University wants ‘Black feminist studies’ professor to focus on medical equity

The Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Florida is hiring assistant professors specializing in ‘Black feminist studies’ and ‘Health Disparities and Equity.’

The department’s spring 2023 courses include Reproductive Health and Justice and Ecofeminism.

The Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Florida (UF) is hiring an assistant professor “with a strong record of research, teaching, and service grounded in Black feminist studies.” 

“The successful candidate will complement the Department’s existing research programs on Black and women of color feminist perspectives,” the job description reads. 

“In addition, the successful candidate will add to the Department’s curricular strengths in this area, with teaching responsibilities that contribute to the major’s required core on race; the major’s specialization track in race, power, and social justice; and the graduate MA and Ph.D. Certificate offerings.”

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The job description also calls for applicants who specialize in “Health Disparities and Equity.” 

A description of the department explains its scope. “Specifically, the Department has 500+ undergraduate majors, minors, MA, and Graduate Certificate students,” the description reads. “It also offers a robust experiential learning program, placing 200+ students in 30+ internship and practicum sites per year.” 

Applicants are encouraged to read the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Diversity Statement. “The Department particularly welcomes applicants who can contribute to a diverse and inclusive environment through their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and professional service,” the application states. 

The Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies website lists courses for the spring 2023 semester. Undergraduate courses include Reproductive Health and Justice and Ecofeminism, which “introduces students to a holistic framework for understanding the connections between environmental, feminist and social justice issues.”

Graduate students can take a course on Intersectional Activism in the spring 2023 semester. 

[RELATED: Penn State course explores how racism and sexism relate to ‘reproductive justice’ and ‘toxic waste’]

Previous reports from Campus Reform discussed challenges to women’s and gender studies departments on college campuses. In March, Campus Reform shared a report from the Washington Examiner on a Wyoming State Senate vote “that would end funding for the University of Wyoming’s (UWYO) gender & women’s studies department.”

“The senators who voted to halt funding stated that the department produced a ‘biased’ view of education, with some arguing that the program held no academic legitimacy,” according to the Washington Examiner

A student told Campus Reform that UWYO should not have a gender studies program that ‘teaches students what to think.’”

Campus Reform contacted the University of Florida for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.