Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Faculty Position in Disability Studies and the Institute for Society and Genetics

Disability Studies centers the experiences of disabled people and emphasizes the role of the disability community in defining problems and evaluating solutions. UCLA’s new undergraduate major in Disability Studies is led by an interdisciplinary group of artists, activists, and scholars whose work examines the meaning, lived experience, and consequences of disability from a variety of perspectives, including the arts, humanities, health sciences and social sciences, public policy, technology and education.

The Institute for Society and Genetics is a multidisciplinary department of social scientists, life scientists, and humanists analyzing complex problems at the interface of biology and society and training cross-disciplinary thinkers. The ISG undergraduate major and minor programs bridge the gap between life sciences and humanities/social sciences, generating an interdisciplinary perspective needed to address many important and current problems at the intersections of human biology, genomics and society.

UCLA is an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) that strives to foster an equitable and inclusive community that supports our students of diverse backgrounds. UCLA is committed to achieving the goals of equal opportunity and endeavors to employ faculty and staff of the highest quality committed to working in a multicultural and multiracial community that reflects the diversity of the state.

Responsibilities:
Conduct research that provides critical analysis and encourages rethinking of the relationship between DS and the life sciences. Teach courses for undergraduate ISG and Disability Studies majors and minors. Work collaboratively with faculty members across both the Institute for Society and Genetics and the Disability Studies IDP Faculty Advisory Committee regarding curriculum, admissions, faculty hiring and other domains of departmental service.

Basic Qualifications:

1. Ph.D in related field within the humanities or social sciences from an accredited college or university is required by the time of appointment.

Additional Qualifications:

1. Humanist or social scientist who has potential for or evidence of building intellectual connections and/or participating in collaboration between science, medicine, technology, and the humanities
2. Evidence of interest in working alongside life scientists to incorporate DS critiques of normative medicalizing or eugenic models to develop new ways of thinking about disability in relation to science and medicine
3. Evidence of critical consideration of how life science, biology, medicine, and/or technology intersect with “Disabled life”, constructions of disability, experiences of disability, questions of identity and community formation, and/or public policies.
4. Evidence of excellence in teaching and innovative pedagogy consistent with career stage
5. Potential for or evidence of scholarly impact through publications
6. Evidence of active commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion
7. Potential for or evidence of ability to work collaboratively
8. Potential for or evidence of teaching excellence that align with the goals of public education and UCLA’s historical commitment to serve the educational needs of underrepresented populations

Preferred Qualifications:
Candidates whose research is informed by lived experience as a person with a disability and/or from an underrepresented group are encouraged to apply.

Additionally, a DS researcher whose work is international or comparative so as to reframe prevailing US approaches to disability would be of interest to ISG and DS.

Successful candidates should be able to articulate their research and teaching in ways that contribute to both the ISG and DS scholarly communities.

Requirements:
The following materials are required:

1. a cover letter introducing the candidate and articulating a vision for research, teaching, and mentorship at the intersection of disability and life science
2. full curriculum vitae
3. a description of research plans (2-3 pages)
4. a statement on teaching and mentoring (1-2 pages)
5. a statement on contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion describing past, present, and future (planned) contributions to EDI. (1-2 pages)
6. writing sample of academic work (roughly 15-30 pages)
7. names and contact information of three references (reference process explanation: the names and contact of 3 references who may be contacted at a later date regarding your application).
8. UCLA Reference Check Authorization Release Form

UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See Table 1. The salary range for this position is $78,200 -$101,400. “Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions. See campus compensation page for additional information.

The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community dedicated to the advancement, application, and transmission of knowledge and creative endeavors through academic excellence, where all individuals who participate in University programs and activities can work and learn together in a safe and secure environment, free of violence, harassment, bullying and other demeaning behavior, discrimination, exploitation, or intimidation. With this commitment as well as a commitment to addressing all forms of academic misconduct, UCLA conducts targeted employment reference checks for finalists to whom departments or other hiring units would like to extend formal offers of appointment into Academic Senate faculty positions. The targeted employment reference checks involve contacting the finalists’ current and prior places of employment to ask whether there have been substantiated findings of misconduct that would violate the University’s Faculty Code of Conduct. To implement this process, UCLA requires all applicants for Academic Senate faculty positions to complete, sign, and upload the form entitled “Authorization to Release Information” into RECRUIT as part of their application. If the applicant does not include the signed authorization to release information with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete. As with any incomplete application, the application will not receive further consideration. Although all applicants for faculty recruitments must complete the entire application, only finalists (i.e. those to whom the department or other hiring unit would like to extend a formal offer) considered for Academic Senate faculty positions will be subject to targeted employment reference checks.

To apply, please visit: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09783

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy, see: UC Nondiscrimination & Affirmative Action Policy, https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/DiscHarassAffirmAction

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