Jan 06, 2023

Georgetown University in Washington D.C. invites applications for 1-3 Postdoctoral Fellowship positions, contingent on funding, for Ethics Lab, an initiative of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. The Postdoctoral Fellowships are each 1 year, renewable for a second year depending on project funding. 

Ethics Lab brings philosophy and design thinking together for two missions: education and work with external projects to effect change in the world. In its educational mission, it develops novel courses in areas of emerging ethics, and designs and delivers creative exercises for embedding ethics across the curriculum. In its impact mission, it provides ethics-centered consultation to research, policy, and industry project teams working in arenas of high complexity. 

Responsibilities of Postdoctoral Fellows include leading one Ethics Lab course the first year, and up to two courses the second year if the position is renewed; collaborating on the design and delivery of embedded ethics workshops; and participating in selected direct impact projects with the Ethics Lab team and external partners. The position also includes 20% protected time for the Postdoctoral Fellow’s own research, which need not be related to Ethics Lab projects. A PhD in philosophy is required by the time of appointment.

Ethics Lab has particular interests in the ethics of emerging technologies (including data and digital technologies), environmental ethics (including environmental justice), and bioethics (including disabilities, public health, and clinical research). Applicants should be able to speak to demonstrable experience (academic or otherwise) in one of these three areas. Ethics lab also has strong interests in the ethical and social-epistemological issues related to race, gender, and other social identities that are embedded within and across these areas. Background in one of these fields is a particular advantage but not required. 

Candidates should be philosophically rigorous but also creative; enthusiastic about working with other disciplines; and passionate about bringing philosophy to the service of helping address immediate, real-world complexities. Candidates should be comfortable working in a collaborative team environment and practicing philosophy in contexts of innovation, ambiguity, and complexity; have strong interpersonal and writing skills; and be able to effectively time manage work on multiple projects. Robust onboarding to the team, its mission, and its methods will be provided.

For more on Ethics Lab, please visit the website .

The postdoc position is a 12-month appointment with a start date no later than August 8, 2023, and carries a highly competitive salary. For benefit information, see link . The Ethics Lab postdoc will be supervised by Prof. Margaret Little, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Ethics Lab.

The search committee's preferred date to receive complete applications by is February 1, 2023. 

Candidates should provide CV, a cover letter with explicit reference to potential fit for this unique position, teaching portfolio (including teaching evaluations), and three letters of reference. Optional but welcome is inclusion of a writing sample that demonstrates proficiency with accessible writing, whether that is an academic piece or blog post.