Postdoctoral Teaching Associate (northeastern)

Job Description

About the Opportunity

The College of Social Sciences and Humanities and its nine tenure units are the home of the Experiential Liberal Arts. Through its research, teaching, and engagement missions, the college collaborates across the university, the Northeastern network, and partners around the globe.

The Writing Program at Northeastern University, housed in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities and the English Department, invites applications for multiple Postdoctoral Teaching Associate appointments on our Boston campus, starting August 2025. The appointment will be for a nine-month academic year contract (2025-26) with an opportunity for one renewal in academic year 2026-27.

These full-time, benefits-eligible positions provide health insurance coverage as well as funds for professional development. Candidates may be eligible for hire as part-time lecturers for the 2026 summer terms on a per-course basis.

Responsibilities:

Postdoctoral Teaching Associates teach 3 courses per semester in First-Year Writing and Advanced Writing for the Disciplines. While instructors have freedom to structure their individual courses to meet our 12 Learning Goals, all courses focus on the teaching of genre and audience awareness across diverse disciplinary discourse communities. They are delivered in-person on Northeastern’s Boston campus, with limited opportunities to teach asynchronously online in the second year. Applicants should have prior training, scholarship, and/or interest in exploring pedagogical innovations within (but not limited to) the areas of social justice, community engagement, multilingualism, and digital literacies. 

As members of our collaborative Writing Program, Postdocs may participate in workshops that support their teaching, research, and professional development. Our program offers Postdocs job market support as they seek academic and/or non-academic roles, and Postdocs engage actively in department-wide committees, reading groups, workshops, and other pedagogical training. Postdocs also have opportunities to work with Northeastern’s centers for student and faculty advancement, including the Writing Center, PhD Network, Digital Integration Teaching Initiative, Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR), and the Office of Faculty Development (ADVANCE).

We welcome candidates with recently-awarded PhD, EdD, or related doctoral degrees (2022 or later) in the humanities and social sciences, as well as applicants with degrees in the natural sciences, business, engineering, computer science, health sciences, law, art, media, and design, who have demonstrated experience and investments in the teaching of writing. 

We are especially interested in candidates who seek further training and specialization in the following: 

• Business, technical, and professional writing 

• Alternative assessment and non-traditional grading practices

• Online teaching and digital pedagogical innovation 

• Teaching and learning in the age of artificial intelligence 

Northeastern University’s dynamic Writing Program houses a mix of full-time teaching professors, graduate students, part-time lecturers, and tenure-stream faculty. Named a Writing Program of Excellence by the Conference on College Composition and Communication in 2015, we offer interdisciplinary undergraduate courses that complement the university’s unique experiential learning curriculum. Our diverse faculty, with MFAs and PhDs from across the disciplines, are actively engaged in teacher-scholar research, professional development, and curricular innovation.

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Doctoral degree in Rhetoric and Composition, Writing Studies, Communication, English, Education, Linguistics, or related fields in hand by the employment start date is required.

• University-level experience independently designing and instructing writing-intensive courses.

Desired Qualifications:

• Familiarity with professional and/or industry writing relevant for students who undertake co-op assignments (6-month full-time employment), internships, and careers in the natural sciences, business, engineering, computer science, health sciences, law, and art, media, and design.

• Evidence of commitment to writing across the curriculum (WAC) and/or writing in the disciplines (WID) scholarship and pedagogies.

• Experience instructing first-year and/or upper-division undergraduate students.

• Active record of collaborating with colleagues in institutional and professional settings, including service at the department and university levels.

Documents to Submit:

Applicants should submit a (1) cover letter, (2) curriculum vitae, and (3) one-page teaching statement.

Full consideration will be given to applications submitted by March 9, 2025. Review of applications will continue until the positions are filled.

Please address inquiries about the position to Search Committee Chair, Bret Keeling at B.Keeling@northeastern.edu.

Position Type

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Pay Range:

With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.