Position ID: | Bates College-Digital and Computational Studies-PROFOFDCS [#25863, R2283] |
Position Title: | Professor of Digital and Computational Studies |
Position Type: | Tenured/Tenure-track faculty |
Position Location: | Lewiston, Maine 04240, United States [map] ![]() |
Subject Area: | Computational Social Science |
Appl Deadline: | 2023/11/01 11:59PM![]() |
Position Description: |
The Digital and Computational Studies (DCS)
Program at Bates College invites applications for an open-rank
tenure-track position, to be appointed as a faculty of Computer Science within
the DCS Program, beginning employment in August 2024. We seek a computer scientist whose interests
include undergraduate teaching, active scholarship, and interdisciplinary
work. Candidates should have a strong
interest in being located in a program that is highly interdisciplinary in
nature, with flexibility in curricular and co-curricular offerings not
necessarily found in more traditional computer science programs. While we are especially interested in expertise in
human-computer interaction (HCI), artificial intelligence / machine learning
(AI/ML), and/or natural language processing (NLP), we welcome and encourage
applicants from any specialization in computer science. Candidates
must have completed their Ph.D. in Computer Science or equivalent degree by 01
August 2024. They should demonstrate
ability to: engage students in an
undergraduate liberal education that develops intellectual curiosity,
reflection, and critical thinking;
contribute to an equitable and inclusive learning environment that
educates the whole student and cultivates informed civic action; mentor and
advise undergraduate students; teach courses involving introductory and
intermediate levels of undergraduate computer science; and develop upper-level
courses – which could be interdisciplinary in nature – based on their expertise
and interests. Candidates should also
show evidence of an active program of peer-reviewed scholarship that can be
continued at a predominantly undergraduate institution, which may include
undergraduate student researchers. The teaching load is 5 courses per academic year,
either as a 2-3 or 3-2 across two semesters, or as a 2-2-1
across two semesters and the Bates short term. Candidates
can find information about current Bates salaries and benefits in Part 2 of the
Faculty Handbook. About DCS at Bates: Established in 2017, DCS is an
interdisciplinary program that, collectively, seeks to build bridges between
core elements of computer science, data science, and digital studies,
connecting to the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and/or
other existing interdisciplinary programs on campus. The DCS curriculum asks students to
interrogate the practices, values, cultures and assumptions of the digital
world, while engaging with computing for social good. This work is happening in conversation with a
Bates-wide effort to interrogate how race,
power, privilege, white supremacy, and colonialism relate to our
curriculum. For more information about
Digital and Computational Studies at Bates, see our webpage. Bates DCS faculty are prepared and eager to
support candidates as they develop courses designed for an interdisciplinary
program. Resources at Bates: Bates College is a residential
liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine.
Details about the college and its community can be found here. Lewiston is a diverse and growing city in
Maine, two and a half hours north of Boston and 45 minutes from a burgeoning
Portland technology start-up scene that includes the Roux Institute. Bates supports new faculty through competitive
startup packages, a course reduction in the first year of teaching, and a paid
pre-tenure leave. Bates offers a new-faculty mentoring program through the Office of the
Dean of Faculty, and career-long faculty development programming through the Center for Inclusive
Teaching and Learning. Bates supports faculty scholarship via professional travel funding, internal grants, support
for post-tenure sabbaticals, and a robust external grants office. Faculty
research is routinely supported by the NSF, NIH, and other external funding
sources. Bates also partners with the nearby Roux Institute
(affiliated with Northeastern University).
This partnership allows Bates students to take select computer science
courses within the Roux's Align Program. The proximity of the Roux Institute
(Portland) and Northeastern (Boston), along with the breadth in expertise of
their faculty and staff, also provides potential research collaborations and
sabbatical opportunities for Bates faculty. Additional interdisciplinary opportunities at Bates
are available through the new Bonney Science Center as well as the new Immersive Media Studio, funded by a grant from
the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, opening in Fall 2023. Additionally, Bates is
home to the Digital Media Studios, a facility providing
equipment and expertise for a wide range of audio and visual media, as well as
the Visualization Lab, which includes VR studios
and 3D printing. Bates is committed to
supporting educational access for all.
Educational access and justice are central to Bates’ history and mission. That work is supported in a variety of ways,
including an HHMI Inclusive Excellence Grant
to support transforming how we teach STEM, a Schuler
Education Foundation Grant to support
financial aid for Pell-eligible students, low income, and undocumented
students, and a Mellon Foundation Curricular Transformation Grant.
Community-engaged learning
and study abroad are encouraged
and robustly supported. Read more about
our faculty’s commitment to equity and inclusion here. Review of
applications begins on 01 November 2023, and will continue until the search
process is concluded. Applicants should submit all requested materials through
Interfolio at APPLY
NOW. Applications should include the following: ●
A cover letter
summarizing your qualifications, both scholarly and pedagogical, for this
position as well as your interest in teaching at an all-undergraduate small
liberal arts college such as Bates College. ●
A current CV. ● A teaching statement that
includes a clearly articulated pedagogical philosophy; a discussion of your
experience related to teaching undergraduate computer science courses and, if
applicable, interdisciplinary courses;
and a description of how your teaching can contribute to a campus community
that values equity and inclusion. ●
A research statement that
describes your current scholarship and future plans in a way that is accessible
to a hiring committee of faculty having varied interdisciplinary specialties,
and that includes discussion of how you would incorporate undergraduates in
your research agenda. ●
We want to learn about
your past and potential contributions to equity, inclusion, and diversity with
regard to underrepresented groups, and ask that you describe them either in a
separate additional document, or integrated into your teaching and research
statements. ●
The names, affiliations,
and contact information for three references.
Letters of reference will be solicited when candidates are invited to
the first round of virtual interviews. Employment is contingent on successful completion of a background check. |