Department: International Honors Program/SIT Study Abroad
Reports to: Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Salary Range: $65,000-$75,000
Anticipated Start Date: March 1, 2025
Term of Employment: Full-time
Base of Designation: Vermont, USA
Remote Eligible: Remote, with regular on-site and in-person travel
Apply by: Open until filled; first review of applications will begin 11/1/2024
Instructions to Applicants: Please submit a resume, cover letter, and information of three references by November 1, 2024 to ensure consideration. The posting will stay open until the position is filled.
Conditional on Student Enrollment
World Learning seeks an inaugural Program Director for IHP Death & Dying: Perspectives, Practices, and Policies. The Program Director is responsible for overseeing program delivery and support for this unique undergraduate study-abroad program, including academics, operations, management, and administration. The program's learning journey takes place in four countries, collaborating with culturally diverse and interdisciplinary teams, and working with students from US accredited colleges and universities. This appointment will be offered with the academic rank of assistant or associate professor.
International Honors Program
The International Honors Program (IHP) is a dynamic and flexible academic structure that combines depth and breadth to provide a comparative and rigorous intellectual examination of critical global issues. The IHP program, a part of the School for International Training (SIT), offers international semester-long study abroad programs emphasizing the comparative study of critical global issues. IHP's learning model is grounded in experiential learning, critical pedagogy, cultural immersion, local perspectives, and global comparison.
IHP Death & Dying: Perspectives, Practices, and Policies
Designed around a central question what is the meaning of death this program seeks to demystify death through an interdisciplinary study of death and dying across cultures, contexts, and theoretical frameworks. Students will explore the meaning of death through the study of death rites and practices, learning how cultural, religious, and community beliefs about death contribute to a group's cultural identity. To further discover what death means, students will compare mortality rates across demographics and identity categories to identify socio-political determinants of death across disparate populations. We will look to popular culture, the humanities, the arts, and the sciences to determine what it means to die and develop the vocabulary and skills to come to terms with death. Students will have the opportunity to synthesize their learning in a culminating inquiry-driven project that utilizes ethically appropriate field work techniques to provide deeper insight into the cross-cultural dimensions of death.
Through this multifaceted study of death, the program aims to accomplish two objectives: 1) to normalize death discourse and increase students' death literacy and 2) to interrogate how death and dying are used to construct, maintain, and challenge social and cultural boundaries, identities, and power structures.
Each semester program will take students from leading U.S. colleges and universities on a multi-site study of death and dying in four countries on four continents. The planned itinerary is as follows:
- New York City, USA
- Accra, Ghana
- Bali, Indonesia
- Oaxaca, Mexico
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Program Academics: Overall responsibility for developing and achieving the academic intent and integrity of the program; working with local faculty, visiting traveling faculty, and country coordinators to design and update four courses' syllabi and curricula conducive to achieving the program's learning goals; advising and supporting student learning and research projects in collaboration with program faculty; oversight of and follow-up on student evaluations; facilitating collaboration and communication between multi-country faculty and team members; overseeing grading process and grade appeals; contributing to the academic leadership within SIT through research efforts and presentations at conferences.
- Program Management & Administration: Overall responsibility for program budget; identifying and entering contractual agreements with local implementing partners; advising on program design, delivery and scheduling; securing adherence to SIT/IHP policies; oversight of program evaluation processes; constant communication and collaboration between multi-country and US based teams; revising program curriculum and country programming at IHP annual planning meetings; participating in weekly IHP team calls and meetings; providing student support and guidance for medical, personal, behavioral and/or security issues; leading and participating in program "launch", "mid-term", and "retreat" periods with students in each country; maintaining in-depth knowledge of economic, political and social situations in program countries for risk assessment and crisis management.
- Staff Hiring, Supervision, Training & Collaboration: Oversight of all faculty and staff; responsible for team management and development (hiring, training, mentoring) and ongoing performance evaluation; working collaboratively with program managers, traveling faculty, IHP team members, and SIT departments; representing IHP and SIT/World Learning at professional conferences, participation on committees, and institutional initiatives.
REQUIREMENTS
Required Experience/Education/Skills:
- Ph.D. in a relevant field such as sociology, anthropology, history, geography, religious studies, political economy, or other humanities or interdisciplinary field engaged with the meanings of death (and life).
- At least 3 years of teaching experience and/or experience in academic administration or the equivalent in international experience.
- Demonstrated understanding of field-based, interdisciplinary and experiential education, and/or critical pedagogy.
- Experience teaching US based college students.
- Minimum one-year experience living and working outside of the US.
- Supervisory experience, ideally of multi-cultural staff at distant locations.
- Articulate in use of oral and written English.
- Demonstrated support for diversity and inclusion.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a multi-cultural team.
- Proficient in working in a fast-paced, virtual environment.
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
- Flexibility to travel at least 30% of the time, primarily to program locations but also to SIT meeting sites, whether in Vermont at main campus or at Teaching Centers located around the world.
Application requires a letter of interest detailing qualifications for the position and a resume or CV, including contact information of three references.
Vaccination is strongly recommended for all employees in our U.S. offices except for those receiving medical or religious exemptions. If boosters are subsequently recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) then employees and faculty are strongly encouraged to receive the booster within thirty (30) days of their eligibility.
THE WORLD LEARNING INC. FAMILY
For more than 90 years, World Learning Inc. is a thriving global organization made up of The Experiment in International Living, the nation's most experienced provider of international education through exchanges for high school students; School for International Training, offering accredited undergraduate study abroad programs through SIT Study Abroad and internationally focused master's degrees through SIT Graduate Institute; and World Learning, a global development and exchange nonprofit organization.
World Learning worldlearning.org
World Learning has worked to create a more sustainable, peaceful, and just world. World Learning's education, development, and exchange programs help people find their voices, connect with their communities, strengthen the institutions that form the backbone of a democratic society, and build relationships across cultures.
An organizational commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access.
We are a globally diverse community of staff, faculty, board members, alumni, students, and participants who believe that inclusive and equitable practices are at the heart of a peaceful and just world. Each of us strives to honor diverse voices and lived experiences, examine our own biases and privileges, actively work to address inequities in our structures, and foster a community of open dialogue. We are committed to acting with accountability, transparency, reciprocity, authenticity, and empathy.
World Learning is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action/veterans/ADA employer, committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce.
