Skip to main content

Postdoctoral Scholar for the WhatEvery1Says Project

We are no longer accepting applications for this recruitment. Browse open recruitments

Position description

The Mellon Foundation funded WhatEvery1Says (WE1S) project at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is seeking recent Ph.D. graduates (degree completed within past five years) to apply for two available postdoctoral scholar positions for a term of one year beginning July 1, 2018, with possibility of renewal for one additional year. The positions offer those in any humanities-related field an opportunity to develop their research and teaching interests as Mellon fellows in association with WE1S, a Digital Humanities project that is collecting, text-analyzing, visualizing, and reporting at large-data scales on how the humanities are discussed in journalism and other public discourse. (See project description: http://we1s.ucsb.edu). The two postdoctoral scholars will work closely with the project’s co-directors to advance WE1S's research agenda or to augment it in ways related to their own research. Besides participating and assisting in WE1S research activities, postdoctoral scholars will also be expected to teach three courses in their area of specialization/field of study. Total annual compensation will be competitive.

Applicants must have the Ph.D. in-hand by time of appointment and should have expertise and scholarly interests related either or, ideally, both to WE1S's research themes and technical methods. The project's research themes include the role of the humanities in society, public media and media discourse, public humanities, comparative cross-national or -cultural approaches to the humanities, and race and ethnic studies (especially the way particular groups are positioned, or position themselves, in relation to the humanities). The project's technical methods include corpus construction, text analysis, topic modeling, word embedding, data visualization, and reproducible data analysis and curation. The positions require full-time residence at UCSB during fall, winter, and spring quarters of each academic year of the appointment.

Interested applicants must submit to http://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/apply/JPF01154 (a) a cover letter, (b) a statement of research (recent and planned), (c) a CV, (d) three letters of reference, (e) and a short research sample consisting of not more than 20 pages (or equivalent) of material. The research sample can be a piece of writing, a digital or other project, or some combination. Research samples including digital projects, data, code, etc., should be presented by means of a written description that includes links to online materials as well as specific suggestions for what evaluators should look at among the digital materials. For primary consideration, applications must be completed by Feb. 2, 2018. The positions will remain open until filled. The last date for applications to be received is May 31, 2018.

The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching and services as appropriate to the position.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter

  • Statement of Research

  • Research Sample - Research samples can be a piece of writing, a digital or other project, or some combination.

  • Misc./Additional (Optional)

Reference requirements
  • 3 letters of reference required

Job location

Santa Barbara, CA