As part of an ongoing commitment to diversifying our programs, the professoriate, and the research workforce, the School of Nursing at the University of Virginia seeks applications for a Mellon Race, Place, and Equity Postdoctoral Research Associate in the History of Nursing and Healthcare. This program recruits postdoctoral scholars who have the potential to assume tenure-track faculty positions and who would benefit from mentored professional development opportunities.

The Mellon Race, Place, and Equity Postdoctoral Research Associate in the History of Nursing and Healthcare is funded by a university-wide Race, Place and Equity (RPE) grant from the Mellon Foundation and UVA matching funds to advance research and teaching related to race, justice, and equity (RJE). The Postdoctoral Fellow will be based in the School of Nursing’s Eleanor Crowder Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry and work on RJE-related questions, specifically in the history of nursing and healthcare in North America.

Professional Development

The goal of this program is to provide a mentored professional development opportunity to train the next generation of scholars for future tenure-track positions at UVA or elsewhere. Postdoctoral Research Associates selected under this program will be appointed for two years (subject to annual review) and will carry out research, teaching and professional development activities directed toward securing a tenure-track position. The Postdoctoral Fellow funded through the Mellon grant will carry out transformative, cross-disciplinary research and will be expected to produce scholarship related to health equity, race, and justice in the United States using place-based methodologies for research. The fellow’s work should also strengthen existing initiatives that address RJE issues in the history of nursing and healthcare. In addition to mentoring within the Bjoring Center and School of Nursing, the Postdoctoral Fellow will join a University-wide cohort of Race, Place and Equity Fellows funded by a Race, Place and Equity grant from the Mellon Foundation and UVA matching funds, for additional interdisciplinary interactions, career development programs, and professional growth opportunities. Teaching is an important part of preparation for a faculty position, and different types of teaching opportunities may be available. This may include co-teaching courses on the history of nursing and healthcare and mentoring PhD students in the history of nursing and healthcare. The Postdoctoral Fellow will also collaborate with Bjoring Center faculty and staff to develop public history projects centered on the history of race, justice, and equity in nursing and healthcare.

With the aim of building professional research networks and community, the Fellow may choose to connect with one of the many organizations at UVA working on issues of race and equity. Some examples include: The Equity Center, the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies, the Native and Indigenous Relations Community, the Institute for Humanities and Global Cultures, the Democracy Initiative, the Memory Project, the Center for the Study of Race and Law, Digital Humanities@UVA and Environmental Humanities at UVA.

Postdoctoral Fellow Support

The Postdoctoral Fellow funded under this program will be appointed for two years contingent on a successful annual review. This is a 12-month residential appointment in the School of Nursing which will provide full research, teaching, and administrative support. In addition to salary and benefits, the program will provide a research fund allocation for the Fellow.

Requirements

Applicants must have a PhD. Candidates who received (or will receive) their PhD between August 24, 2021 and August 24, 2024 are eligible to apply. The RPE component specifically seeks applicants with a relevant scholarly focus in the history of nursing and healthcare or humanistic studies in nursing which could help to advance recent work at UVA that includes the President’s Commission on Slavery and the University, the completion of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, and the report of the Racial Equity Task Force. Potential areas of research focus might include, but are by no means limited to, race and the healthcare workforce; race, environment, and health; health inequity; settler colonialism and health; indigenous ways of knowing and healing; race and health policy; health justice movements. Scholars from underrepresented communities, including Native American, Indigenous, African American, Latinx, Asian American, queer, and neurodiverse scholars, and scholars with disabilities, are especially invited to apply.

The selected applicant will be required to complete a background check and health screening prior to their first day of employment per University policy.

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About University of Virginia, School of Nursing

The University of Virginia School of Nursing, established in 1901, is a school of nursing education. It has an enrollment of approximately 800 students (roughly half undergraduate and half graduate students), and is consistently rated in the top 4% of U.S. nursing schools.

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