University of Chicago Harper and Schmidt Teaching Fellowship

The College at the University of Chicago is accepting applications for four-year postdoctoral teaching appointments as Harper and Schmidt Fellows who hold the rank of Collegiate Assistant Professor.

Collegiate Assistant Professors are members of the College Faculty whose primary responsibility is to teach in the general education (Core) program. Candidates must demonstrate excellence in teaching as well as in their original scholarship. While many Core sequences feature set reading lists, applicants need not have conventional expertise in the specific texts and topics that are currently taught. Rather, we welcome applicants from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds who can apply conceptual and methodological creativity and skill to the teaching of general education courses. Applicants should be prepared 1) to identify and guide students through fundamental questions in a Core sequence and 2) to contribute meaningfully to the instructional community and the curricular evolution for that Core sequence.

Visit the College Core website.

Applicants must submit applications to be considered in one of the program areas listed below. Please make sure to spend time reviewing the Core sequences and sample syllabi to understand the distinct topics and approaches and gauge best fit.

• Core courses in the Humanities typically deal with fundamental issues and texts in history, philosophy, and literature. Currently, the Core is organized into eight year-long sequences: Readings in World Literature; Human Being and Citizen; Greece and Rome: Texts, Traditions, Transformations; Philosophical Perspectives on the Humanities; Media Aesthetics; Reading Cultures; Poetry and the Human; and Language and the Human. See descriptions and sample syllabi of these courses.
• Core courses in the Social Sciences explore, on the basis of significant works or primary source materials, the fundamental concepts and the different modes of inquiry that have defined the social sciences in the modern period. Currently, we are inviting applications for Collegiate Assistant Professors to teach in some of the year-long sequences into which the Core is organized: Democracy: Equality, Liberty, and the Dilemmas of Self-Government; Self, Culture and Society; Classics of Social and Political Thought; Power, Identity, and Resistance; Global Society; Mind; and Social Science Inquiry. See descriptions and sample syllabi of these courses.
• Some Collegiate Assistant Professors also teach in the History of European Civilization Core sequence as well as the Introductions to the Civilizations of East Asian Core sequences. These courses are taught on the basis of intensive readings of significant primary source documents. See descriptions and sample of the History of European Civilization and the Civilizations of East Asia sequences.

The positions are open to scholars in all disciplines and areas of specialization who will have completed all requirements for their Ph.D. degree no later than August 31, 2024.

In most years, Collegiate Assistant Professors teach two courses (usually of identical preparation) for each of three quarters. Each Collegiate Assistant Professor also has the opportunity to design two independent courses and each is eligible for one quarter of research sabbatical in the third year of residence. In the fourth year there is a possibility of another quarter of sabbatical with salary reduction. The annual salary for 2024-25 of $82,571, carries full benefits, and an annual professional development fund of $6,500.

The terms and conditions of this position are described in the collective bargaining agreement between the University and the Service Employees International Union.

The effective date for these teaching appointments will be September 1, 2024.

Online applications must be completed by October 13, 2023, 11:59:59 pm EDT.

Please note: The application deadline is Eastern Daylight Time.

Application Details

Deadline: October 13, 2023, 11:59:59 pm EDT

To complete your application, you will need to upload the following supporting documents:

• A curriculum vitae (be sure to list your full legal name)
• A cover letter describing your past and current research as well as your teaching experience and interests
• A general statement of your teaching experience and philosophy. Your statement should not exceed 750 words. This statement should speak in some way to the applicant's approach to small, discussion-based seminars, the primary format of Core courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences
• A research statement, not to exceed 750 words
• Names and email addresses of 3 references. Note: You will have the option to have Interfolio.com submit your individual letters of recommendation instead of having recommenders submit references online. More information is available on Interfolio's website.

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Important Dates

Please note deadlines are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

October 13, 2023, 11:59:59 pm EDT: Online application deadline. No late applications will be accepted.

October 27, 2023, 11:59:59 pm EDT: Letters of Recommendation due.

Beginning in mid-November and continuing a rolling basis: Additional materials will be requested from selected candidates.

Late January 2024 - April 2024: Selected candidates will be invited for campus visits
May 2024 - June 2024: All candidates will be contacted at the conclusion of the search

August 31, 2024: Ph.D. requirements fulfilled
September 1, 2024: Teaching appointments begin

All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. See the University's Statements on Diversity.

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-0681 or email fellows@uchicago.edu with their request before October 13, 2023.

If you have any additional questions, please contact us via email at fellows@uchicago.edu.