The Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside, invites applications for a full-time, tenured position beginning July 1, 2016, at the rank of Associate or Full Professor to fill the Holstein Chair in Religious Studies. The Holstein Chair is the hallmark of Religious Studies at UCR, the most diverse campus in the University of California system. An excellent body of research has been accomplished at the national and international levels in the past two decades in name of this position. The successful applicant will be expected to have performed distinguished work and completed significant research in religious studies.
Until now, the Holstein Chair in Religious Studies has largely focused on religion in the public sphere, with special attention to interrelated sub-fields such as religion and politics, law, science, and civic discourse. The Holstein Chair in Religious Studies has also been a leader in critical academic discussions on method and theory in the discipline, and on the intellectual history of the study of religion more broadly. The chosen candidate must continue this trajectory while building on our institutional strengths today. These lie in the diversity of UCR’s student body, and in UCR’s Religious Studies department itself, which derives its strength from the diverse specializations of its faculty.
For these reasons, we are inviting a colleague who will broadly study the ways that religious diversity affects inclusiveness, fairness, tolerance, and other aspects of social cohesiveness, health, and wellbeing, and who studies the nature and sources of religious diversity and the implications of this diversity for the economy, society, and polity. Illustrative areas of concern include but are not limited to: political, sociological, legal, economic, or historical studies of the impacts of religious diversity on social and political conditions; or how social institutions create or inhibit religious diversity and how religious diversity affects social institutions and religious tolerance and inclusiveness. Specific time period, geographic area, and tradition of specialization are open.
Teaching obligations will include both undergraduate and graduate courses, including graduate seminars. The university is on the quarter system of ten weeks of instruction per quarter. A standard teaching load is four courses per academic year.
Ph.D. is required at time of appointment, and candidates with demonstrable research, publication, and teaching experience will be preferred. UCR is a research institution with high expectations for scholarly productivity and excellence in teaching. Salary will be commensurate with education and experience.
APPLY: Interested candidates should submit electronic applications including curriculum vitae, a cover letter describing interest in and fit for the position, teaching evaluations, and publications to https://aprecruit.ucr.edu/apply/JPF00395.
Three to five references must be provided. Letters of recommendation to be solicited for final candidates. For full consideration, materials must be received by November 1, 2015. This position will be open until filled.
UCR is a world-class research university with an exceptionally diverse undergraduate student body. Its mission is explicitly linked to providing routes to educational success for underrepresented and first-generation college students. A commitment to this mission is a preferred qualification.
Advancement through the faculty ranks at the University of California is through a series of structured, merit-based evaluations, occurring every 2-3 years, each of which includes substantial peer input.
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, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.