FEATURED JOB: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Honors Education - University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore

Erika Suchecki, H-Net Staff Announcement
Announcement Type
Home Office Notices
Location
Singapore
Subject Fields
Asian History / Studies, Composition & Rhetoric, Colonial and Post-Colonial History / Studies, Communication, Contemporary History

Featured Job

 Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Honors Education - University Scholars Programme

National University of Singapore 

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Writing and Honours Education

 

The University Scholars Programme (USP), a premier undergraduate and interdisciplinary honours programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS), plans to hire dedicated individuals to fill two current vacancies. These are full-time, renewable lecturer positions that include opportunities for research funding and for promotion to Associate Professor on the NUS Educator Track, as described below. The primary responsibility for both positions is to design and teach one of our mandatory first-year courses in academic writing and critical thinking, to which you will be expected to bring your own academic and intellectual expertise. Although we are open to any area of expertise, the two available positions have different requirements and expectations, and these are detailed below. You are invited to look through these details and assess your suitability for one or both positions.

 

Position 1

While applicants from any field of study are welcome to apply for this position, we are especially interested in individuals with backgrounds in STEM, visual arts, film studies, cultural studies, economics, history, and communications. While this is only a general list of fields of study, we are more interested in candidates whose work can be applied to local or regional Asian contexts or concerns, or to important contemporary or future oriented phenomena. Such areas include, but are not limited to, artificial intelligence; issues surrounding digitalization and other impacts of the information age; new industrial revolutions and the future of work; the climate crisis, environmentalism, and the Anthropocene; globalization and cosmopolitanism; and science and environmental writing. You are welcome to suggest other topical areas, but in all cases you should be prepared to explain how you bring your unique interdisciplinary perspective to these topics by connecting your expertise with other fields, and how these may be relevant to the USP community.

 

Position 2: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)

The successful applicant for this position will hold a fractional appointment in the Department of Philosophy, NUS, and fulfil part of their teaching commitment for the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Cross-Disciplinary Programme (PPE-XDP) hosted by the NUS College of Humanities and Sciences. While the overall profile of candidates we are looking for is similar to that of Position 1, we are looking for individuals with proven experience in teaching classes that bring together philosophy and the empirical social sciences (especially political science and economics) in an interdisciplinary way and incorporate issues of relevance to the local or regional Asian context. In addition, the ideal candidate will also demonstrate an interest to develop interdisciplinary as well as PPE-specific pedagogical methods and resources with a focus on application to local and regional issues. More information about the NUS PPE-XDP can be found here: https://chs.nus.edu.sg/programmes/ppe/ .

 

For both position 1 and 2, the primary responsibility will be to design and teach a writing and critical thinking course as part of an existing suite of modules that introduce our first-year students to the practices and conventions of academic thinking and writing in very small class settings. You should be able to demonstrate your ability to design and teach such a course by providing evidence, which does not have to be limited to prior experience in teaching writing courses or how you have systematically guided students in written assignments. This can also include intentionality and thoughtfulness, whether informed by scholarship on writing curricula and pedagogy, or more general reflection about the particular demands of teaching writing.

 

A secondary responsibility is to contribute to other parts of USP education and more broadly to new developments in interdisciplinary honours education in NUS. In academic year 2022/2023, the USP will be merged with Yale-NUS College to form a yet-to-be named honours college. The curriculum is expected to be based on a combination of the existing curricula of both entities. Since the new curriculum is yet to be defined, we ask that you familiarize yourself with the current USP curriculum (http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/curriculum/overview/), and request that you define at least one role for yourself beyond the teaching of writing and critical thinking. This role could include designing and teaching more specialised, knowledge-based classes that are interdisciplinary in nature and draw on your own interests and expertise.  Another option is for you to offer original ideas about what other kinds of contributions you can bring to interdisciplinary education in NUS in small class settings. Generally, all these classes maintain small faculty-to-student ratios. No matter what secondary role you see yourself performing, you should have a commitment to innovation in undergraduate and honours education, be devoted to your own research and teaching excellence, and have the willingness and ability to engage students from diverse disciplinary backgrounds.

 

Candidates must hold a PhD by August 2022 and should be able to begin at that time. Remuneration and benefits are highly competitive on the global research university level.  Salary, for instance, is competitive with worldwide standards while benefits include relocation assistance and a housing subsidy for the first nine years.  Appointments begin at the level of Lecturer on the Educator Track, or possibly the level of Senior Lecturer if previous work experience warrants it. Although the USP Educator Track is not a tenurable line, it offers a pathway to promotion to Associate Professorship on an open contract, as well as opportunities for research funding, including overseas research and conference travel. The contract is for three years in the first instance and is renewable subject to good performance.

 

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, clearly specifying which of the two positions they are applying for (position 1, position 2, or both), a CV, and two further statements, each of no more than 500 words. The first statement or proposal briefly describes a prospective writing and critical thinking course. The second statement articulates the secondary role you expect to play in the USP beyond that of teaching writing, as mentioned two paragraphs earlier. The NUS Human Resource Office also requires you to submit documentary proof of all your university qualifications, and this would be a single PDF file containing all your degree certificates. Finally, the application submission process is electronic, using the NUS CHRS platform. To apply, please visit https://careers.nus.edu.sg/NUS/job/Lecturer-%28University-Scholars-Programme%29/5643044/?locale=en_GB and click on the “Apply now” link. First time users must create a new account before proceeding.  Once you are logged in, you will need to upload three separate files for the application. The PDF file containing your CV should be uploaded through the “Resume” field. A second file containing your cover letter and the two statements should be uploaded to the “Cover Letter” field. The third file with your degree certificates should be uploaded to the “Education” field. We have no further upload requirements even though there are more upload options on the online form. Please complete the other sections as required. Applications received by November 8, 2021 will receive full consideration.

 

Interviews will normally be conducted online. Candidates who are further shortlisted will be asked to provide three letters of reference (though you may also send them along with your initial application, in the same file as the cover letter and statements, if you wish). Only shortlisted applicants will be notified. We plan to invite several candidates for campus visits, subject to international travel restrictions, early in 2022. In cases where overseas candidates are unable to travel to Singapore, alternative online means may be used to substitute for in-person campus visits.

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Contact Information

Please email all inquiries specific to this advertisement to uspbox23@nus.edu.sg . More information about the USP and our curriculum can be found on our website: http://usp.nus.edu.sg/. Additional information about Academic Appointments at NUS can be found here: http://www.nus.edu.sg/careers/index.htm

Contact Email
uspbox23@nus.edu.sg