About UMass Amherst
UMass Amherst, the Commonwealth's flagship campus, is a nationally ranked public research university offering a full range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University sits on nearly 1,450-acres in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and offers a rich cultural environment in a bucolic setting close to major urban centers. In addition, the University is part of the Five Colleges (including Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College), which adds to the intellectual energy of the region.
Job Description
The Data Analytics and Computational Social Science (DACSS) Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst invites applicants for a position as a Lecturer in Computational Social Science. This is a full-time, temporary, non-tenure track faculty position involving both research and teaching. This is a one-year position, with the expectation of renewal for a two-year reappointment based on the candidate’s performance. This is a 12-month appointment and the preferred start date is July 1, 2022.
Under the guidance of the DACSS Program Director, the DACSS Lecturer will collaborate on faculty research projects involving computational text and network analysis, as well as other computational methods. The lecturer will appear as a co-author on manuscripts to which they directly contribute, with an opportunity for first authorship using data from funded faculty projects. The lecturer will also contribute to the preparation and submission of external grant and sponsored research proposals. The position includes support for professional development.
The successful candidate will be expected to offer three unique in-person or multimodal courses each year (up to 6 total sections), including one of the four DACSS core courses covering topics in data science, quantitative analysis, research design, and data visualization; and at least one technical elective covering topics such as survey design and analysis, text, networks, machine learning, experiments, simulations, and advanced quantitative analysis. All courses will be taught with guidance from a tenured or tenure track UMass faculty mentor; extensive course preparation is not required. After the completion of their first year of teaching, the lecturer may apply for support to design and teach a new course.
In addition, this position will advise a limited number of MS students, participate in the planning and execution of DACSS events, and otherwise contribute to the intellectual life and administrative needs of the program.
Requirements
- PhD in anthropology, communications, economics, political science, psychology, sociology, computer science, data science, or a related discipline
- Demonstrated teaching and/or research interests in computational social science
- Applicants with a background in digital humanities will also be considered
- Candidates with a background in public opinion and social or political psychology are encouraged to apply
Application Instructions
Please submit a cover letter that addresses the candidate’s research and teaching background in computational social science, a curriculum vitae, an article-length writing sample, and a teaching statement reflecting on a time when the applicant struggled with teaching (in or out of the classroom) in the past.
Review of applicants will begin on March 15, 2022, and will continue until a suitable candidate pool has been identified.
The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is committed to building and sustaining an equitable and inclusive work environment where cultural diversity is celebrated and valued. We believe diversity benefits and enriches the development of all of our students, staff, and faculty in our college. To learn more, please visit https://www.umass.edu/sbs/diversity-equity-and-inclusion.
UMass Amherst is committed to a policy of equal opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, military status, or genetic information in employment, admission to and participation in academic programs, activities, and services, and the selection of vendors who provide services or products to the University. To fulfill that policy, UMass Amherst is further committed to a program of affirmative action to eliminate or mitigate artificial barriers and to increase opportunities for the recruitment and advancement of qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. It is the policy of the UMass Amherst to comply with the applicable federal and state statutes, rules, and regulations concerning equal opportunity and affirmative action.