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Tenure Track Tier 2 Canada Research Chair position at Memorial University

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

SSHRC TIER 2 CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR
IN SELF-DETERMINATION AND INDIGENOUS CONNECTIONS TO LAND AT MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY

POSITION#:  VPA-HSSO-2017-001

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and the Labrador Institute (LI) at Memorial University invite Internal and External applications to be considered for a tenure-track Tier 2 Canada Research Chair position in Self-Determination and Indigenous Connections to Land. Such applications must be in research disciplines related to the mandates of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).  This position is for an Indigenous researcher at either the Assistant or Associate level, in any Academic Unit within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences http://www.mun.ca/hss/about/departments.php 

Position information

Strong candidates will demonstrate research expertise in areas of Self-Determination and Indigenous Connection to Land, broadly defined. Self-Determination is crucial to Indigenous peoples’ pursuit of their own political, economic, social and cultural development. The diversity of Indigenous Connection to Land also informs how self-determination is shaped. Land, broadly defined, refers not only to the material aspects of landscape (soil, water, animals, plants), but also to its spiritual, emotional, and intellectual aspects and relations.

Candidates for this position will also have a strong record of community-based interdisciplinary research reflecting the values of reciprocity and relationality, embedded in and conducted through relationships between researcher and community, to mutual benefit and usefulness. The successful candidate will apply this experience to develop specific research programs in partnership with Indigenous communities in Labrador. Applications must include a research plan that contributes to Memorial’s capacity to understand and incorporate Indigenous worldviews into research in order to build our capacity for intercultural understanding and mutual respect. The ideal plan will address how the successful candidate will, over the course of their time as a faculty member at Memorial, pursue research topics, methods, and commitments in partnership with Labrador Indigenous groups, especially in relation to self- determination and Land.

The interdisciplinary themes of Self-Determination and Indigenous Connections to Land may be pursued within any of the disciplines of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Institutional information, Memorial University and the Labrador Institute

The candidate will be hosted in a department of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, affiliated with the Labrador Institute, and will be based in Goose Bay, with the option to relocate to the St. John’s campus in the third year. As a multi-disciplinary division of Memorial University, the Labrador Institute, a leading centre of northern research, education, outreach, and policy (https://www.mun.ca/labradorinstitute/), is one of the few university-based units in Canada dedicated solely to the needs and priorities of the North. For 40 years, the Labrador Institute has worked to bring the resources and expertise of Memorial University to Labrador, and to bring the priorities, local knowledge and sciences of Labrador to the University. With a focus on Northern-led, Northern-focused, and Northern-inspired research and education, the Labrador Institute has expertise in archaeology and education, aquatic and soil sciences, folklore, the humanities, community health, and northern Boreal food systems. Since the Labrador Institute is situated on the homelands of the Innu and Inuit, the Institute has a special obligation to the Indigenous peoples of the region, and works in partnership on research and education programming. The research undertaken by the candidate can therefore take advantage of these resources. Long-standing established relationships among Memorial faculty members, Labrador Institute staff and Indigenous communities in Labrador are available to the candidate to help with connections to develop specific, place- based research programs.

Canada Research Chair overview

Tier 2 chairs are intended for exceptional emerging scholars (i.e. candidates must have been active researchers in their field for fewer than 10 years at the time of nomination) who have demonstrated particular research creativity and have demonstrated the potential to achieve international recognition in their fields within five to ten years. Candidates must have the potential to attract, develop and retain excellent trainees, students and future researchers and be proposing an original, innovative research program of high quality. Applicants who are more than 10 years from the awarding of their highest degree due to career breaks, such as maternity, parental or extended sick leave, clinical training, etc., may have their eligibility for a Tier 2 chair assessed through the program’s Tier 2 justification process. Memorial acknowledges that career paths can be diverse and that certain circumstances may legitimately affect a nominee’s record of research achievement. Applicants are encouraged to explain, in their cover letter, any personal circumstances resulting in career interruptions (if applicable), and submit extended CVs to allow for a fair assessment of their research productivity. Please contact siri@mun.ca for more information.

Application process

This application has two phases. First, Memorial conducts a search to identify top candidates based on responses to this call, and second, Memorial nominates the top candidate to the CRC. Internal and external applicants are encouraged to apply and successful candidates will be required to submit a CRC nomination by April 20, 2020. External applicants will be considered for a full-time academic appointment at a rank and appointment type commensurate with qualifications and experience in the appropriate academic unit; such an appointment will be conditional upon the successful award of the CRC to the candidate following nomination which must be submitted by April 20, 2020. Please consult the Canada Research Chairs website (http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/program-programme/index-eng.aspx) for full program information, including further details on eligibility criteria. The successful selected candidate will work with Memorial University’s Faculty of HSS, SIRI, and the LI to complete the Tier 2 CRC nomination.

Memorial University is committed to employment equity and diversity and encourages applications from all qualified candidates including women, people from all genders and gender expressions, members of racialized communities, visible minorities, Aboriginal persons, persons with Disabilities and members of all sexual orientations. However, this is a targeted search for an Indigenous scholar. Therefore, competition is open to individuals who identify with an Indigenous community, as per approval granted by the Human Rights Commission pursuant to Section 8 of the Human Rights Act.

The deadline to receive applications is August 31, 2019. Applications should include the following:
•    A letter of application describing how the applicant meets the criteria for the position;
•    An up-to-date curriculum vitae;
•    The names and addresses of three referees;
•    Copies of or links to three recent and influential research publications and/or project outputs;
•    A comprehensive CRC vision statement of no more than 10 pages, single-spaced, describing a specific, personal research program that includes the applicant’s plans to attract and train graduate students, foster interdisciplinary research at Memorial, and develop large-scale strategic research projects and/or other programs that will secure external funding;
•    A statement of the candidate’s Indigenous self-identification.

For this opportunity at Memorial University, the appointment will be at the level of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor. Those at the level of Assistant Professor will ideally have qualifications that will warrant promotion to the Associate Professor level within one or two years of the nomination. The position may commence as early as September 2020. Salary will be highly competitive and commensurate with the qualifications of the candidate. In addition, for the duration of the Chair term (5 years, renewable once for a further five years) the chair will receive a minimum of $75,000 per year in research funding and a reduced teaching load (two courses per year).

Memorial University respects people's different needs and therefore will take all reasonable steps to ensure accommodation for applicants where appropriate. If you require an accommodation to participate in the recruitment process, please notify Tina Hickey at hickeyt@mun.ca or 709-864-2548. For more information, see http://www.mun.ca/main//accessibility.php

As part of Memorial University’s commitment to employment equity, all applicants are invited to identify themselves as a member of a target group(s) as appropriate. Applicants cannot be considered as a member of a target group(s) unless they complete an employment equity survey. If you do not receive a survey or have any questions, please contact equity@mun.ca
 
Please send applications electronically to Dr. Jennifer Simpson c/o Beverly Evans-Hong, at bevans@mun.ca, with the subject heading: CRC applicant by 11:59 pm Newfoundland time, on August 31, 2019. Please quote the position number as listed.

Memorial University of Newfoundland is settled on the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk, and the wider island of Newfoundland is the ancestral homelands of the Mi'kmaq and Beothuk. The Labrador Institute is situated in NunatuKavut, and we recognize the Inuit of Nunatsiavut and NunatuKavut and the Innu of Nitassinan, and their ancestors, as the original peoples of Labrador.