The application period for 2024-2026 Postdoctoral Fellows is now closed.
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sexuality Studies (Social Scientific Approaches)
Northwestern University
The Sexualities Project at Northwestern (SPAN) invites applications for two two-year postdoctoral fellowships in Sexuality Studies, to run from September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2026. Applications are welcome from scholars who study sexuality from a social science perspective (broadly construed). Each Fellow’s appointment will be a joint one: in the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and in another department relevant to the Fellow’s research interests. We are particularly interested in candidates who could affiliate with one of the following participating departments: Anthropology, Black Studies, Communication Studies, History, Human Development and Social Policy, Linguistics, Performance Studies, Political Science, Religious Studies, or Sociology. That is, the Fellow must have relevant expertise in both Sexuality Studies and one of these other disciplines, and must be prepared to teach courses that reflect that combined expertise.
Fellows will pursue a program of independent scholarship under the guidance of a faculty mentor and will teach two undergraduate courses (typically one seminar and one lecture course) over the course of each year. Northwestern is on the quarter system by which the Fellows’ two courses will be distributed across three academic quarters. Fellows will also be expected to be active participants in SPAN’s community of faculty and graduate students and, as applicable, in their affiliated department by attending talks and events, and by giving a public talk once each year. Finally, they will assist in the organization of on-campus educational activities such as the annual SPAN workshop.
Fellows will be expected to be in residence for each of the academic years of their appointment, and all teaching will be conducted in person.
Applicants with a PhD (or equivalent doctoral degree) must have completed it after September 1, 2020. Applicants without a PhD (or equivalent doctoral degree) must complete all the requirements for the degree before September 1, 2024. At time of application, the applicant must be available for the full two-year term of the Fellowship. The stipend is $64,000 in the first year of the fellowship. In addition, the Fellow is eligible for $4,000 per year to fund research and conference travel, and up to $2,000 for allowable relocation expenses in the first year. Up to $1,000 is also available for allowable travel expenses for an area visit prior to the start of the postdoc term. This is a full-time, benefits eligible position.
All application materials other than letters of recommendation must be received by 11:59 p.m. on December 1, 2023. The initial letter of recommendation is due no later than December 8, 2023. Given that your references will not receive submission instructions until you submit your completed application, we urge you to submit your application well before the deadline.
FAQs and submission instructions appear below. Administrative questions not addressed below should be directed to Ariel Clark-Semyck (sexualities@northwestern.edu). Substantive questions not addressed below may be sent to the Co-Directors of SPAN, Héctor Carrillo (hector@northwestern.edu) and Gregory Ward (gw@northwestern.edu). For more information about Programs and Departments at Northwestern, visit: https://offices.northwestern.edu/browse/A/academic.
Northwestern requires all staff and faculty to be vaccinated against COVID-19, subject to limited exceptions. For more information, please visit our COVID-19 and Campus Updates website.
The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.
Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.
For information on our past and current postdoctoral fellows, click here.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
- Applications will only be accepted through the online portal. Please make sure all documents are prepared in advance, as partial applications will not be accepted and cannot be saved. Also, please be sure all information is entered completely and accurately (especially names and email addresses), as there will be no opportunity for online revision after your application has been accepted.
- All uploaded files should be in Adobe PDF format. Files in another electronic format (e.g., MS Word) should be saved or “printed to” PDF format before uploading. If you only have a paper version of a particular document, you may scan it and save it as a PDF. However, the first method is preferred, because it retains text recognition capabilities.
- The names and email addresses of three external references are required. The system will initially request a letter from the first reference, who ideally is your dissertation chair. Please ask your reference to comment not only on your scholarly work but also on your teaching experience and abilities. If you are selected to be a finalist, the system will request the two additional letters, which will be due by January 26, 2024.
- The following materials are all required:
- Cover Letter: In addition to briefly situating your work in relation to the field and SPAN’s emphasis on sexuality studies from a social science perspective (broadly construed), please be sure to do all of the following:
- Identify your proposed departmental affiliation.
