DISCO Network Mellon Fellowship

The DISCO (Digital Inquiry, Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism) Network Mellon Fellowship will address vital topics such as racial and gender inequality, histories of exclusion, disability justice and techno-ableism, and digital racial politics within the academy and beyond. In collaboration with the Mellon Foundation, this position is part of a seven-person fellowship cluster hiring effort across a consortium of five universities.

The full-time rate (FTR) is $75,000/12 months with benefits (plus $5,000/year allocation for research expense reimbursement). Please note that different universities have different fellowship terms, offering either a 1-year fellowship or 2-year fellowship term. The start and end dates of the fellowships vary and are dependent on the individual university's academic year calendar. 

The following universities are currently accepting fellowship applications:

 

1.The Humanities and Technoscience (HAT) Lab Fellowship at Purdue University (1-year fellowship):

For the 2022-2023 academic year, we seek a postdoctoral fellow who will contribute to DISCO and the HAT lab by identifying and developing curricular and research opportunities that bridge and connect the humanities, the arts, engineering, and social sciences. The fellow is expected to build a research agenda based on their individualized scholarly work. As the HAT lab will focus on a studio-based curricular and research model, we are interested in a fellow whose research broadly engages design and material culture. We seek a fellow whose expertise connects with one or more of the following subject areas: American Studies, Design Studies, Material Culture Studies, or Science and Technology Studies with a focus on communities of difference (race, gender, sexuality). 

Fellow’s Activities: 

  • Attend DISCO bi-weekly network meetings.

  • Develop an individualized research program.

  • Create scholarly programming that supports the research agenda of the HAT lab.

  • Contribute to curricular and writing projects, including a cross-institutional, collaboratively-designed curricula.

  • Organize a series of meetings with local stakeholders, academic units, and peers to identify appropriate partners for project-based learning opportunities.

  • Annually teach or co-teach a variable-credit course related to the HAT lab research agenda.  This course may be offered remotely. 

  • Serve on relevant HAT lab and DISCO committees.

 

2. The Black Communication and Technology Lab (BCaT) Lab Fellowship at the University of Maryland (1-year fellowship):

For the 2022-2023 academic year, we seek a postdoctoral fellow who will contribute to DISCO, the BCaT lab, and the department of Communication at the University of Maryland by helping to build a cohort approach to recruitment, training, and mentoring that ushers students from undergraduate programs to research in race and technology. As the BCaT lab will develop a pipeline program model that introduces undergraduates to digital research through workshops and coursework, helps students navigate graduate research, and creates a mentoring network for students to navigate Black Digital Studies within the humanities, we are interested in a fellow who can contribute to the building of a prototype for recruiting and sustaining a new generation of scholars in Digital Studies. We seek a fellow with expertise and a terminal degree in the field of Communication or a related field with a focus on race, African American history/culture, Black diasporic history/culture, Black Digital Humanities, and/or Black Studies. 

Fellow’s Activities:

  • Attend DISCO bi-weekly network meetings.

  • Develop an individualized research program.

  • Create scholarly programming that supports the research agenda of the BCaT lab.

  • Develop one course/year (undergrad or grad) to be shared with partner institutions.

  • Work with the director to develop undergraduate mentoring/writing sessions. 

  • Help design workshops for public high school programs in Digital Studies.

  • Present research at one colloquium per year.

  • Attend 1-2 workshops per semester for graduate students/early career scholars. 

 

3. The Digital Accessible Futures (Digital AF) Lab Fellowship at the University of Michigan (2-year fellowship):

For the 2022-2024 academic years, we seek a postdoctoral fellow who specializes in the areas of disability justice, critical access studies, and digital studies. Candidates specializing in critiques of techno-ableism and techno-normativity, histories of digital access as they relate to disabled users, digital networks of care post and pre-COVID-19, data regimes and the resurgence of crip wisdom, intersectional approaches to disability and technology that include sexuality, race, class, and other aspects of identity are especially welcome. This is an interdisciplinary position and candidates may have earned Ph.D.’s in a variety of disciplines.

