[Commlist] Job opportunity at the University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore

*Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Writing and Honours Education*

The University Scholars Programme (USP), a premier undergraduate and 
interdisciplinary honours programme at the National University of 
Singapore (NUS), plans to hire dedicated individuals to fill two current 
vacancies. These are full-time, renewable lecturer positions that 
include opportunities for research funding and for promotion to 
Associate Professor on the NUS Educator Track, as described below.The 
primary responsibility for both positions is to design and teach one of 
our mandatory first-year courses in academic writing and critical 
thinking, to which you will be expected to bring your own academic and 
intellectual expertise. Although we are open to any area of expertise, 
the two available positions have different requirements and 
expectations, and these are detailed below. You are invited to look 
through these details and assess your suitability for one or both positions.

/Position 1 /

While applicants from any field of study are welcome to apply for this 
position, we are especially interested in individuals with backgrounds 
in STEM, visual arts, film studies, cultural studies, economics, 
history, and communications. While this is only a general list of fields 
of study, we are more interested in candidates whose work can be applied 
to local or regional Asian contexts or concerns, or to important 
contemporary or future oriented phenomena. Such areas include, but are 
not limited to, artificial intelligence; issues surrounding 
digitalization and other impacts of the information age; new industrial 
revolutions and the future of work; the climate crisis, 
environmentalism, and the Anthropocene; globalization and 
cosmopolitanism; and science and environmental writing. You are welcome 
to suggest other topical areas, but in all cases you should be prepared 
to explain how you bring your unique interdisciplinary perspective to 
these topics by connecting your expertise with other fields, and how 
these may be relevant to the USP community.

/Position 2: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE)/

The successful applicant for this position will hold a fractional 
appointment in the Department of Philosophy, NUS, and fulfil part of 
their teaching commitment for the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics 
Cross-Disciplinary Programme (PPE-XDP) hosted by the NUS College of 
Humanities and Sciences. While the overall profile of candidates we are 
looking for is similar to that of Position 1, we are looking for 
individuals with proven experience in teaching classes that bring 
together philosophy and the empirical social sciences (especially 
political science and economics) in an interdisciplinary way and 
incorporate issues of relevance to the local or regional Asian context. 
In addition, the ideal candidate will also demonstrate an interest to 
develop interdisciplinary as well as PPE-specific pedagogical methods 
and resources with a focus on application to local and regional issues. 
More information about the NUS PPE-XDP can be found here: 
https://chs.nus.edu.sg/programmes/ppe/ 
<https://chs.nus.edu.sg/programmes/ppe/>.

For both position 1 and 2, the primary responsibility will be to design 
and teach a writing and critical thinking course as part of an existing 
suite of modules that introduce our first-year students to the practices 
and conventions of academic thinking and writing in very small class 
settings.You should be able to demonstrate your ability to design and 
teach such a course by providing evidence, which does not have to be 
limited to prior experience in teaching writing courses or how you have 
systematically guided students in written assignments. This can also 
include intentionality and thoughtfulness, whether informed by 
scholarship on writing curricula and pedagogy, or more general 
reflection about the particular demands of teaching writing.

A secondary responsibility is to contribute to other parts of USP 
education and more broadly to new developments in interdisciplinary 
honours education in NUS. In academic year 2022/2023, the USP will be 
merged with Yale-NUS College to form a yet-to-be named honours college. 
The curriculum is expected to be based on a combination of the existing 
curricula of both entities. Since the new curriculum is yet to be 
defined, we ask that you familiarize yourself with the current USP 
curriculum (http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/curriculum/overview/ 
<http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/curriculum/overview/>), and request that you 
define at least one role for yourself beyond the teaching of writing and 
critical thinking. This role could include designing and teaching more 
specialised, knowledge-basedclasses that are interdisciplinary in nature 
and draw on your own interests and expertise. Another option is for you 
to offer original ideas about what other kinds of contributions you can 
bring to interdisciplinary education in NUS in small class settings. 
Generally, all these classes maintain small faculty-to-student ratios. 
No matter what secondary role you see yourself performing, you should 
have a commitment to innovation in undergraduate and honours education, 
be devoted to your own research and teaching excellence, and have the 
willingness and ability to engage students from diverse disciplinary 
backgrounds.

Candidates must hold a PhD by August 2022 and should be able to begin at 
that time. Remuneration and benefits are highly competitive on the 
global research university level.  Salary, for instance, is competitive 
with worldwide standards while benefits include relocation assistance 
and a housing subsidy for the first nine years.  Appointments begin at 
the level of Lecturer on the Educator Track, or possibly the level of 
Senior Lecturer if previous work experience warrants it. Although the 
USP Educator Track is not a tenurable line, it offers a pathway to 
promotion to Associate Professorship on an open contract, as well as 
opportunities for research funding, including overseas research and 
conference travel. The contract is for three years in the first instance 
and is renewable subject to good performance.

Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, clearly specifying 
which of the two positions they are applying for (position 1, position 
2, or both), a CV, and two further statements, each of no more than 500 
words. The first statement or proposal briefly describes a prospective 
writing and critical thinking course. The second statement articulates 
the secondary role you expect to play in the USP beyond that of teaching 
writing, as mentioned two paragraphs earlier. The NUS Human Resource 
Office also requires you to submit documentary proof of all your 
university qualifications, and this would be a single PDF file 
containing all your degree certificates. Finally, the application 
submission process is electronic, using the NUS CHRS platform. To apply, 
please visit 
https://careers.nus.edu.sg/NUS/job/Lecturer-%28University-Scholars-Programme%29/5643044/?locale=en_GB 
<https://careers.nus.edu.sg/NUS/job/Lecturer-%28University-Scholars-Programme%29/5643044/?locale=en_GB> 
and click on the “Apply now” link. First time users must create a new 
account before proceeding.  Once you are logged in, you will need to 
upload three separate files for the application. The PDF file containing 
your CV should be uploaded through the “Resume” field. A second file 
containing your cover letter and the two statements should be uploaded 
to the “Cover Letter” field. The third file with your degree 
certificates should be uploaded to the “Education” field. We have no 
further upload requirements even though there are more upload options on 
the online form. Please complete the other sections as required. 
Applications received by November 8, 2021 will receive full consideration.

Interviews will normally be conducted online. Candidates who are further 
shortlisted will be asked to provide three letters of reference (though 
you may also send them along with your initial application, in the same 
file as the cover letter and statements, if you wish). Only shortlisted 
applicants will be notified. We plan to invite several candidates for 
campus visits, subject to international travel restrictions, early in 
2022. In cases where overseas candidates are unable to travel to 
Singapore, alternative online means may be used to substitute for 
in-person campus visits.

Please email all enquiries specific to this advertisement 
(touspbox23 /at/ nus.edu.sg) <mailto:(uspbox23 /at/ nus.edu.sg)> . More information 
about the USP and our curriculum can be found on our website: 
http://usp.nus.edu.sg/ <http://usp.nus.edu.sg/>.Additional information 
about Academic Appointments at NUS can be found here: 
http://www.nus.edu.sg/careers/index.htm 
<http://www.nus.edu.sg/careers/index.htm>

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