in Information Sciences, Data Analytics, Data Science, Integrative Technologies, Informatics, Information Design, Digital Media, Media Arts, Interactive Media, Data Visualization, Interdisciplinary Humanities, Digital Humanities or related area by the time of appointment; Documentation of an emergent and productive research or creative production trajectory appropriate to the position. Experience with instruction, mentoring, or tutoring in academic or community settings. Willingness to work collaboratively with faculty, to mentor students from a wide range of disciplines, cultures, and academic backgrounds, and to engage with varied community stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience collaborating with or working for community groups or Native organizations; Experience working on collaborative projects and programs or in a lab or collaborative production spaces; Commitment to retention of underrepresented students and student-success initiatives; Willingness to teach online.

 

 

Additional Information:

Department Link: dtc.wsu.edu
Background Check: Yes, this position has been determined to require a background check

Location: Richland, WA 99352
Screening Begin Date: January 16, 2021

Special Instructions to Applicants: A cover letter addressing research/creative production, teaching qualifications, areas of research and/or creative production, and links to relevant portfolios or projects; A statement addressing commitments to diversity, inclusion, and anti-racist pedagogies, research, and production; Curriculum Vitae; and Names and contact information of three professional references able to provide a letter addressing qualifications relative to this position (submit under References during the application process). References will not be contacted without first informing the candidate.

Required Documents:

1. Cover letter

2. A statement addressing commitments to diversity, inclusion, and anti-racist pedagogies, research, and production;

3. Curriculum Vitae

4. Reference contact information for 3 professional references

 

Time Type:

Full time

 

Position Term:

9 Month

 

Posting Close Date (If empty, open until filled):

 

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EDUCATOR AND EMPLOYER. Members of ethnic minorities, women, special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam-era, recently separated veterans, and other protected veteran, persons of disability and/or persons age 40 and over are encouraged to apply.

 

WSU employs only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized non-U.S. citizens. All new employees must show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

 

WSU is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact Human Resource Services: 509-335-4521 (v), Washington State TDD Relay Service: Voice Callers: 1-800-833-6384; TDD Callers: 1-800-833-6388, 509-335-1259(f), or hrs@wsu.edu.