Toronto Metropolitan University posted a job ad for a black tenure track economics assistant professor in the Faculty of Arts, who associates with a blackness advisor. .“The university formerly known as Ryerson is hiring an econ prof who ‘must self-identify as black,’” said Quillette associate editor Jonathan Kay in a Tuesday tweet. .“Also: ‘Candidates who wish to learn more [should] contact [the] Advisor to the Dean of Arts on Blackness.’” .Kay joked about Canadian universities employing blackness advisors. .TMU said in a job ad the assistant professor position will start July 1 subject to final budgetary approval. .“As this is a special opportunity restricted to self-identified black candidates, applicant self-identification information will be used for the purposes of screening and consideration,” said TMU. .“Black identified candidates who wish to learn more about working at Toronto Metropolitan University are welcome to contact Melanie Knight, advisor to the Dean of Arts on Blackness and Black Diasporic Education at melanie.knight@ryerson.ca or Shurla Charles-Forbes, Black Faculty & Staff Community Network at shurla.charlesforbes@ryerson.ca.”.TMU said successful candidates will self-identify as having African descent and will demonstrate strong potential to contribute to teaching, scholarly research, or creative activities and services. It said they will be involved with “maintaining an inclusive, equitable, and collegial work environment across all activities.”.TMU went on to say teaching duties will entail lecturing at undergraduate and graduate levels, supervision of students, and curriculum development. It added the successful candidate will “pursue a strong, innovative research program or creative activity that is externally funded and that produces cutting-edge, high quality results.”.The job ad said candidates must hold a doctoral degree in economics or a similar field by the appointment date. It said those who are all but dissertation and are able to demonstrate they are close to completion may be considered..Candidates must submit a letter of application, resume, statement of research interests, research paper, results of teaching evaluations, and a minimum of three reference letters. They have to apply by December 21. .“The university is committed to addressing the under-representation of black faculty as outlined in the Anti-Black Racism Campus Climate Review Report, and invites applications from black scholars who will enrich the work of the Department of Economics by bringing community connections and diverse perspectives, knowledge and lived experiences to teaching, scholarly research and creative activities, and service,” said TMU. .This job posting comes after TMU approved creating a sexual minorities studies minor to further advance representation in academia on November 1. .READ MORE: Toronto Metropolitan prepares to launch sexual minority studies minor.“Bringing together students in a constellation of queer and trans courses will allow students to develop a complex body of knowledge that they can integrate into their own programs of study and into their work inside and outside of campus,” said TMU professional communication professor Marty Fink. .Sexual minorities studies will be offered in the 2023 academic year. The program, which will be administered by the sociology department, will build connections between sexual minority faculty and students and highlight how this field has altered contemporary world perspectives.
