Senior Lecturers in Computational Social Science

The Division of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago invites applications for a position as Senior Lecturer in Computational Social Science (macss.uchicago.edu). The Senior Lecturer is responsible for teaching in the MA program in Computational Social Science (MACSS) and contributing to curricular design, program development, and student support.

This is a full-time, career-track position beginning in the 2019-20 academic year. The initial three-year appointment is renewable contingent upon satisfactory performance review. Salary and benefits are fully competitive with tenure-track positions for computational social scientists.

Requirements: PhD in sociology, economics, political science, psychology, data science, computer science, or a related discipline; experience conducting social scientific research using machine learning or computational methods; programming experience using R and/or Python. Industry experience is also valued. Senior Lecturers must have the PhD in hand by September 1, 2019. Demonstrated record of outstanding effectiveness as a teacher is required.

The Senior Lecturer will teach five graduate courses per year in the MACSS curriculum. At least three will cover important computational methods or questions of research design. The possibilities include a graduate introduction to social scientific inquiry; digital surveys and experiments, including A/B testing; machine learning and statistical modeling; neural networks and deep learning; Bayesian statistical inference; large-scale data storage and processing such as Spark and Hadoop; or research ethics and digital privacy. The successful applicant will also design and teach courses in their discipline or substantive area of expertise, tailored to the interests of master's and doctoral students in the Division of Social Sciences.

In addition to teaching, the Senior Lecturer will work collaboratively with members of the Faculty to refine the curricular design and requirements of the master's program; lead course development for our core sequence Perspectives in Computational Analysis; help develop relationships with other computational centers on campus and in industry; participate in program admissions, staff hiring, and student recruitment; advise master's students; evaluate occasional master's theses; hire and manage teaching assistants; help train doctoral-student Preceptors; participate in the Computational Social Science Workshop; and contribute to the intellectual life and administrative needs of the master's program.

The Senior Lecturer position includes support for professional development, and opportunities to participate in the intellectual life of the Division. Those opportunities include Workshops in the Department of Economics, the Booth School of Business, Sociology, Political Science, Psychology, the Law School, the Harris School of Public Policy, Computer Science, the Becker Friedman Institute, the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, and the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago.  

Applicants must apply on the University of Chicago's Academic Career Opportunities website at https://tinyurl.com/yclwtxuv. The following materials must be submitted: 1) a cover letter, outlining the applicant's prior computational training, prior teaching and/or mentoring experience, and suggested course offerings in our MA program; 2) a curriculum vitae; 3) an article-length writing sample, applying a computational research design; 4) at least one course syllabus, from prior teaching or with an eye to future offerings, 5) course evaluations or other evidence of past excellence in teaching and/or mentoring; and 6) three letters of reference.

We will begin reviewing applications January 2 and will continue until the positions are filled. Later applicants are welcome to contact our Managing Director, Chad Cyrenne (cmcyrenn@uchicago.edu), for updates on the status of the search. First interviews will be conducted by video conference.  

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 at http://www.uchicago.edu/about/non_discrimination_statement/. Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-0287 or email ACOppAdministrator@uchicago.edu with their request.