LEO Lecturer RC Social Theory & Practice: Winter

Job Summary

The Residential College in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts is seeking to hire a part-time Lecturer I to teach a foundational course in the Social Theory and Practice (STP) Major. In Winter 2027, the Lecturer will teach an interdisciplinary critical qualitative research methods course, which serves to prepare STP Majors for their Senior Capstone Projects and/or Honors Theses.

This will be a 33.33% effort appointment in the Winter 2027 term, with potential for reappointment in Fall 2027.

The instructor is expected to:

• Design the syllabus and weekly course materials, with a focus on interdisciplinary social science, humanities and social justice-focused content
• Provide weekly classroom teaching utilizing critical, dialogic pedagogy
• Hold (at least) two weekly office hours
• Offer constructive feedback and clear assessments of student assignments, in accordance with stated course learning objectives
• Participate in the larger STP community by attending STP faculty meetings (1-2 per semester); attending end-of-term STP student presentations and celebration events (3 per year); serving as an STP Senior Capstone Project or Honors Thesis Advisor; etc.

The instructor is also encouraged to attend the full RC faculty and staff meetings, which occur roughly once per month.

• A PhD in Social Anthropology or a related field
• Expertise in the theory and practice of critical qualitative research methods
• Experience teaching, advising, and mentoring students in diverse contexts
• Experience learning, working, and teaching in an interdisciplinary undergraduate Living/Learning community

The Social Theory and Practice (STP) Major is an interdisciplinary, social justice-focused major housed in the Residential College and open to all LSA students. STP classes are small, interactive, dialogic seminars, with various topics based on instructors areas of expertise. The specific class that this instructor will teach is as follows:

• Confronting the Self and Other:
  Critical Qualitative Research Methods across the Social Sciences and Humanities: In this course, students will learn about and have the opportunity to practice foundational qualitative research methods, such as ethnographic participant observation; oral histories and other types of interviews; qualitative coding and thematic analysis; archival work; and autoethnography. Students will critically explore questions such as, What does it mean to be 'othered' within Western scholarship, and how do research methodologies and approaches either sustain or disrupt this othering?
  
  What do scholars really mean by 'the West' when used as an analytic tool and methodological, theoretical, and ideological center in discussing 'non-Western' research subjects? And what is 'the West,' anyways? Additionally, students will explore how BIPOC and other 'non-Western' scholars and activists have confronted these issues in their own work, as well as how groups, long perceived as 'cultural others' in Western discourse, resist, confront, and satirize their experiences of being othered through art, film/television, and performance.
  
  Ultimately, students will have the opportunity to design and carry-out a small-scale ethnographic research project of their choosing, making use of the theoretical, methodological, and practice-based tools they have learned throughout the semester.