Tenure or Tenure-Track Position: Latin American Eco-criticism

Tenure or Tenure-Track Position:  Latin American Eco-criticism

The University of Texas at San Antonio

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has embarked on a focused cluster hiring plan to recruit top-tier researchers in interdisciplinary areas of knowledge that will advance the study of Social and Environmental Challenges in Latin America.  Home to some of the largest bioreserves in the world and some of world’s most important biodiversity hotspots, Latin America’s environments are undergoing rapid transformation due to climate change, environmental degradation, and politico-socio-economic transformations across the region.  These forces are coupled in complex ways, and understanding the coupled dynamics of society, climate, and environment in Latin America presents a grand challenge that is fertile ground for transdisciplinary research.

To address this challenge, UTSA is recruiting a cohort of researchers from different disciplines whose research centers on environmental degradation, climate change, and the associated socioeconomic and political challenges and transformations in Latin America and the US-Mexico borderlands. The goal is to foster collaborative and transdisciplinary research to understand and confront the emerging social and environmental challenges facing the region.  This targeted cluster hire will build on and leverage our established research portfolio, propelling our ability to tackle and solve previously unsolvable problems. Hires are expected to build their own unique programs of research, as well as to collaborate with other hires in this cluster and with colleagues in their home department, college, and other colleges.

As part of this cluster, we seek to hire a tenured or tenure-track scholar (Assistant or Associate Professor) in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and/or the Department of Art and Art History. We seek a scholar who applies eco-criticism approaches to the literature, visual arts, and/or the media to address topics such as colonialism and human rights in colonial or contemporary Latin America and/or the Caribbean. The ideal candidate will also create transdisciplinary collaborative synergies among faculty hired as part of this cluster and existing faculty in the Departments of Art and Art History, Modern Languages and Literatures, English, and History, among others.  We would particularly welcome a scholar who complements current faculty in terms of theoretical perspectives, methods, media of study, and time and region of focus.

Required Qualifications: Ph.D. in Art History, Spanish, Latin American Studies, or related field in hand at time of application; theoretically motivated research; an established record of teaching, research, and service appropriate to rank; demonstrated interest and experience in collaborative teaming and/or transdisciplinary research; desire and ability to contribute to graduate and undergraduate programs and to educate and mentor students from a culturally diverse urban population.

For consideration as Associate Professor, candidates must have a strong record of publication, evidence of effective teaching, and substantial experience in department, university, and professional service.  Tenure is contingent on Board of Regents approval.

Preferred Qualifications: Native or near-native fluency in Spanish and/or Portuguese; potential for securing external funding; experience in cross-disciplinary areas of inquiry that intersect art history, literature studies, media studies, cultural studies, linguistics, translation studies, and/or film studies. Preferred candidates will be able to successfully teach and mentor diverse, underserved students, including first-generation students, students of color and non-traditional students, and have the ability to contribute to the university’s commitment to inclusive excellence as a Hispanic Serving Institution.

Responsibilities include: teaching introductory, upper division, and graduate courses; research and service in a program that offers B.A. and M.A. degrees; maintaining an active research agenda; leadership in developing new lines of research and teaching; contributing to the university and community through service and outreach.

Applicants must submit:

• a letter of application describing research, teaching, and service accomplishments and goals that includes a discussion of the role that diversity and inclusion play in an academic environment; please indicate the rank for which you wish to be considered 
• a CV
• up to three representative publications, which could include dissertation chapters
• teaching evaluations if available
• names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of three references. 

Materials must be submitted on-line https://jobs.utsa.edu/postings/14346.  Please reference posting TT20190062P. Review of applications begins November 1, 2019.  For full consideration, applicants should submit their materials by that date.  Inquiries may be directed to the Cluster Search Committee Chair, Dr. Jason Yaeger (jason.yaeger@utsa.edu). 

Applicants selected for interviews must be able to show proof that they will be eligible and qualified to work in the United States by time of hire. UTSA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.