Two Positions Available as Teaching Staff for an Innovative MA in Socially Engaged Buddhism Program

Two Positions Available as Teaching Staff for an Innovative MA in Socially Engaged Buddhism Program

by | Jun 28, 2017 | MA

Introduction

The Institute for Transformative Learning of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB Institute) is seeking two full-time faculty to take responsibility for leading and teaching in this 12-month MA program.

  1. Assistant Director, Full-Time Teaching Staff, and Co-Mentor
  2. Full-Time Teaching Staff and Co-Mentor

The MA in Socially Engaged Buddhism will open its inaugural academic year on August 20, 2018 and continue through August 10, 2019. Thesis advising will continue on a part-time basis beyond the completion of coursework.

The MA in Socially Engaged Buddhism is innovative in the following ways:

  • Applied: The MA applies anthropological methods and principles to the study of a religious tradition. In addition to textual study, students will meet, interview, and study with leading figures in socially engaged Buddhism today. The program takes students from the home campus in Thailand to Taiwan, then to Nagpur and Bir, respectively, in India. In each place students and faculty reside in communities that are part of the tradition of socially engaged Buddhism, and engage in both semester-long as well as site specific courses that will gradually unfold the subject matter in a vivid way.
  • Contemplative: Apart from providing an in-depth study of one religious tradition in its encounter with modernity, the MA is designed to be a source of reflection, understanding, and inspiration that will help students to find a way of working with integrity to meet the challenges of the interlinked crises now affecting humanity.
  • Holistic: The students receive training in contemplative disciplines integral to the tradition of socially engaged Buddhism along with disciplines required for goal setting, providing genuine mutual support, and taking leadership. This addresses a contemporary need where the ability a) to form stable and non-exploitative self-identities and b) to act with clarity for the common good are also under stress.

The INEB Institute is working towards licensing of the MA as a degree-granting program under Thai law in collaboration with, Arsom Silp Institute of the Arts, Bangkok.

Assistant Director and Full-Time Faculty: Overview of Expectations

Individuals selected for these positions will be members of the Core Work Team of the MA program. They will accompany the students throughout the entire period of course work, with periods of rest for several weeks over the 2018-2019 New Year, and in June and July of 2019. Each will be expected to play a role in teaching, either as part of a teaching team for a given course, or as a course’s sole or primary instructor. In addition, they will be expected to have the qualities that would allow them to provide genuine and compassionate face-to-face mentorship of students, and cooperative support for fellow team members. The Assistant Director must be able to provide strong support to the Director, and must be capable of stepping in to the position of Team Leader in the event of the Director’s absence or illness.

Specific Qualifications for Candidates

  • PhD in hand is highly desirable, but may be overridden by other outstanding qualifications for one of these positions.
  • An advanced degree or extensive research and experience in Buddhist or Religious Studies, Sociocultural Anthropology, Peace and Conflict Resolution, Sociology, Social Movement Studies, Political Economy, Climate and Sustainability or other closely related fields.
  • Advanced knowledge of at least one of the major Buddhist traditions (or Ambedkarite Buddhism), or of socially engaged Buddhism as a development in the modern period of any or all of the major Buddhist traditions will be an advantage.
  • Capable of engaging in honest self-inquiry as well as genuinely offering and receiving support within the context of a community of learners.
  • Ability to think about the overall growth and development of the students and the Core Work Team, and capable of providing thoughtful (but not necessarily professionally trained) attention to not only academic but also emotional, relationship, and broader life issues.
  • Be in good health and prepared for sometimes challenging or less than comfortable field conditions.
  • Have excellent English, and profound familiarity with at least one major body of academic literature in English.
  • Fluency or advanced knowledge of Chinese or Hindi (or the language of an ethnic group with a strong Buddhist tradition) would be desirable but not essential.
  • Experience and understanding of contemporary NGO and activist worlds would be beneficial but not essential.

Compensation

Compensation for the positions of Assistant Director and Full-Time Teaching Staff is negotiable and will depend on degree, experience, perceived likelihood of making a significant contribution, and publications. It is very likely that compensation will be far lower than would be expected for an academic position in North America, Europe, or Japan. However, for all periods during which courses are in session, members of the Core Work Team will receive free room and board, and free work-related travel. In addition, it is expected that the experience will be profoundly gratifying in ways that a normal academic position might not be.

Periods of Work Expected

Assistant Director

  • Must be available to start no later than: May 1 – 15 of 2018.
  • Work responsibilities continue full-time through August of 2019.
  • Must be available for at least part-time supervision of student thesis and internship write-up through June 2020.
  • It is possible (and desirable) that the Assistant Director would be able to continue on a full-time basis as a contributor to other INEB Institute programs, and participate in the second round of the MA program, which would commence in August of 2020.

Full-Time Teaching Staff

  • Must be available to start no later than: July 15 – August 1 of 2018.
  • Work responsibilities continue full-time through August of 2019.
  • Must be available for at least part-time supervision of student thesis and internship write-up through June 2020.
  • It is possible (and desirable) that the Full-Time Teaching Staff would be able to continue on a full-time basis as a contributor to other INEB Institute programs, and participate in the second round of the MA program, which would commence in August of 2020.

Submission of Applications

Download the announcement in pdf HERE.