91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ

91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ is seeking a candidate experienced in leading seminar discussions for a 1/3 part-time visiting teaching fellow for the 2026-2027 academic year.?

Applying to be a visiting teaching fellow
If you would like to be considered for a visiting teaching fellow position at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, please follow the application procedure outlined below. Inquiries regarding the application process should be sent to Office of Academic Affairs (OAA@drbu.edu)

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APPLICATION

Application for a teaching position at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ must contain the following materials:?

  • A cover letter highlighting your understanding of 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ¡¯s method of pedagogy and stating what motivates you to apply for this position.
  • A completed 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ Application for Employment
  • An updated curriculum vitae or resume, listing educational and professional experience, credentials and advanced degrees, certificates, honors, publications, and professional memberships
  • Two references from former teachers, students, or colleagues. We will ask for letters of recommendation when an applicant is invited for a campus interview.
  • We will ask for transcripts of completed formal academic studies (undergraduate and graduate) when an applicant is invited for a campus interview.?
  • A writing sample or a published article

Please send all application materials electronically to OAA@drbu.edu by May 30th, 2026.?

Salary for this part-time teaching fellow based on the full-time rate of $59,280 is $19,760 for 2026-2027.

This is a one-year appointment, with the possibility of renewal for an additional year upon a successful review at the end of the first year.

What Is a Professor at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ?

Professors at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ are paramount to the learning experience of our students. Their role, however, differs significantly from what it might mean to be a professor at many other institutions of higher learning. Instead of demonstrating mastery in a single discipline and ¡°professing¡± their knowledge for students to absorb through ¡°listening,¡± professors at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ facilitate a discussion-centered collaborative approach to learning known as ¡°shared inquiry.¡± This learning-in-the-round requires that all present in the classroom, regardless of their backgrounds, engage in a shared exploration of the text before them.

The purpose of the shared inquiry pedagogy is to stimulate a love of learning, not merely an acquisition of information. It is also meant to acknowledge and activate an inherent human capacity for wisdom possessed by all individuals. Developing this inherent capacity requires an orientation toward learning that is interactive, probing, and deeply self-reflective. This means that professors see the students not as receptacles that passively receive the understanding of others; rather, they view students as engines of discovery who are actively formulating their own understandings through deep questioning, personal testing, and direct affirming. Casting the teacher as a guide rather than a director of the students¡¯ learning process reflects an ancient pedigree across classical traditions. As Plutarch noted in his discourse On Listening to Lectures, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”

Professors facilitate the students¡¯ understanding not by presuming to be a final authority on the text, but by clarifying the issues, demonstrating the methods, guiding discussions, and sometimes challenging students to reexamine their first interpretations. Professors at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ thus aim to ¡®draw out¡¯ (educere) rather than ¡®pour in,¡¯ so that each student develops the capacity to be an independent thinker. A core assumption underlying the University¡¯s teaching methodology is that the text, instructor, and student form a triangular relationship of inquiry in which none of the three is seen as ¡°the measure of all things.¡± Rather, ¡°authority¡± is distributed and allowed to emerge through a lively give-and-take among the three; all center on arriving at one goal: the students¡¯ knowing for and through themselves.?

The most important duties of a professor at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ are to ask probing questions and to gently encourage and assist students in the bittersweet task of answering these important questions for themselves. By directly wrestling with the texts and, by extension, their own thoughts, feelings, and tendencies, they acquire a hard-won confidence and clarity that serves as a foundation for engaging life to its fullest. Amid all the conflicting desires and complex issues they will encounter in life, such individuals can undertake for themselves to discern, decide, and act upon what is true to themselves and responsible to others. This is what is meant by ¡°self-cultivation.¡±

In order to achieve this, professors must continually learn outside of their disciplines and be actively engaged in their own efforts at self-cultivation. Academically, this involves a great deal of preparation, including but not limited to reading various texts, exchanging ideas with other professors, and innovating and participating in contemplative exercises integral to the program. It also requires a certain vulnerability and humility, not just in remaining open to new interpretations of even the most familiar works, but in staying alert and available to the kinds of spontaneous and heartfelt encounters that can and do occur in an atmosphere of sincere shared inquiry and genuine self-discovery.

For these reasons, professors at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ do not teach solely to their area of expertise, and learning is not separated into stand-alone, academic departments. Unlike what faculty might experience in many other University positions, professors at 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ are encouraged but not required to publish academic works, nor are they restricted to conducting research in one particular field of study. At 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ, the priority of each professor is to engage with the program in its entirety and over time develop a deep understanding of the collective texts. This method is enriching for professors ,in that their workload never becomes routine or rehearsed; they retain a refreshing openness of mind and infectious love of learning¡ªhallmarks of a scholar and teacher.

MORE INFORMATION

Responsibilities

91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ uses a version of what is commonly known as the ¡°Great Books¡± model, which has several distinctive features:?

  • The BA and MA programs have an all-required and sequentially-built curriculum that consists of a series of discussion-centered seminar-style classes around small cohorts of students (10-15).
  • Professors lead these seminar discussions without assuming authority based on their field or discipline expertise.
  • Professors teach across the curriculum, sometimes in areas that are not their previous or current areas of academic preparation.
  • All professors collectively determine all instructional matters such as content, methods of teaching, learning objectives, and methods of evaluation and assessment.
  • Professors participate in the governance of the programs and the university.

Given 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ¡¯s somewhat unique model, the primary responsibility of a 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ professor is effective teaching in 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ¡¯s educational programs.?

91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ will evaluate each applicant holistically based on the following criteria:

  • A good beginning understanding of 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ¡¯s programs
  • Sincere interest in learning and engaging with 91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ¡¯s programs
  • Demonstrated or potential competence in leading small, seminar-style classes
  • Ability to work in a learning community as a civil and collegial member

REVIEW AND CAMPUS VISIT

The Dean of Academics, with the help of the Instruction Committee, reviews the completed application files and selects applicants to be invited for an interview visit. The university provides food and lodging on campus, and transportation costs. The visit includes opportunities to audit classes and to converse informally with students and faculty. It also includes a teaching demonstration and a formal interview with the Instruction Committee, which is the faculty committee charged with making appointment recommendations to the president.

91Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ is an equal opportunity employer.