Fellow’s Activities: 

  • Attend DISCO bi-weekly network meetings.

  • Develop an individualized research program.

  • Create scholarly programming that supports the research agenda of the DISCO Network, including collaboration on remote access charettes.

  • Contribute to curricular and writing projects, including a cross-institutional, collaboratively-designed curricula.

  • Organize a series of meetings with local stakeholders, academic units, and peers to identify appropriate partners for network building and resource mapping.

  • Annually teach or co-teach a variable-credit course related to the U-M Initiative in Disability Studies (UMInDS).

  • Serve on relevant DISCO and U-M disability-related committees.

 

4. The DISCO Network Fellowship at the University of Michigan (2-year fellowship):

For the 2022-2024 academic years, we seek a postdoctoral fellow who specializes in the areas of digital culture and technology with a special focus on race, ethnic studies, gender studies, disability, nationality, etc. Candidates with experience network building, doing policy work, engaging in activist networks, or other forms of outreach and organizing are encouraged to apply.  Duties will include developing the DISCO Network’s national and international intellectual community, resource mapping, convening stakeholders and scholars working on digital equity across a range of contexts, programming events and regular meetings to coalesce the network’s activities, and envisioning more equitable digital futures. This is an interdisciplinary position and candidates may have earned Ph.D.’s in a variety of disciplines.

Fellow’s Activities: 

  • Attend DISCO bi-weekly network meetings.

  • Develop an individualized research program.

  • Create scholarly programming that supports the research agenda of the DISCO Network.

  • Contribute to curricular and writing projects, including a cross-institutional, collaboratively-designed curricula.

  • Organize a series of meetings with local stakeholders, academic units, and peers to identify appropriate partners for network building and resource mapping.

  • Serve on relevant DISCO committees.

 

5. DISCO Curriculum Development Fellowship at the University of Michigan (2-year fellowship):

For the 2022-2024 academic years, we seek a postdoctoral fellow who specializes in the areas of race and digital culture with a special emphasis on platform or infrastructure studies, game studies, anti-racist social movements, artificial intelligence and racial misrecognition, and other emergent racio-social formations. Candidates specializing in Black or indigenous digital studies are especially encouraged to apply. Duties will include building the DISCO Network’s intellectual community, collaborating on a new anti-racist curriculum for undergraduate students inside and beyond the liberal arts, teaching one course per semester in that curriculum, and/or producing new research for a public audience informed by critical race theory and technology studies.  Evidence of teaching excellence and innovation required. This is an interdisciplinary position and candidates may have earned Ph.D.’s in a variety of disciplines.

Fellow’s Activities: 

  • Attend DISCO bi-weekly network meetings.

  • Develop an individualized research program.

  • Create scholarly programming that supports the research agenda of the DISCO Network.

  • Contribute to curricular and writing projects, including a cross-institutional, collaboratively-designed curricula.

  • Organize a series of meetings with local stakeholders, academic units, and peers to identify appropriate partners for project-based learning opportunities.

  • Annually teach or co-teach a variable-credit course related to the research agenda. 

  • Serve on relevant DISCO committees.

Qualifications

Ph.D. completed in a related discipline by Sept. 1, 2022.

Application Instructions

Applications received before Oct. 18, 2021 will be guaranteed consideration, but they will continue to be reviewed as they are received until the position is filled.

Please submit the following documents to Interfolio at https://apply.interfolio.com/92435:

1) A cover letter addressing the relationship of your academic work and research interests to fields specified in the fellowship description;

2) Current CV;

3) Writing sample (1-20 pages);

4) Statement of research (1-2 pages);

5) Teaching Portfolio detailing teaching statement and evidence of teaching experience and effectiveness (1-2 pages);

6) Three letters of recommendation;

7) A list specifying which fellowship positions you would like to be considered for if applying to more than one fellowship position.


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