Associate Professor (EXPIRED)

Tenure-line Associate Professor, Women & Gender Studies and Philosophy

George Mason University seeks to hire a scholar who works at the intersections of race and feminist theory with expertise in critical race feminisms, including such areas as: Black/African diasporic studies, Asian American studies, Latinx studies, indigenous and settler colonial studies, queer of color critique, environmental justice, or decolonial philosophies. Disciplinary training is open and transdisciplinary perspectives are welcomed. Preference will be given to approaches in the critical Humanities that engage with critical race feminisms. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to social justice and anti-racism through their teaching and research.  

Women and Gender Studies is the primary home for this position with some teaching responsibilities in the Department of Philosophy. To be appointed with tenure, the successful candidate will complete a tenure-upon-hire process.  Teaching load is 2:2. The position will begin August 2023.

George Mason University has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason’s academic and culturally inclusive environment.

Research indicates that women and individuals from marginalized groups tend to apply only when they meet all of the criteria. If you believe you’re qualified, but don’t necessarily check every box, please submit an application.

Responsibilities:  The successful candidate will:

• Cultivate a robust research agenda and produce outstanding scholarship in the field of critical race feminisms broadly understood, so as to complement and extend existing expertise in Women and Gender Studies. Current strengths in the program include: transnational feminisms; LGBTQ and sexuality studies; queer theory; black women’s history; gender, race and health; and media and cultural studies;
• Teach across all levels and design new courses drawing on their areas of expertise to offer innovative classes in the Mason Core and to meet student needs and interests for classes in critical race feminisms, particularly at upper undergraduate and graduate levels in ways that center the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality; ability to teach queer of color critiques would be of interest;
• Teach or cross-list some courses in their areas of expertise with the Philosophy department and enhance the scholarly expertise of Philosophy faculty, whose current strengths include feminist philosophy and ethics;
• Undertake student mentoring at undergraduate and graduate levels and serve on graduate dissertation and thesis committees;
• Use interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methods in their teaching and scholarly research, for example, approaches drawn from the critical and public humanities, and/or film and media studies, and/or archival studies, and collaborate with adjacent interdisciplinary areas such as African and African American Studies, Cultural Studies, or Mason’s Public History Lab;
• Collaborate with Women and Gender Studies and Philosophy colleagues on strategic program initiatives including anti-racism and inclusive excellence goals, contribute to public-oriented or community-based work, and participate in the activities of the Women and Gender Studies Center. 

Required Qualifications:

• Doctoral degree in Humanities or Social Sciences;
• Established record of research and scholarship in critical race feminisms, broadly understood, commensurate with the rank of tenure-line Associate professor;
• Demonstrated commitment to curricular development and teaching excellence, as well as student mentoring.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience of supervising research by undergraduate and graduate students;
• A capacity to teach courses with a theoretical dimension that could be offered or cross-listed by the Philosophy department;
• A commitment to inter- and/or trans-disciplinary approaches in their teaching and scholarly work;
• An interest in public-oriented or community-based work.

Information about the University and Department
George Mason University is a Carnegie Tier 1 Research [R1] institution located in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and is the largest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with a diverse student body. The University’s location facilitates faculty and student work linked to policy and other areas of public concern, as well as links to major cultural institutions and numerous non-profit organizations and NGOs.

The Women and Gender Studies program and center (WGST) at George Mason is based on an integrated, co-curricular model, and is one of the few in the country to house both academic programs (undergraduate and graduate) based in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and student affairs initiatives in collaboration with Mason’s unit for student affairs, University Life. The WGST program offers a graduate MA concentration and both an online and in-person graduate certificate in women and gender studies, an undergraduate major and minor, and an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in LGBTQ studies. As a fully integrated program and center, WGST offers a space for the exploration of social inequalities of gender, sexuality, race, class, and disability across disciplinary and cultural borders through academic coursework, student development, and leadership opportunities. A campus leader in promoting interdisciplinarity, the Women and Gender Studies Program facilitates collaborations with a broad range of disciplines across the humanities, arts, and social sciences, and has strong links with African and African American Studies (AAAS), Cultural Studies, and Mason’s Center for Humanities Research.

The Department of Philosophy at George Mason is a pluralistic program that offers courses and produces scholarly research and public philosophy drawing on diverse philosophical approaches and traditions, including continental, Anglo-American and applied philosophy, and with a focus on social, ethical and political thought. The program offers a Masters degree, a major, and multiple minors including in Philosophy of Law and Philosophy for Social Change. Our mission is to put philosophy to work to address key contemporary issues and enduring philosophical questions to foster critically engaged citizens, and to enable students and faculty to engage with pressing matters of global and public concern. The department is also host to the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy.

Both WGST and Philosophy contribute to the Mason Core  https://catalog.gmu.edu/mason-core/ , Mason’s general education program undertaken by all undergraduate students seeking a baccalaureate degree.