Assistant or Associate Professor of Digital Cultural Rhetorics

Position Description

The Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies (WRDS) department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte seeks applications for the position of Assistant or Associate Professor of digital cultural rhetorics to begin August 15, 2022. This is a 9-month tenure-track/ tenured faculty position, with tenure earned in Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies. Appointment to the rank of Associate Professor is contingent upon review and approval by the Board of Trustees.

Responsibilities are to teach courses, including First-Year Writing, advise, engage in curriculum and instructional development, research, provide appropriate service to the university, the public, and the profession, and contribute to developing and promoting the new WRDS minor and major. Course load is 2/2 for research active faculty. Professional opportunities may also include involvement in the collaborative design of an interdisciplinary PhD, currently under consideration, and participation in initiatives such as the Digital Humanities, Project Mosaic, and the Data Science Initiative.

Required Qualifications

  • PhD (at time of appointment) in Rhetoric & Composition, Technical/Professional Communication, or closely related discipline. Specialization may include digital rhetoric, cultural rhetoric, or digital literacies. Focal areas may include, but are not limited to, data ethics and justice, learning sciences, multimodal composing, writing across media, visual rhetoric, and public and community writing
  • The following qualifications should be appropriate to academic rank:
    • Record of effective teaching of college-level writing
    • Scholarship in relevant field
    • Experience working effectively with multicultural and otherwise diverse groups of people
  • Ongoing commitment to teaching First-Year Writing
  • Evidence of collegiality and a commitment to work collaboratively as part of a supportive team
  • Commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience and interest in learning theory, writing pedagogy, emerging media, and innovative technologies of digital communication
  • Interest in the ways digital and other technologies may both subvert and re-inscribe oppressive relations of power and a commitment to making those relations transparent, uncovering oppressive systems, and reclaiming languages and cultural identities in the service of social justice and equity
  • Interest in and potential for community-engaged scholarship
  • Successful leadership in writing program administration, particularly building a writing major
  • Potential to secure external funding

Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies Department

The WRDS department engages in teaching, research, and service in rhetoric, composition, and digital communication. WRDS is home to an exemplary First-Year Writing Program, the Writing Resources Center, and an emergent undergraduate minor and major. Together, WRDS programs are committed to providing UNC Charlotte students from first-year to graduate high-quality writing instruction, while serving as a site for innovative research and service to the university and the Charlotte community. For additional information about our department, visit our website at https://writing.uncc.edu/writing-rhetoric-digital-studies/what-writing-rhetoric-and-digital-studies.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

As the largest and most diverse college at UNC Charlotte, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences houses 21 departments in the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences and mathematics, and military sciences, as well as 28 applied research centers and interdisciplinary programs. With its 35 graduate degrees and 78 undergraduate degree options, the College is connected to the world and its concerns, and is particularly supportive of the greater Charlotte region.

UNC Charlotte

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is a doctoral, research-intensive urban university, located on an expanding modern campus. The second largest of the 16 UNC System campuses, UNC Charlotte offers more than 30,000 culturally and ethnically diverse students a wide range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. UNC Charlotte is the number one institution in North Carolina in awarding bachelor’s degrees to Latinx students, according to a recent analysis by Excelencia in Education. Not only does UNC Charlotte enroll more Latinx students than any other four-year college or university in North Carolina, but it also graduates Latinos at a higher rate. The University is a Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement campus and an APLU Innovation and Economic Prosperity University. It supports faculty with family and medical leave policies, junior faculty development awards, internal faculty research grant opportunities, and other research opportunities. Charlotte offers a dynamic place to live, work, and connect for faculty, students, alumni, and staff, with its outstanding cultural, recreational, and business amenities. As the 15th largest U.S. city, Charlotte is consistently ranked one of the best cities to live (#20 by U.S. News & World Report.)

Our Commitment to Social Justice, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and ADVANCE Institution. Women, minorities, individuals with disabilities, and protected veterans are encouraged to apply.

The WRDS department seeks candidates whose teaching, research, and service have prepared them to contribute to our commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in higher education.

Required Application Materials

Please apply on-line at http://jobs.uncc.edu and include the following:

  1. Letter of application responding to the required and desired qualifications listed above,  including a statement of research and teaching interests
  2. Current curriculum vitae
  3. Writing sample
  4. List of three professional references
  5. Candidates identified for consideration should be prepared to submit three current letters of recommendation, sent separately to the search committee chair. Please do not send letters until requested.

Complete applications received by October 15, 2021 are assured full consideration, although recruitment will continue until the position is filled.

Candidates will be asked during their initial interview to discuss how they address social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in teaching and research.

Applicants are subject to a criminal background check. The finalist will be required to submit an official transcript of the highest earned degree.

For more information, please contact the search committee co-chairs, Jan Rieman (Jan.Rieman@uncc.edu) and Jon Crane (jlcrane@uncc.edu).

Departmental administrative contact: Denise Sabo, dsabo1@uncc.edu, 704-687-1902.


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