Call for Faculty: Art History, Literature, African-American History, and More

Brooklyn Institute for Social Research (BISR), a non-profit critical education and research institute which integrates rigorous but accessible scholarly study with the everyday lives of working adults, seeks scholars who are interested in joining our faculty to teach and design rigorous seminar-style courses for adult students across multiple time zones, both in and outside the U.S. We seek particularly applicants in the following specified fields, but also invite scholars from other fields to apply:

• African-American History: Theoretically informed, able to connect area of specialization to concepts in and wider questions of political economy. Preferred specializations: transatlantic slavery; antebellum South; Reconstruction; Great Migration; Civil Rights; Black Politics (from mid-20th century to the present)
• Area Studies — East Asia: Expertise in humanistic and social scientific disciplines as focused on East Asia, including literature, history, philosophy, political science, economics, and sociology. Familiarity with critical theory, Marxism, and contemporary feminist and post-colonial thought and methods is preferred
  
• Art History: Expertise in early modern and modern art movements and aesthetics and a strong grounding in critical and visual theory required. Fluency with Frankfurt School critical theory is strongly preferred. Seeking candidates to teach on subjects including European avant-gardes of the pre-, inter-, and post-war periods, contemporary art from digital work to new experiments, and a wide-array of related subjects. Ability to teach pre-modern subjects and/or non-European work is a plus but not required
• Feminist Theory: Expertise in feminist thought ranging from early theorists to second wave, third wave and contemporary thinkers; strong preference for candidates who can connect foundational works to contemporary issues in political theory and political economy. Familiarity with feminist work in the Global South and/or concerning colonial relationships is a plus.
  
• Media Studies: Expertise in contemporary media studies, expansively considered, including television, film, social media, games, radical digital cultures, and contemporary low-tech media. Historically informed, interdisciplinary approach. Conversance in Frankfurt School critical theory, Marxism, and contemporary feminist, queer, and critical race theory is strongly preferred
• Modern European Political, Economic, and Cultural History: Theoretically informed, interdisciplinary approach; preferred specializations: early modern thought, French Revolution, social and economic history, “long” 19th century history (imperialism, industrial and political revolution, cultural history), Russian Revolution, WWI, WWII, Soviet Union, post-war Europe, and the role of Europe within global systems of political economy and empire
  
• Natural Sciences: Historically informed, interdisciplinary approach, able to teach introductions to and topics in a natural science to broad audiences; ability to connect discipline to historical and social context, and a conversance with philosophy of science, critical theory, and various other Marxist and critical traditions is strongly preferred
• Queer Studies: Conversant with and able to connect topics in Queer Studies to other theoretical modes, including Marxism, critical theory, and other social scientific or humanistic disciplines, particularly contemporary sociology, and/or political economy
• Russian Literature: Expertise in 19th and/or 20th-century Russian literature. Theoretically and historically informed, conversant in multiple literary theoretical modes, including structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism, postcolonialism, queer theory and feminism. Conversance in history and theory of the novel and an interest in and facility for teaching individual authors and works is required
  
• Spanish Literature: Expertise in Spanish-language literature, including contemporary. Theoretically and historically informed, conversant in multiple literary theoretical modes, including structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism, postcolonialism, queer theory and feminism. Conversance in history and theory of the novel and an interest in and facility for teaching individual authors and works is required
• Trans Studies: Conversant with and able to connect topics in Trans Studies to other theoretical modes, including Marxism, critical theory, and other social scientific or humanistic disciplines, particularly contemporary sociology, and/or political economy 
• Western Literature: Expertise in one or more national Western European literatures (British, French, German, Italian). Theoretically and historically informed, conversant in multiple literary theoretical modes, including structuralism and post-structuralism, Marxism, postcolonialism, queer theory and feminism. Conversance in history and theory of the novel and an interest in and facility for teaching individual authors and works is required

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION:

Successful candidates for all faculty positions will have or be working toward a terminal degree in their field, have teaching experience at the undergraduate and/or graduate level, a strong commitment to pedagogy, and interdisciplinary research interests that complement those of other BISR faculty.

We very strongly encourage applications from individuals belonging to historically underrepresented groups. We are also particularly interested in applicants who, in addition to teaching, wish to take an active part in non-classroom BISR programming, including Praxis (classes, workshops and materials designed to provide research and analytic frameworks to non-profits, labor, political, and other public-interest organizations), digital projects, podcasts, forthcoming publications, development, and other programming. Faculty will teach multiple seminars on the BISR model annually. BISR does not solicit one-off courses.

BISR is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other legally protected status. We strongly encourage, and will strongly weigh, applications from women and historically underrepresented minority groups.

Interested candidates should submit a CV, writing sample, and three short course proposals/ideas to BISR’s Executive Director (ajay@thebrooklyninstitute.com), Program Director (mark@thebrooklyninstitute.com), and Administrative Assistant (elizaveta@thebrooklyninstitute.com) with the subject line “BISR Faculty Application 2021: [Field in which you are applying].” 

(For a sense of the kinds of courses, formats, and styles BISR employs, please visit the course archive.) 

The application deadline is rolling.