Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR IN SELF-DETERMINATION AND INDIGENOUS CONNECTIONS TO LAND AT MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND (EARLY-CAREER) POSITION#: VPA-HSSO-2017-001

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and the Labrador Institute (LI) at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) invite applications to be considered for a tenure-track Canada Research Chair Tier 2 position in “Self-Determination and Indigenous Connections to Land.” This position is for an early-career Indigenous researcher (self-determined and claimed by a community/nation) at either the Assistant or Associate level. The appointment will be made in an Academic Unit within the Faculty of HSS (http://www.mun.ca/hss/about/departments.php).

The candidate will be expected to be located at the Labrador Institute for the first three years of their term, a leading centre of northern research, education, outreach, and policy (https://www.mun.ca/labradorinstitute/). As a multi-disciplinary division of Memorial University, the Labrador Institute is one of the few university-based units in Canada dedicated solely to the needs and priorities of the North. For 39 years, the Labrador Institute has worked to bring the resources and expertise of Memorial University to Labrador, and to bring the priorities, local knowledge and sciences of Labrador to the University. With a focus on Northern-led, Northern-focused, and Northern-inspired research and education, the Labrador Institute has expertise in archaeology and education, aquatic and soil sciences, folklore, the humanities, community health, and northern Boreal food systems. While the candidate is not expected to work in these areas, they are able to take advantage of these resources. Since the Labrador Institute is situated on the homelands of the Innu and Inuit, the Institute has a special obligation to the Indigenous peoples of the region, and works in partnership on research and education programming.

Candidates will have a strong record of community-based research reflecting the values of reciprocity and relationality. The successful candidate will be able to effectively apply this experience to develop specific research programs in partnership with Indigenous communities (or particular groups within communities) in Labrador. During the first year of tenure, MUN faculty members and Labrador Institute staff who already have established relationships with Indigenous communities in Labrador are available to the candidate to help with connections to develop specific, place-based research programs.

Applications must include a research agenda that aims to contribute to MUN’s capacity for intercultural understanding and mutual respect of Indigenous worldviews, ethics, cosmologies, and methodologies. Ideal candidates will be informed by Indigenous concepts of relationality and reciprocity, and will develop a research agenda that involves and will be beneficial to the Indigenous communities of Newfoundland and/or Labrador, especially in relation to self-determination and Land. While candidates may not already know the issues relevant to Inuit and Innu peoples of Labrador (or Mi’kmaw people of Newfoundland), they will be able to outline the themes, methods, and commitments they would be able to offer. Examples of top-ics relating to self-determination and connections to Land include, but are not limited to: human & more than human rela-tions; law and protocol; decolonization and anti-colonialism; recognition; wellness and healing; sexualities; kinship; settler-Indigenous relations; land claims and rights to Land; Indigenous science, methodologies and knowledges; food sovereignty; climate change; water; language and Land; history; oil, energy and extraction; and art, literature, film, and cultural production. Tier 2 chairs are intended for exceptional emerging scholars (candidates must have been an active researcher in their field for fewer than 10 years at the time of nomination). Applicants who are more than 10 years from having earned their highest de-gree due to career breaks, such as maternity, parental or extended sick leave, clinical training, etc. may have their eligibility for a

Tier 2 chair assessed through the program’s Tier 2 justification process. Memorial acknowledges that career paths can be diverse and that certain circumstances may legitimately affect a nominee’s record of research achievement. Applicants are  encouraged to explain, in their cover letter, any personal circumstances resulting in career interruptions (if applicable), and submit extended CVs to allow for a fair assessment of their research productivity. Please contact cccs@mun.ca for more in-formation. This application has two phases. First, MUN conducts a search to identify top candidates based on responses to this call, and second, MUN nominates the top candidate to the CRC. Please consult the Canada Research Chairs website (http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/program-programme/index-eng.aspx) for full program information, including further details on eligibility criteria. The successful candidate will work with Memorial University’s Faculty of HSS, CCCS, and the LI to complete the Tier 2 CRC nomination.

This is a targeted search for an Indigenous scholar. Competition is open to individuals who identify with an Indigenous community, as per approval granted by the Human Rights Commission pursuant to Section 8 of the Human Rights Act. Memorial University is committed to employment equity and diversity and encourages applications from all qualified candidates including women, people from all genders and gender expressions, members of racialized communities, visible minorities, Aboriginal persons, persons with Disabilities and members of all sexual orientations. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Offering diverse undergraduate and graduate programs to nearly 18,000 students, Memorial provides a distinctive and stimulating environment for learning in St. John’s, a safe, friendly city with great historic charm, a vibrant cultural life, and easy access to a wide range of outdoor activities. With over 185 regular faculty members in 15 academic departments and a wide variety of interdisciplinary major, minor and diploma programs, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences offers breadth, depth and diversity. Counting around 5000 students with declared majors or minors, and with strong graduate programs, the Faculty is committed to providing solid teaching and research support to new appointees. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences houses, among other units, the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), ISER Books and the Digital Research Centre for Qualitative Fieldwork. It is also home to outstanding archival collections, including the Mari-time History Archive, the Folklore and Language Archive and the Aboriginal Languages Archives. Memorial’s Queen Elizabeth II Library has excellent holdings with the most extensive collection of journals in the region. Please see http://www.mun.ca/hss/.

The deadline to receive applications is August 20th. Applications should include the following: 

• A letter of application describing how the applicant meets the criteria for the position;
• An up-to-date curriculum vita;
• The names and addresses of three referees;
• Copies of or links to three recent and influential research publications and/or project outputs;
• A comprehensive CRC vision statement of no more than 10 pages describing a specific, personal research program that includes the applicant’s plans to attract and train graduate students, foster interdisciplinary research at Memorial, and develop large-scale strategic research projects and/or other programs that will secure external funding.

For this opportunity at Memorial University, the appointment will be at the level of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor. Those at the level of Assistant Professor will ideally have qualifications that will warrant promotion to the Associate Professor level within one or two years of the nomination. The position may commence as early as May 2019. Salary will be highly competitive and commensurate with the qualifications of the candidate. In addition, for the duration of the Chair term (5 years, renewable once for a further five years) the chair will receive a minimum of $75,000 per year in research funding and a reduced teaching load (two courses per year).

Memorial University respects people’s different needs and therefore will take all reasonable steps to ensure accommodation for applicants where appropriate. If you require an accommodation to participate in the recruitment process, please notify Tina Hickey at hickeyt@mun.ca or 709-864-2548. For more information, see http://www.mun.ca/main//accessibility.php.

Please send applications electronically to:
Dr. Jennifer Simpson
c/o Beverly Evans-Hong, at bevans@mun.ca with the subject heading: CRC applicant by 11:59pm Newfoundland time, on August 20th, 2018. 

Please quote the position number as noted. Memorial University of Newfoundland is settled on the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk, and the wider island of Newfoundland is the ancestral homelands of the Mi’kmaq and Beothuk. The Labrador Institute is on the homelands of the Innu and Inuit of Labrador, and recognizes their ancestral and continued ties to these land and waters.  We respect the lands and governance of Nunatsiavut, NunatuKavut, and the Innu Nation.