Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS: sfis.asu.edu) seeks applications for a (tenured) associate or full professor in public engagement with science, technology, and innovation (STI). We are particularly interested in candidates who have an exceptional track record in scholarship, education, and engagement and who will work with a vibrant and diverse faculty to grow a program of work in this area with national and global recognition and impact.
Within the general area of public engagement with STI, we seek candidates who have a compelling vision of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) that aligns with the vision and mission of SFIS, the design aspirations of the New American University (newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/about/design-aspirations), and the ASU Charter (https://www.asu.edu/about/charter-mission-and-values). We seek a senior faculty member who has important experience and expertise in engagement with under-represented or excluded communities. The approach to public engagement may be as varied as informal education, citizen science, art/science collaboration, public deliberation, or participatory technology assessment, grassroots innovation, etc. However, there must be considerable expertise related to including and working with Black communities, Indigenous communities, and/or people of color; and/or rural or economically excluded populations.
The successful candidate will be expected to bring an interdisciplinary and inclusive perspective to their work. They will be expected to develop, grow, and lead an independently funded and collaborative research program; educate and mentor students; participate in professional and university service; engage with key stakeholders/communities; and demonstrate national and international leadership in their field. They will also be expected to contribute to and lead the development of curricular programs and other strategic initiatives within SFIS. We are open to applications from practitioners with appropriate backgrounds.
SFIS provides a unique ecosystem for scholarship, education, and engagement in public engagement with STI, with current faculty research activities including, but far from limited to, informal education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, participatory technology assessment, participatory futuring, citizen science, serious games, and storytelling and other humanistic approaches to engagement. The successful candidate will interact with established research centers such as the Center for Innovation in Informal STEM Learning (https://ifis.asu.edu/content/center-innovation-informal-stem-learning) and its connections to the National Informal STEM Education Network (nisenet.org) and the Walton Sustainability in Science and Technology Museums project (https://sustainability.asu.edu/sustainabilitysolutions/programs/sciencemuseums/). They will also interact with partners including Scistarter (scistarter.org, for citizen science), the Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology network (ecastnetwork.org, for participatory technology assessment), Leonardo and the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (www.leonardo.info, for art-science collaboration), and the Arizona Science and Technology Institute (scitechinstitute.org) and its Rural Activation and Innovation Network.
More broadly, the community of SFIS shares a vision of socially responsive and responsible innovation. Collaborative opportunities exist with the Washington, DC-based Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes (CSPO; www.cspo.org) - consistently ranked one of the top science and technology policy think tanks in the world. Situated alongside the School of Sustainability and the new School of Complex Adaptive Systems within the newly created College of Global Futures (CGF; collegeofglobalfutures.asu.edu) and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory (GFL; globalfutures.asu.edu), SFIS provides a supportive environment within which to develop, grow, and implement a truly transformative scholarly enterprise.
Since its creation in 2015, SFIS has maintained that "the future is for everyone." Part of implementing this ethic is creating a diverse faculty that represents both the diversity of interests and issues that humanity faces in its increasingly complex future, and the diversity of students and communities we serve. SFIS has previously committed to hiring five faculty members in the area of technology and equity and Southwest Borderlands (see mission and goals: https://sfis.asu.edu/sites/default/files/sfis_mission_brochure_2017.pdf) and has completed three of these hires. This position - one of four searches in the current academic year dedicated to JEDI issues in STI - is part of a new initiative extending that effort.
ASU has a deep commitment to use-inspired, public-serving work in both the local and global contexts (see ASU's design aspirations: https://newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/about/design-aspirations). This commitment is further articulated in ASU's Charter, declaring the university's enduring commitment to the communities in which it is embedded. At the beginning of the current year, ASU made a distinctive "commitment to Black students, faculty and staff" (https://president.asu.edu/statements/asus-commitment-to-black-students-faculty-and-staff), with which this hiring initiative is aligned.
Website: https://apply.interfolio.com/81363
