Civic Media Initiative: Assistant Professor, Communication Studies

Emerson College
Published
September 25, 2013
Location
Boston, MA
Category
Job Type

Description

Emerson College is pleased to announce a major faculty hiring initiative in civic media. Building on the College’s strengths in communication and the arts and supporting the College’s strategic initiatives in civic and global engagement, we seek to develop a distinguished faculty that addresses connections among media innovation, technologies, social networks and global citizenship. There is a need to consider how the changes brought by digital media are shaping political and social life, along with definitions of governance and citizenship. How people make and use media (whether it’s a film or a tweet) to engage with the world, to make change, to be informed, or to connect across national borders, are topic areas that span the arts, sciences, humanities and social sciences.

The new faculty hires in Journalism, Visual and Media Arts, Communication Studies, and the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies will form a distinctive interdisciplinary faculty cohort that intersects with students from across the College. While faculty members will have their primary appointments within one of the four participating units, they will share teaching responsibilities with the new College-wide minor in Digital Media and Culture, and have a research affiliation with the Emerson Engagement Labs (EEL). All the new faculty hires will begin September 1, 2014.

The minor in Digital Media and Culture offers students the opportunity to acquire a deeper understanding of how digital technologies are transforming society and culture. Participatory cultures are emerging through games and social media; whole new modes of interaction are being crafted online. From the disruption of established industrial models of production and consumption to the creation of new social norms, this minor asks students to create and analyze digital media that directly engages in this transforming and transformative culture.

The Emerson Engagement Labs (EEL) is a cluster of research labs focused on technologies and media innovation in global civic life. The Engagement Game Lab (http://engagementgamelab.org) is the currently existing unit that focuses on the design and research of games and play within civic and public processes. Incoming faculty can affiliate with the Engagement Game Lab or the new Global Engagement Lab, which will focus specifically on the analysis of global communication flows and the production of global media initiatives.

The Department of Communication Studies seeks a tenure-track faculty member at the Assistant Professor level with a focus on social media and strategic communication, political communication and web-based political campaigns, active audiences, online advocacy and civic engagement, and emerging media-based narrative and community forms. A background or working knowledge is desirable in such areas as social media analytics, analysis of user generated content, human computer interaction, user experience design, and social media campaign planning. A PhD in communication or a related field is required.

Ideal candidates will have a demonstrated capacity for research in their areas, teaching experience, a willingness to help build curriculum, and the ability to work effectively with faculty, students, and staff from diverse backgrounds. Faculty will be encouraged to receive grants to support their research in the EEL and work with its dynamic staff to develop innovative research programs and find ways to meaningfully engage undergraduates in active research.

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