Since 2018, the Feminist Futures Initiative has been modeling the kind of research and programming envisioned for the Center, building on three pillars:

 

❖ Intersectional Feminism: to imagine and work toward a more just future for all

❖ Intergenerational Collaboration: to empower rising generations of feminist leaders

❖ Impactful Research: to generate publicly facing scholarship for the common good

 

We are seeking a visionary and energetic leader who holds a Ph.D. in a social science or humanistic social science field with a strong record of interdisciplinary and intersectional research on gender and sexuality; demonstration of effective teaching and mentoring; evidence of committed professional, campus, and community leadership; and expression of an innovative vision for the future of the Center. Appointment will be at the rank of associate or full professor within a department in the Division of Social Sciences—which encompasses Anthropology, Asian American Studies, Black Studies, Chicana and Chicano Studies, Communication, Economics, Feminist Studies, Global Studies, Political Science, and Sociology—and with a preference for at least 50% appointment in the Department of Feminist Studies. Scholars with strong leadership experience in policy, practical, and activist realms, in global and/or local contexts and related to the central Feminist Futures goals, are encouraged to apply.

 

The Center will be housed in the Division of Social Sciences and will bring together faculty and students from throughout the university. The hallmark of the Division of Social Sciences is the commitment to generating new knowledge about society, both locally and globally, with an emphasis on making knowledge of issues of pressing contemporary importance accessible to diverse publics in the interest of social justice and the common good. The Center will be committed to translating and disseminating research to communities and publics outside the university through policy papers, blogs, podcasts, op-eds, videos, and other creative means. Our emphasis on intergenerational connections affirms that young people—undergraduate students as well as high school students—are essential to the research we produce and disseminate. Through collaborative research, internships and working groups, the Center for Feminist Futures will embody intergenerational cooperation.

 

This is a unique opportunity for the inaugural Director to play a leadership role to build the Center. A committed group of faculty members and graduate students have participated in developing the concept for the Center and engaging in research and public programming, including “Good News from the Global South: Feminist Futures in Troubled Times” (2019), “Race, Gender, and Voting Patterns: Why Do White Women Vote for Trump?” (2019), “Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence: Is Title IX Broken?” (2020), “Beyond the Bathroom Wars: What is the Future of Transgender Politics?” (2020), “Intimate Futures: Black Sexualities and the Twin Pandemics of COVID-19 and Anti-Black Racism” (2021), and “Care Across the Generations” (2021). The new Director will launch the next stage in the Center’s development. The Department of Feminist Studies is home to the Hull Chair, the first endowed chair in women’s studies in the University of California system, and is also seeking a senior scholar to assume future leadership in the department: https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02055. Feminist Studies has ten full-time faculty members and numerous affiliated faculty members from the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts, Division of Social Sciences, and Gevirtz Graduate School of Education.

 

The Center for Feminist Futures will be located in the Division of Social Sciences, with active participation of faculty members in the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts and other divisions, schools, and colleges. The Director will be appointed to a five-year renewable term and will receive a 50% appointment (two- course reduction from a four-course teaching load) and an annual stipend. The Center has current-use funding and is in the process of building an endowment. There will be support for website management, outreach, social media, grant-writing, and event planning. The Director’s duties will include conceptualization and coordination of specific thematic scholarly initiatives, donor cultivation, building connections among students and faculty members on campus, coordination with other entities and institutions, public engagement, media relations, and supervision of personnel. The University is especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching, and service as appropriate to the position.