- Briefly describe your research trajectory to date. (As you will be submitting a separate dissertation summary, the description of the dissertation in the cover letter can be limited to a paragraph.)
- Describe how you would make use of your appointment at Northwestern to further your research and writing. This plan may include, but should extend beyond, revisions to the dissertation.
- Discuss your teaching qualifications and provide titles and short descriptions of two or three undergraduate courses that you could teach under the auspices of the Gender & Sexuality Studies Program and/or another relevant program or department within the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences—a list of NU’s current Departments and Programs can be found here: http://www.weinberg.northwestern.edu/departments/.
- Curriculum Vitae.
- Research Statement. This should be a two-page summary of your dissertation.
- Writing Sample. The size of the writing sample should be equivalent to a single journal article, book chapter, or dissertation chapter; it may be published or unpublished. Only one sample may be submitted and it must be in English. The maximum length is 50 pages.
- Graduate Transcript. A transcript from your doctoral-degree-granting institution. (An unofficial transcript is acceptable.) The transcript may be omitted if your doctoral program did not include formal graded classes; if that is the case, please instead submit a statement to that effect.
- Cover Letter: In addition to briefly situating your work in relation to the field and SPAN’s emphasis on sexuality studies from a social science perspective (broadly construed), please be sure to do all of the following:
- Very soon after you submit your complete online application, your reference will automatically be emailed instructions for uploading a letter of recommendation. NOTE: If you are using a professional placement or dossier service (e.g., Interfolio) to submit any or all of your recommendations, please use the service’s email address instead of your reference’s email address in the appropriate space. Once again, please be sure all addresses are entered correctly with no spelling errors; otherwise your reference or dossier service will not receive the instructions.
- Some things to remember when uploading your application documents:
- Please note that no document may exceed 4 MB in size, so be sure to minimize the size of any large PDF files before uploading.
- File names should not contain parentheses, quotation marks, or other such characters; the system will likely not accept such documents.
- When you have assembled all your PDF files and are ready with your list of references, you may proceed to the Online Application. All required fields must be filled in before you click on the “Submit Application” button. The system will not accept incomplete applications. Completed applications that are received by December 1, 2023 will be ensured full consideration. (Letters of Reference will be allowed to arrive up to one week after the deadline.) You will receive an email confirmation shortly after your application has been received.
FAQs:
I am an international student. Will Northwestern provide a visa?
International scholars are eligible to apply for the postdoctoral fellowship. For more information, click here.
I plan to do field research away from the Chicago area. Will that be a problem?
Postdocs are generally expected to be in residence and full participants in the scholarly community during the nine-month academic year (late September through mid-June), with the exception of the winter and spring breaks. Short trips to conduct research, attend conferences, give talks, etc., are normal and are typically scheduled so as not to conflict with teaching or other important responsibilities.
My Ph.D. is not from a social science department. Am I still eligible?
Yes, but it’s your responsibility to make clear how you rely in a substantial way on social science theories and/or methods in studying sexuality.
I study gender (or transgender) issues. Do you consider that to be part of sexuality studies?
There are a wide variety of ways in which gender (and transgender) issues are connected with theoretical concerns and empirical topics in sexuality studies—often quite intimately so. Although in principle there are no clear boundaries between sexuality studies and gender (or transgender) studies, in practice some scholars study gender (or transgender) issues in ways that do not substantially connect with the sexuality studies literature. It is your obligation to make clear in the application how and where your work is located within sexuality studies and what contribution you make to sexuality studies.
I got my degree X years ago. Do I still qualify?
As stated above, you must have completed your Ph.D. (or equivalent doctoral degree) after September 1, 2020 in order to be eligible.
I received my Ph.D from Northwestern. Am I still eligible to apply?
Northwestern Ph.D.s are eligible to apply but will be given a lower priority in our consideration.
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