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Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies - Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Development

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Position description

The Department of Human Ecology at the University of California, Davis invites applications for a tenure-track academic-year (9 months) faculty appointment in Human Development and Family Studies at the Assistant Professor level. We are interested in individuals with expertise in human development, specifically those with research focused on understanding the linkages between poverty and individual health and development. The successful candidate will have an active program of research in the ways in which contexts defined by severe economic and social disadvantage combine with biological processes or markers to affect (promote and/or impede) individual health and development across the lifespan. We are particularly interested in candidates whose research examines these links in diverse populations at any stage of development.

The individual who is selected for this position will participate in developing collaborative research projects with faculty in the Department of Human Ecology. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate and graduate core courses in human development as well as courses in the candidate’s area of expertise (e.g., intergenerational poverty and human development, poverty and brain and/or cognitive development, and poverty and social-emotional development), will be a member of the Ph.D. program in Human Development, will mentor and direct research programs of graduate students. The candidate will be eligible to become a faculty affiliate with the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research (http://poverty.ucdavis.edu).

Candidates must hold an earned doctoral or equivalent degree in Human Development, Psychology, Education, Sociology, or other related field and have a strong record of, or promise of a strong record of, relevant research.

This is an assistant professor, nine-month tenure-track appointment. The position has requirements for teaching, research, and university and professional service in the area of human development. The successful applicant will have demonstrated the ability to conduct research and publish on topics related to human development, with a focus within any area of the lifespan, and with interests that overlap with other departmental programs such as Community and Regional Development, and Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design.

The candidate should have a strong interest in academic inquiry and teaching, with substantial knowledge within one or more phases of the lifespan. The candidate is expected to teach 3 courses per academic year; two undergraduate and one graduate. Teaching is assigned by the department chair.

The Department of Human Ecology is the home of the Human Development & Family Studies (HDFS) program that offers a Bachelor of Science in Human Development; the program has 10 full-time faculty and serves over 700 students each year. Our program is also the home of the Human Development Graduate Group which has 35-40 graduate students enrolled in either the Master of Science in Child Development or the Doctoral program in Human Development. Many faculty members also play an active role in other graduate programs at UCD including Psychology, Education, and Sociology.

UC Davis supports Family-friendly recruitments. UC Davis covers travel expenses for a second person to accompany an invited faculty recruitment candidate who is a mother (or single parent of either gender) of a breast or bottle-feeding child less than two years of age. http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/programs/work-life/index.html

UC Davis recognizes the necessity of supporting faculty with efforts to integrate work, family and other work-life considerations. To recruit and retain the best faculty, the campus sponsors a Work Life Program that provides programs and services that support faculty as they strive to honor their commitments to work, home and community. http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/programs/worklife/index.html

The UC Davis Partner Opportunities Program (POP) is a service designed to support departments and deans’ offices in the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty. Eligibility for POP services is limited to full-time Academic Senate Ladder Rank faculty (including Lecturers with Security of Employment (LSOE), Lecturers with Potential Security of Employment (LPSOE) Senior Lecturer with Security of Employment (SLPSOE)), and Cooperative Extension Specialists.

UC Davis is a smoke- and tobacco-free campus effective January 1, 2014. Smoking, the use of smokeless tobacco products, and the use of unregulated nicotine products (e-cigarettes) will be strictly prohibited on any property owned or leased by UC Davis-- indoors and outdoors, including parking lots and residential space.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter (Optional)

  • Statement of Research

  • Statement of Teaching

  • Statement of Contributions to Diversity - Diversity contributions documented in the application file will be used to evaluate applicants. Visit http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/diversity/equity_inclusion/index.html for guidelines about writing a diversity statement and why one is requested.

  • Example of Scholarly Works #1

  • Example of Scholarly Works #2

  • Example of Scholarly Works #3

Reference requirements
  • 4-6 required (contact information only)
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Job location

Davis, CA