Rhetorics of Advocacy

The Writing Department in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies invites applications for a professorial stream tenure-track appointment in the scholarship and the practice of the Rhetorics of Advocacy in traditional and digital media at the Assistant Professor level, to commence July 1, 2020.  The appointment will carry a teaching load of 2.5 full course equivalents (3 courses one term; 2, another) which may be reduced in accordance to the Research Release Program as specified in the collective agreement. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. All York University positions are subject to budgetary approval.

Applicants must have, by the time of the appointment's commencement, a PhD in a writing-related discipline, with demonstrable excellence, or promise of excellence, in scholarly research, teaching, and service. Applicants with a terminal MFA and extensive professional experience, will also be considered. Although the Writing Department is not directly affiliated with any graduate program, the successful applicant should be suitable for prompt appointment to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and be prepared to participate actively in one or more of York's many disciplinary and interdisciplinary graduate programs.

The Writing Department houses the honours programs in Professional Writing and English & Professional Writing, the pan-University Writing Centre, and its ESL-centred adjunct, the Open Learning Centre. Our most recent Cyclical Program Review (CPR) described Professional Writing as “nearly unique in Canada, an unusually forward-looking program that has the potential to offer students an education particularly suited to the complex world of the twenty-first century".

The successful candidate will contribute immediately to the Programs’ periodical (non-fiction) writing areas, and will develop new courses in public engagement, advocacy and socio-political persuasion. Candidates whose research in rhetorical advocacy involves consideration of the transformations of traditional activist modes wrought by multi-modality, and who have a particular interest and expertise in the ramifications of this shift, for example, in such matters as the digitization of memory and the instability of fact, will be of particular interest. As our programs emphasize the meeting points of the theoretical and the applied, candidates who are both scholars and practitioners will be preferred. Pedagogical innovation in high priority areas such as experiential education and technology-enhanced learning is also a preferred qualification.

York University has a policy on Accommodation in Employment for Persons with Disabilities and is committed to working towards a barrier-free workplace and to expanding the accessibility of the workplace to persons with disabilities.  Candidates who require accommodation during the selection process are invited to contact Professor Kim Michasiw, Chair, Writing Department at writchr@yorku.ca.

York University is an Affirmative Action (AA) employer and strongly values diversity, including gender and sexual diversity, within its community. The AA Program, which applies to women, members of visible minorities (racialized groups), Aboriginal (Indigenous) people and persons with disabilities, can be found at http://acadjobs.info.yorku.ca/ or by calling the AA line at 416-736-5713. Applicants wishing to self-identify as part of York University’s Affirmative Action program can do so by downloading, completing and submitting the form found at: http://acadjobs.info.yorku.ca/affirmative-action/self-identification-form/. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens, permanent residents and Indigenous peoples in Canada will be given priority. No application will be considered without a completed mandatory Work Status Declaration form which can be found at http://acadjobs.info.yorku.ca/affirmative-action/work-authorization-form.

The deadline for receipt of completed applications is November 8, 2019. A letter of application with an up-to-date curriculum vitae, a statement of research and teaching interests, three letters of reference and teaching evaluations should be sent to: Professor Kim Michasiw, Chair Writing Department, Ross Building, S359, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3. Email: writjobs@yorku.ca - (Subject line: "Rhetorics of Advocacy Appointment")