Our friends at BYU’s Department of Church History and Doctrine are looking for another recruit. Full information and application here. Relevant details can be found below.
Position Title: Faculty Church History & Doctrine
Beginning Date: Fall 2015
Qualifications: PhD or equivalent degree completed prior to application from an accredited institution of higher learning, preferably in history, religious studies, or other related field; Special emphasis on ability to teach and research mid-to-late nineteenth and twentieth century Church history; show evidence of training and skill in research and scholarly writing, preferably with a record of peer-reviewed publications in high quality academic venues; show evidence of ability to teach Doctrine and Covenants and Latter-day Saint history (CES courses); previous university-level teaching experience; be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and observe standards of conduct consistent with qualifying for temple privileges.
Duties/Responsibilities: Teach assigned classes in Church History & Doctrine, especially the Doctrine and Covenants (8-10 credit hours per semester, 4 credit hours per spring or summer term). Classroom instructions must be both intellectually rigorous and spiritually strengthening and consistent with acceptable academic standards. Mentor students; serve on university, college, and/or department committees or other assignments in professional or academic associations. Be a contributing and collegial team player. Continually engage in scholarly research and writing, as evidenced by regular publishing in high quality top-tier venues.
Deadline: August 31, 2014
While I’m sure there are good reasons for closing the search so early (Aug. 31), I hope the department recognizes that hiring out of season with the rest of the field often yields the best candidates, but not always the candidates who stick around. In other words, given the realities of the academic job market, the bird in hand is always worth more than the two in the bush; so CH&D might be able to hire a good candidate, but also a candidate that accepted this job without knowing whether he or she would have had another job offer. This can, of course, lead to problems with retaining the hire. Then again, I don’t think anyone has left RelEd for anything outside of BYU, so maybe they’re not concerned.
Comment by SmallAxe — August 5, 2014 @ 3:35 pm