Hello, ARSTM friends,
I wanted to be sure that folks on this list saw the recent position announcement for an assistant professor of Rhetoric, Media, & Culture at the University of Maryland. Of particular interest to ARSTM members: The University of Maryland’s features a Medical Humanities minor, a robust Digital Humanities infrastructure, and increasing commitments to studying artificial intelligence.
I am serving as the search chair and am happy to field any questions.
Damien
Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Media, & Culture at the University of Maryland
Search Chair, Damien S Pfister, dsp
The Department of Communication in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland-College Park invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in Rhetoric, Media, & Culture at the rank of Assistant Professor. The starting date for the position is August 23, 2024.
The successful candidate will have or show clear promise of a strong, active research program in Rhetoric, Media, & Culture. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in rhetoric, communication, media studies, or a related field at the time of appointment and have the ability to advise graduate students. We seek an assistant professor with a research program that emphasizes one or more of the following: critical-cultural rhetorics, transnational rhetorics, global rhetorical traditions; comparative rhetorics; critical media studies; African American/Black/African diasporic media; Latine media studies; indigeneity and coloniality; race and digital studies.
All faculty members are expected to advance the Department’s guiding principle through their research, teaching, and/or service: Communication for the Public Good. Candidates should also articulate their potential contributions to Department initiatives like the Black Communication and Technology Lab, the Rosenker Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership, and/or the Center for Health and Risk Communication, alongside College of Arts and Humanities programs like the African American History, Culture, & Digital Humanities Initiative, the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, the Digital Studies in Arts & Humanities graduate certificate program, the Medical Humanities minor, and/or the Harriet Tubman Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies graduate certificate program.
The ideal candidate will complement our graduate specialization in Rhetoric & Political Culture and undergraduate specializations in Political Communication & Public Advocacy and Media & Digital Communication, with primary teaching interests in histories and theories of rhetoric, media, and culture. We encourage applications from candidates who are both well-grounded in critical approaches to communication scholarship and open to creative interchange with colleagues practicing qualitative and quantitative communication inquiry. Candidates whose research has the potential to draw upon the rich archival and other resources in the larger Washington, D.C. area are especially encouraged to apply.
The Department of Communication is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community. Candidates should be able to evidence their commitment to providing mentorship and training in anti-racist and inclusive pedagogies for a diverse range of undergraduate and graduate students. Candidates are also expected to explain how their research, teaching, and service have prepared them to contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Contributions might include teaching, mentoring, research, or service towards building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment and/or increasing access or participation of individuals from historically-underrepresented groups.
Review of applications will begin September 20, 2023. The following materials should be submitted: (1) a letter of interest that describes the applicant’s program of research and other qualifications; (2) a curriculum vitae that includes names and contact information for three references; (3) a teaching statement/philosophy and evidence of teaching effectiveness; (4) a Statement of Contributions to Diversity as described above; and (5) one sample of recent research (i.e., journal article, book chapter, conference paper). Apply at https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/110540. Questions should be emailed to the chair of the search committee, Dr. Damien Pfister, Associate Professor,
dsp.
Founded in 1856, University of Maryland, College Park is the state’s flagship institution. Our 1,250-acre College Park campus is just minutes away from Washington, D.C., and the nexus of the nation’s legislative, executive, and judicial centers of power. This unique proximity to business and technology leaders, federal departments and agencies, and a myriad of research entities, embassies, think tanks, cultural centers, and non-profit organizations is simply unparalleled. Synergistic opportunities for our faculty and students abound and are virtually limitless in the nation’s capital and surrounding areas. The University is committed to attracting and retaining outstanding and diverse faculty and staff that will enhance our stature of preeminence in our three missions of teaching, scholarship, and full engagement in our community, the state of Maryland, and in the world.
The Department of Communication offers B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in Communication. The undergraduate Communication major is the largest major in the College of Arts & Humanities and has ranked in the top ten largest majors on campus. The department is also home to the Oral Communication Center that provides support for a general education requirement in oral communication. More information about the Department of Communication is available at http://www.communication.umd.edu/. The University of Maryland is part of the Big Ten Academic Alliance and is located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, one of the nation’s most diverse and internationally-significant areas and home to a variety of government agencies and non-governmental organizations.
The University of Maryland, College Park, an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action; all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, age, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, creed, marital status, political affiliation, personal appearance, or on the basis of rights secured by the First Amendment, in all aspects of employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
Offers of employment are contingent on completion of a background check. Information reported by the background check will not automatically disqualify you from employment.
This search is contingent upon the availability of funds.
Apply at https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/110540
This institution offers benefits to same-sex and to different sex domestic partners.
This institution offers benefits to spouses.
This institution provides the following trans-affirming healthcare coverage – Other: outpatient psychotherapy/mental health services for gender dysphoria and associated co-morbid psychiatric diagnosis, continuous hormone replacement therapy with outpatient laboratory testing to monitor, medically necessary gender reassignment therapy (all criteria must be met: must be at least 18 years of age, capacity to make fully informed decisions and consent for treatment, diagnosed with gender dysphoria and exhibits a) the desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by the wish to make his or her body as congruent as possible with the preferred sex through surgery and hormone treatment b) the gender dysphoria (pre- and post-diagnosis) has been present persistently for at least two years c) the gender dysphoria is not a symptom of another mental disorder d) the gender dysphoria causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning)
This institution provides the following support – Transgender and gender expansive (TGE) competent mental health support for non-TGE parents
Day-min Fist-er | he/him/his
Associate Professor, Department of Communication
Director, Design Cultures & Creativity
University of Maryland
2116 Skinner Building
College Park, MD 20742-7635
dsp@umd.edu
damiensmithpfister.net
Series Co-Editor, Rhetoric + Digitality