Associate or Full Professor, Climate Justice and Energy Policy (Occidental College)

The Urban and Environmental Policy Department is searching for an Associate/Full Professor in the field of Climate Justice and Energy Policy. We seek a broadly trained community-engaged social scientist whose research and teaching is situated in the political economy and policy context for climate change, energy, and sustainability. Candidates should have demonstrated experience working and thinking across interdisciplinary theory, methods, and applied and community-engaged approaches in teaching and research related to the political ecology of climate change and energy and be able to teach the following: Environment and Society (UEP 101), Environmental Law and Policy (UEP 300), the Senior Policy Seminar (UEP 410), as well as elective courses in climate and energy. Our new colleague will help our students diagnose root causes of the global climate crisis, think both locally and globally about the climate crisis, and, just as importantly, outline solutions and work with community partners to bring about real-world change.

We are looking for a colleague who understands the obstacles to addressing the climate emergency as not just environmental but also political and economic, and who can mentor students in becoming advocates for climate justice. We are particularly interested in a colleague who can teach courses that would meet Core requirements (oxy.edu/core-program/courses-requirements) and that relate to the city and communities of Los Angeles. As necessary, the new hire may contribute to the First Year Seminar (oxy.edu/first-year-seminars) program (which focuses on writing), mentor undergraduate researchers in Oxy’s renowned Summer Research Program (oxy.edu/summer-research-program-fellowship), engage with the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute’s (oxy.edu/uepi) programs, including the Center for Community Food and Resilience (uepifood.org)and the Justice Summer Internship program (oxy.edu/uep-uepi-summer-internship-program). The new hire will have an active research agenda, producing scholarship commensurate with rank, and will participate in the life and development of the department, advise students, and serve on broader college-wide committees.

Our department is unique in that it integrates environmental and urban studies, recognizing that environmental and urban policy and solutions are inextricably related. Our students are drawn to our department because they want to understand e how the climate crisis is exacerbating inequality, how it has crossed multiple tipping points, and how to achieve climate justice. Our students are also attracted to our interdisciplinary and applied curriculum that offers opportunities for research, internships, and community-engaged learning. UEP students gain skills in analytic and critical thinking, writing, research, and community organizing that they successfully translate into graduate studies and careers. Our students are routinely accepted into top graduate school programs in public policy, law, public health, social work, urban planning, environmental and sustainability studies including UCLA, Columbia University, UC Berkeley, Harvard, NYU, and USC. Our interdisciplinary major has also led some of our students to other academic and career paths, including medical school and programs in theology.

Our faculty are committed teacher-scholars who bring critical inquiry and discovery into the classroom. The UEP curriculum (oxy.edu/urban-environmental-policy/courses) provides our students with classroom learning as well as field experience with our community partners that addresses understanding the root causes of social injustice and inequality while training students as thought and application leaders for social justice, public service, and public policy. Our curriculum directly aligns with the Occidental Promise (https://www.oxy.edu/sites/default/files/Oxy_ISP_2023_Doc_V8.pdf), the College’s strategic plan.

Our faculty establish themselves as exceptional researchers and practitioners in their fields. And they provide departmental and college-wide service, as well as service to their professions. Our new colleague will fill our department gaps while expanding our translocal and transnational  connections, engaging policymakers, leveraging professional visibility to the department, impacting policy debates, and expanding internship and professional networks for our students.

As a small institution with a commitment to Shared Governance (oxy.edu/faculty-council), faculty across the College collaborate in maintaining the excellence of the College’ academic program.

Located within the vibrant city of Los Angeles, Occidental is committed to community-engaged partnerships for learning and research (oxy.edu/ccbl). Occidental is also committed to undergraduate research, regularly mentoring students in Occidental’s hallmark summer research program (oxy.edu/summer-research-program-fellowship). For decades, Occidental has been a leader in creating access for a diverse student body. That diversity enriches the education of all students. We seek an innovative teacher, scholar, mentor, and colleague who wishes to work in such an environment and who shares the commitments articulated in the mission of the College (https://www.oxy.edu/about-oxy/mission).