The Department of Sociology at Virginia Tech, in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level to begin August 10, 2024. We are seeking candidates who specialize in Digital Sociology. We prefer someone who brings innovative, theoretically-driven approaches to the collection and analysis of native/found digital data or big data. We are open to quantitative, computational, or qualitative methodologies in the critical study of digital societies, digital media, or digital cultures around the world. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, platform capitalism, labor and digital marketplaces, digital social movements, online violence, hate groups, surveillance, intimate relationships, and impacts on individual or community health and wellness. Proven grant potential is preferred.
Teaching will include developing digital sociology courses at the graduate and undergraduate level and providing mentorship and research opportunities to the growing number of graduate students interested in studying digital spaces. The standard teaching load is two courses a semester (2/2 load). We are especially interested in community-engaged teaching and research. The successful candidate will have experience in providing an equity-minded and inclusive educational environment that supports the learning of a diverse student body and that is consistent with the Virginia Tech Principles of Community (https://www.inclusive.vt.edu/about/vtpoc.html). Specific examples of experiences, activities, and plans will help us identify candidates who can strengthen the University’s commitment to inclusive excellence.
Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Sociology in hand by August 2024 with a record of excellence in scholarship and teaching commensurate with the level of appointment. Applicants must demonstrate a willingness and ability to contribute to the mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students, and to the department’s collegial and collaborative intellectual community. We welcome a colleague whose research, teaching, and outreach or engagement advances InclusiveVT (https://www.inclusive.vt.edu/) priorities related to equity, diversity, and inclusion. The Department of Sociology is recognized for excellence in interdisciplinary research, and we encourage scholars with interest in working with interdisciplinary teams to apply. Guided by Virginia Tech’s motto of Ut Prosim, That I May Serve, and the institution’s long standing heritage in technology, the successful candidate will have opportunities to build relationships with a multitude of initiatives in Virginia and at Virginia Tech including Tech for Humanity, Tech 4 Humanity Lab, the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, the Innovation Campus in Washington, DC, and Sociology’s Cybercriminology Lab.
The department offers a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree in Sociology. Graduate students can concentrate in Women’s and Gender Studies or Africana Studies. A graduate certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies are also offered. Foundational to all scholarship and teaching is a focus on power and inequalities across age, gender, race, social class, and geographical location. We specialize in:
● Crime, Law, and Deviance
● Culture, Knowledge, and Identities
● Data, Technology, and Digital Sociology
● Environment, Social Movements, and Work
● Health, Community Well-Being, and Social Welfare
