Continuously Posted Notice

About filling Sessional Lecturer Positions under the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 Collective Agreement

The Department for the Study of Religion may hire Sessional Lecturers to deliver some of its undergraduate courses. Specific courses will be posted on the Department's notice boards and on the Departmental website. To be considered for a position, an application and a Curriculum Vitae must be submitted to:

Professor Simon Coleman
Department for the Study of Religion
170 St. George Street, floor 3
Toronto, Ontario M5R 2M8
email: assocchair.religion@utoronto.ca

General Information

Generally speaking, we expect to make decisions concerning courses in May for Winter, Fall and Spring courses, and April for Summer courses. However, some decisions may be made earlier or later than these time frames, depending on circumstances. Unexpected vacancies may arise at any time.

Applications will be retained for twelve (12) months. Persons who have submitted applications and CVs will receive email job postings for specific positions for the subsequent twelve (12) month period.

This notice is posted pursuant to the CUPE local 3902 Unit 3 Collective Agreement. Please note that in accordance with that agreement, preference in hiring is given to qualified persons holding the rank of Sessional Lecturer II.

 

Selection Criteria for Sessional I & II

Pursuant to the collective agreement between the University of Toronto and CUPE 3902 Unit 3 and in accordance with the standards and practices of the Department for the Study of Religion, the DSR has established the following guidelines for selection of Sessional I and Sessional II instructors

 

Eligibility

In order to be considered eligible for Sessional Instructor positions, the candidate must:

  • Possess a doctoral degree in the Study of Religion (or as appropriate to the course for which application is made, a doctoral degree in a related discipline such as Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, Classics, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, etc.).
  • For language courses taught in the Department for the Study of Religion (e.g., Tibetan, Sanskrit), the appropriate graduate degrees or educational diplomas may be considered as suitable qualification.
  • Applicants who had completed all doctoral courses and general examination requirements (and have lapsed) may be considered for Unit 3 positions.
  • Demonstrate his or her currency with and mastery of the subject matter of the courses for which application is made.Currency here implies that the candidate must demonstrate ongoing engagement with scholarship in the area. This may be demonstrated by means of: recent graduate work completed in the area or field (course work or a dissertation); scholarly publications (in peer-refereed journals); and participation (i.e., presentation of papers or lectures) in learned societies, seminars, workshops, in the area in which competence and currency is claimed.
  • Mastery of the subject matter may be demonstrated by an academic record including graduate courses and/or publications and/or other scholarly activities in the areas in which mastery is claimed, and should be evident from sample course syllabi, the structure of lectures and assignments, and other portions of the teaching dossier.
  • In some cases, competence to serve as a sessional instructor will presuppose knowledge of the relevant languages of source texts (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Tibetan) or the languages of contemporary scholarship and training in relevant critical methods.
  • Having served as a Teaching Assistant for the course for which application is made can be treated as evidence of familiarity with the course content, although it does not necessarily imply currency with or mastery of the subject matter.

 

Application Procedure

The applicant must submit the following:

  • A current curriculum vitae, which includes a complete list of all University level credit courses taught.
  • A teaching dossier which shall include course outlines, bibliographies, and assignments, and include other evidence of superior teaching such as teaching awards.
  • In the case of applicants who have already taught university level courses, a summary of previous course evaluations.
  • For first-time applicants who have not yet taught any university level courses, a complete list of all graduate courses taken, the areas in which general examinations were written, and the title of the doctoral dissertation.

 

Criteria for Selection

The following considerations are critical to a recommendation for selection:

  • Has the candidate demonstrated his or her currency with and mastery of the subject matter in the course for which application is made? (See above, 1b for a definition of currency and mastery.)
  • Has the candidate demonstrated excellence in teaching? If the candidate has served as a Sessional Instructor in the past, the selection committee will consult course evaluations. The Department for the Study of Religion offers sessional teaching positions only to those who have demonstrated superior teaching. However, this does not preclude a candidate who has not taught any courses in the Department for the Study of Religion from applying for, and being hired as a Sessional Instructor. Demonstrated excellence in teaching, however, is a condition for further appointments.
  • The Department for the Study of Religion retains the right not to fill a position that has been advertised.
  • The Department for the Study of Religion will normally not award more than 1.0 FCE per academic term to any applicant.

June 2006; revised January 2008.

 

Collective Agreement

For more detailed information, please see the current collective agreement governing sessional work at the University of Toronto.