Writing Program Postdoctoral Teaching Associates

About the Opportunity

The College of Social Sciences and Humanities and its nine tenure units are the home of the Experiential Liberal Arts. Through its research, teaching, and engagement missions, the college collaborates across the university, the Northeastern network, and partners around the globe.  We are strongly committed to fostering excellence through diversity and enthusiastically welcome nominations and applications from members of groups underrepresented in academia. Successful faculty in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities will be dynamic and innovative scholars with a record of research and teaching excellence and a commitment to improved equity, diversity, and inclusion. Strong candidates for this position will have the expertise, knowledge, and skills to build their research, pedagogy, and curriculum in ways that reflect and enhance this commitment.

The Writing Program at Northeastern University, housed in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and the English Department, invites applications for multiple Postdoctoral Teaching Associate appointments on our Boston campus, starting August 2024. 

These full-time, benefits-eligible positions span two nine-month academic years (2024-25 and 2025-26) and provide health insurance coverage as well as funds for professional development. Candidates may be eligible for hire as part-time lecturers for the 2025 summer terms on a per-course basis.

Responsibilities:

Postdoctoral Teaching Associates teach 3 courses per semester in First-Year Writing and Advanced Writing for the Disciplines. While instructors have freedom to structure their individual courses to meet our 12 Learning Goals, all courses focus on the teaching of genre and audience awareness across diverse disciplinary discourse communities. They are delivered primarily in-person on Northeastern’s Boston campus, with limited opportunities to teach asynchronously online in the second year. Applicants should have prior training, scholarship, and/or interest in exploring pedagogical innovations within (but not limited to) the areas of social justice, community engagement, multilingualism, and digital literacies. 

As members of our collaborative Writing Program, Postdocs may participate in workshops that support their teaching, research, and professional development. Our program offers Postdocs job market support as they seek academic and/or non-academic roles, and Postdocs engage actively in department-wide committees, reading groups, workshops, and other pedagogical training. Postdocs also have opportunities to work with Northeastern’s centers for student and faculty advancement, including the Writing Center, PhD Network, Digital Integration Teaching Initiative, Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR), and the Office of Faculty Development (ADVANCE).

We welcome candidates with recently-awarded PhD, EdD, or related doctoral degrees (2021 or later) in the humanities and social sciences, as well as applicants with degrees in the natural sciences, business, engineering, computer science, health sciences, law, art, media, and design, who have demonstrated experience and investments in the teaching of writing. 

We are especially interested in candidates who seek further training and specialization in the following: 

  • Business, technical, and professional writing 
  • Alternative assessment and non-traditional grading practices
  • Online teaching and digital pedagogical innovation 
  • Teaching and learning in the age of artificial intelligence 

Northeastern University’s dynamic Writing Program houses a mix of full-time teaching professors, graduate students, part-time lecturers, and tenure-stream faculty. Named a Writing Program of Excellence by the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 2015, we offer interdisciplinary undergraduate courses that complement the university’s unique experiential learning curriculum. Our diverse faculty, with MFAs and PhDs from across the disciplines, are actively engaged in teacher-scholar research, professional development, and curricular innovation.

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Doctoral degree in Rhetoric and Composition, Writing Studies, Communication, English, Education, Linguistics, or related fields. Degree must have been completed prior to the appointment start date.
  • University-level experience independently designing and instructing writing-intensive courses.

Desired Qualifications:

  • Familiarity with professional and/or industry writing relevant for students who undertake co-op assignments (6-month full-time employment), internships, and careers in the natural sciences, business, engineering, computer science, health sciences, law, and art, media, and design.
  • Evidence of commitment to writing across the curriculum (WAC) and/or writing in the disciplines (WID) scholarship and pedagogies.
  • Experience instructing first-year and/or upper-division undergraduate students.
  • Knowledge of online instructional technologies and the pedagogical practices supported by those technologies.
  • Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and experience working with students in historically underrepresented populations. 
  • Active record of collaborating with colleagues in institutional and professional settings, including service at the department and university levels.

Documents to Submit:

By March 1, 2024, applicants should submit a (1) cover letter, (2) curriculum vitae, and (3) one-page teaching statement that illustrates the candidate’s commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the classroom and beyond. 

Please address inquiries about the position to Search Committee Chair, Talia Vestri, at t.vestri@northeastern.edu.

Position Type

Academic

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.  

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other  characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.


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