Assistant or Advanced Assistant Professor in Black Rhetorics

The Composition Program in the Department of English at the University of Pittsburgh invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant or Advanced Assistant Professor in Black Rhetorics to begin in the fall semester of 2023, pending budgetary approval. Research and teaching interests could include writing, rhetoric, language, literacy, translanguaging, linguistic justice, and cultural practices of race, ethnicity, and identity, especially African American, Afro-Latinx, and African diasporic rhetoric, writing, and multimodal composition. We are particularly interested in candidates whose lived experiences would prove resourceful in mentoring students and colleagues of diverse backgrounds.    

As a colleague, you would join a program that cultivates interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to the field of composition. Our major in Public and Professional Writing extends our commitment to writing across the university and to workplaces and the public. Program faculty collaborate with researchers in linguistics, science, and engineering; engage in digital and transnational research and pedagogy, and work with community organizations. They have taken the lead in founding journals in cultural rhetorics and developed projects such as the Pitt Prison Education Project (a pedagogical project bringing together Pitt undergrads with incarcerated students), the Writing Studies Tree (an online, crowdsourced database of academic genealogies within writing studies), and a new major in Digital Narrative and Interactive Design (a collaboration with the School of Computing and Information). Our department houses the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and has been building programs and hosting events in Black rhetorics, African American literature, African American traditions of poetry writing, and fiction writing across Latinx and Asian diasporas. We seek a future colleague who would find these commitments, interests, and affiliations congenial, and who will bring to the department strong research projects and pedagogical practices that will enrich and transform them.

Successful candidates should be prepared to publish actively; teach four courses per year in the graduate and undergraduate curriculum; attract and supervise both graduate and undergraduate independent work, and contribute to programmatic development and service in the English Department and University. They will contribute to the Department’s interdisciplinarity and support our students’ interests in writing program administration, composition pedagogy, community-engaged research, digital genres, multilingual writing, and digital humanities. Candidates should be committed to engaged learning practices and have experience and/or interest in mentoring students from diverse backgrounds, including students of color, LGBTQ+ students, first-generation college students, and students with disabilities.   

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. in English or a related field by the time of appointment (September 1, 2023) and demonstrate evidence of potential for a strong record of publication; excellent teaching and commitment to undergraduate courses; institutional and professional engagement; commitment to diversity and inclusion in their research, teaching and/or service. The salary for the position will be competitive and commensurate with experience.

Applications must include the following and should be submitted through the University's Talent Center system:

  • Cover letter
  • CV
  • 1-2 page Diversity Statement. The diversity statement should speak to the candidate’s commitment to and experience working with diverse students.

In order to receive full consideration, applications must be received by November 1, 2022. The committee may request a writing sample, three letters of recommendation, and a teaching portfolio in a later round of review.   

Please contact Sarah Elizabeth Baumann, Office Manager and Assistant to the Chair of English, 526 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, with any questions: sebaumann@pitt.edu.

The University of Pittsburgh requires all Pitt constituents (employees and students) on all campuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved exemption. Visit coronavirus.pitt.edu to learn more about this requirement.

 The University of Pittsburgh is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and values equality of opportunity, human dignity and diversity. EOE, including disability/vets. The University of Pittsburgh requires all Pitt constituents (employees and students) on all campuses to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved exemption. Visit coronavirus.pitt.edu to learn more about this requirement.


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