Call for Faculty: Chinese Language Instructor / Sinologist
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 an experienced scholar of Classical (Literary) Chinese language and literature to join our expanding language study program, teaching courses online or, if New York City-based, potentially in-person.
Language instructors teach a total of 108 hours over 36 weeks and are competent to bring absolute beginners to such a point that, by program’s end, students are prepared to undertake guided reading of texts foundational to a given tradition. The qualified candidate will also contribute to the development of an interdisciplinary lecture series that complements language courses and sets BISR’s program apart from others.
BISR Language Learning and Critique is a new model for language learning, integrating formal language acquisition with the critical exploration of the literary, philosophical, and philological traditions of classical languages and their evolving contexts of reception. Over 12-week trimesters, students work cumulatively through the alphabet, morphology, grammar, and syntax of individual languages, all the while attending to overarching questions of rhetoric and poetics, translation, and reception history. Unique to the BISR model, language courses are paired with an interdisciplinary lecture series that brings scholars from a variety of linguistic traditions into lively and generative conversation, providing a wide view of the ancient world for a modern community of learners.
The ideal candidate will be able to demonstrate exceptional language pedagogy as well as competence in key literary and philosophical movements in the ancient/classical Chinese tradition; expertise in modern Chinese literature and culture is a plus. While language faculty are appointed to teach within the framework of BISR’s language program, qualified candidates may be invited to teach, within BISR’s standard curriculum, courses in Chinese literature, history, and/or society, both classical and modern.
Interested candidates should submit a CV and cover letter to BISR’s Language Program Head (bruce@thebrooklyninstitute.com), Executive Director (ajay@thebrooklyninstitute.com), Managing Director (mark@thebrooklyninstitute.com), and Program Director (lauren@thebrooklyninstitute.com) with the subject line “BISR Languages: Sinologist.” The deadline to apply is Wednesday, October 15th, 2025, with the aim of launching the course in early 2026.
BISR Language faculty are paid on a per course basis, earning 50% of the total enrollment revenue generated by a Language Course and 70% of the total enrollment revenue generated by a Reading Group.
BISR is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other legally protected status. We strongly encourage, and will strongly weigh, applications from women and those belonging to historically underrepresented groups.