Location: Moraga, CA
Open Date: Nov 17, 2023
Deadline: Jan 03, 2024 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Description:Assistant Professor(s) in Environmental Justice and Sustainability with focuses in Food OR Energy Systems OR Indigenous perspectives on environmental justice and sustainability at Saint Mary's College of California.

Faculty Responsibilities:

The Environmental Justice and Sustainability Cluster hire at Saint Mary's College (SMC) of California invites applications for three tenure-track positions at the Assistant Professor rank to start in July 2024. This cluster hire is designed to recruit a community of educator-scholars whose work addresses the multi-faceted challenges that confront our world, rooted in an understanding of the global histories of environmental racism and injustice, while also looking ahead toward the teaching and research of more equitable and sustainable futures.

We are open to a diversity of theoretical and methodological expertise, including but not limited to ecological and environmental economics, environmental history, political ecology and environmental politics, sustainability science, urban ecology, landscape ecology, environmental planning, and environmental engineering. We are particularly interested in candidates whose research pertains to food or energy systems or Indigenous approaches to environmental justice and sustainability. A record of community engagement will be valued as well as bilingual skills in Spanish or another language.

The Environmental Justice and Sustainability Cluster Hire is an initiative to position SMC as a hub not only in the Bay Area but also globally to advance community engaged research and teaching in the areas of environmental justice and sustainability. As part of this multidisciplinary cluster hire, the School of Liberal Arts, and the School of Science will hire five tenure track positions over the span of two years (three this year and two the next). SMC will turn to this cluster for leadership roles in the development of an in-house Institute of Environmental Justice and Sustainability. Successful candidates will play a significant role in strategic development of the program as well as contribute to the building of relevant certificates and graduate programs. Faculty members hired into the cluster will have focused support for scholarly collaboration and faculty development. Faculty development funding will be available to the cluster for shared teaching and research opportunities, cluster cohort development, mentoring and networking possibilities. Saint Mary's is dedicated to the idea of cluster hires and has additional cluster hires planned in the next three years. The two current two cluster hires underway are focused on Environmental Justice and Sustainability and Data Sciences/Computer Science/Analytics.

Saint Mary's faculty are expected to maintain an active scholarly agenda and demonstrate intellectual growth and significant achievement appropriate to their field. All faculty also contribute to the mission in alignment with Transformation 2028 strategic priorities and as it relates to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice, and interdisciplinary programming.

All faculty serve the College and community in many ways, such as academic advising, student and community outreach, participation in departmental and College-wide committees, and the development and assessment of the College's Core Curriculum. Faculty are also encouraged to teach in the College's Core Curriculum, January Term, and Collegiate Seminar programs.

Institutional Description/Background:

Saint Mary's College of California (Saint Mary's) is a comprehensive university, grounded in the liberal arts, Catholic, and Lasallian traditions in addition to being a vibrant and inclusive Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) that engages the intellect and the spirit with exceptional academics. Saint Mary's was founded by the De La Salle Christian Brothers and remains a living legacy of the life and work of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the Christian Brothers and patron saint of teachers. We provide an education that changes lives and inspires the desire to find one's calling in a world in need of transformation. Saint Mary's invites students to passionately embrace knowledge, the challenges of scholarship, and their own capacity to make lasting change in the world. We are an institution made up of committed faculty and staff who value shared inquiry, integrative learning and student interaction with practices and policies that reflect a commitment to inclusive excellence and a community in which all are valued, respected, and supported.

The salary range for this position is reflected in the Faculty Salary Scale, available here.


Qualifications:
Minimum Qualifications:

- A Ph.D. in Environmental Justice, Sustainability, Environmental Science, Environmental Policy or Ecology or a related discipline such as politics, geography, anthropology, education, rhetoric, literature, or history with an emphasis on the theme of the cluster.

- Demonstrated record of teaching and/or clear evidence of teaching potential attentive to matters of power, privilege, and equity. Experience as a graduate teaching assistant will be considered.

- Demonstration of research potential and an established vision for future research in areas pertaining to the cluster theme.

- Experience mentoring underrepresented students in higher education with knowledge of the various ways that minoritized groups are marginalized in the areas of science, sustainability and environmental justice.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Record of collaborative and active interdisciplinary research

- Experience with interdisciplinary curricular development

- Experience acquiring external funds

- Record of successful collaboration in the development of academic institutes or programs within higher education.

A substantial number of Saint Mary’s students are first-generation-to-college, and the College has been designated a Minority and Hispanic-Serving Institution. We seek greater diversity in our faculty and staff to broaden students’ academic experience and to enrich our campus community. Candidates must be sensitive to the needs of and possess an interest in working in an academic community that is diverse with regard to gender, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or identity, disability status, and protected veteran status. We seek candidates who have a demonstrated commitment to supporting and further building our community in these dimensions. Our community believes that diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to the fulfillment of our institutional mission. We value inclusiveness in learning, curricular and cocurricular programming, campus climate, recruitment, admissions, hiring and retention. For more information, please visit our Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website.


To apply, visit https://apply.interfolio.com/136800jeid-26a543efe0bccb47b9fc499d9902fe34