Assistant Professor, Integrated Security

Integrated Security

Department of Political Science

College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The Department of Political Science invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor. This position will have a focus on Integrated Security and will begin August 10, 2020. Teaching requirements for this position will be four courses a year (2:2).

This position will support the University’s Destination Area Strategic Initiative on Integrated Security. Virginia Tech is seeking faculty specifically interested in engaging with research and curricular initiatives that support innovation and problem solving in areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics, privacy and ethics, network governance, and multiple forms of global (financial, election, human, infrastructure, network, transportation, and social media) security. The Department of Political Science is the anchoring host department for the Integrated Security Destination Area’s Pathways minor.

The Department of Political Science seeks broadly trained applicants, technically proficient in transdisciplinary security studies. Applicants are required to have training in the politics of evolving contemporary systems for hybrid cyber-warfare, cyber-conflict, cyber-institutions, and cyber-defense capability, which bridge the fields of Russian, Eurasian, and global politics. Preference will be given to those with prior experience with and/or substantive training in network analysis, game theory, data analytics, statistics, conflict modelling, text analysis, and real-time online conflict simulation experiments as well as expertise in great power strategic competition tied to Russian, Eurasian, and Southwest Asian global conflicts.

For further information on the Integrated Security Destination Area, see https://www.provost.vt.edu/destination_areas/areas_of_focus/da_is.html; for further information on the Integrated Security Minor,  see https://www.pathways.prov.vt.edu/minors/is.html.

Applicants should be prepared to offer a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. There will be occasional travel to attend national conferences and meetings. Candidates from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal background check.

Required qualifications: A Ph.D. in Political Science or a closely related field required by the time of appointment. Candidates must have evidence of an active research agenda and demonstrations of teaching effectiveness to meet the Department’s key teaching needs in its B.A. and M.A. programs.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies Virginia Tech as a university with “very high research activity,” and the Department of Political Science also has a strong record of excellence in teaching. Members of the Department work closely with faculty in transdisciplinary programs, including the Integrated Security Destination Area, the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought (ASPECT), the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Women’s and Gender Studies, Africana Studies, and the Department of Science, Technology, and Society.

Interested persons must apply at www.jobs.vt.edu, Job No. 512795, where they will submit a cover letter, a current curriculum vitae, recent writing samples, and teaching evaluations, along with contact information for no more than four academic references. Screening of applications will begin March 9, 2020 and continue until the position is filled. All inquiries can be sent to: Dr. Yannis Stivachtis, Chair of the Search Committee, ystivach@vt.edu, or Integrated Security Search Committee, Department of Political Science, 531 Major Williams Hall (0130), Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061. Individuals with additional questions or with disabilities desiring accommodations in the application process should contact the search committee chair. For further information on the department, see www.psci.vt.edu

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