Visiting Scholar in Technology Ethics (EXPIRED)

The Tufts Department of Computer Science invites applications for a Visiting Scholar in Technology Ethics, starting January or September 2023. The Visiting Scholar will be responsible for creating a range of learning modules to be integrated into existing Computer Science courses. The learning modules will explore the interdependence of the societal and technical aspects of computing. The ideal candidate will have teaching and lesson development experience in computing ethics. The position is part time (with benefits) for a duration of one year, renewable depending on availability of funding. Women, African American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Native American/Alaskan Native candidates are welcome and strongly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

The Visiting Scholar will be expected to: Develop, document, and make available learning modules for 3–5 existing Computer Science courses, with each module exploring the social-technical implications of computing technology as relevant to those courses; as needed, co-teach these modules with the course instructor; introduce department faculty to ethical techniques that raise awareness of ethical concerns and encourage discussion; collaborate with the Diversity Program Administrator to include key principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the developed modules; collaborate with the JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) committee to contribute meaningful input on committee discussion.

About Tufts

Tufts Computer Science has grown significantly in the past decade in terms of faculty count, student size, and research funding. Last year, the department just moved into the brand-new Joyce Cummings Center. The department benefits from outstanding undergraduate and graduate students, collaborative faculty, and cross-disciplinary research opportunities. Tufts University is one of the smallest universities ranked as an R1 university, so it offers the best of a liberal arts college atmosphere coupled with the intellectual and technological resources of a major research university. Tufts University supports and encourages a culture of interdisciplinary research, and there are numerous such opportunities within the School of Engineering, the School of Arts and Sciences, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, the School of Medicine, and our other graduate and professional schools.

Located only six miles from historic downtown Boston, faculty members on the Tufts Medford/Somerville campus have extensive opportunities for academic and industrial collaboration as well as participation in the rich intellectual life of the area. The new Medford/Tufts MBTA stop on the Green Line is slated to open in 2022, and is located immediately adjacent to the Joyce Cummings Center. The Tufts School of Engineering is in the midst of a period of exciting growth that has seen the recruitment of outstanding new faculty, a quadrupling of funded research over the last ten years, the addition of new buildings and laboratory space, an emphasis on building diversity in engineering, and major curricular initiatives at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Qualifications

Applicants must hold a doctorate by the beginning of the appointment. The doctorate may be in Philosophy, Computer Science, a relevant social science field, or other appropriate field, as applied to computing technology. Applicants must have background in the philosophy of ethics and knowledge of technology ethics, as exemplified by relevant publications and/or teaching history. Applicants must demonstrate knowledge of the social impacts of computing as they relate to computing ethics, especially the disparate impacts of technology by race, class, disability, and gender. Candidates with demonstrated teaching and lesson development experience, and with involvement in activities related to ethics in computing (e.g., communities, organizations, etc.), are preferred.