Adjunct Faculty - Psychedelics and Spirituality

Careerwebsite; Boulder (CO); Hybrid; USD 3,900 - 4,500; Part time

Job summary

Naropa University seeks an Adjunct Faculty member to teach REL-360 Psychedelics and Spirituality online for Spring 2027, cross-listed with undergraduate and graduate levels. The course is offered online and in-person through Naropa University in Boulder, CO, and runs synchronously during the term.

The role involves a 16% FTE commitment (6 hours/week) at a per-credit compensation of $1,300–$1,500, with duties including syllabus-based instruction, grading, online office hours, and required

Qualifications

• MA, MDIV, or Doctoral degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, or a related field. Doctoral degree preferred.
• Ability to create and maintain an environment conducive to learning and to maintain a professional demeanor during online classes and office hours.
• Willingness to co-create an inclusive community and actively participate in related professional development, including openness to feedback and ongoing self-examination.
• Ability to create and maintain a positive team environment and behave professionally with everyone encountered in the course and scope of the job duties.
• A strong understanding of contemplative educational approaches.
• Commitment to co-create a diverse and inclusive community and actively participate in related professional development regarding privilege dynamics and equity.
• Understanding Naropa University values and capacity to demonstrate rigorous professional conduct.

Responsibilities

• Instruct online students according to the syllabus, assess progress, and assign grades by deadlines, with oral and written feedback.
• Provide one hour of online office hours weekly and be available by appointment.
• Obtain permission from copyright owners for any copyrighted material used in source books.
• Complete required trainings, including Canvas CMS, within the specified timeframes.
• Create and maintain a positive team environment and demonstrate professional behavior.

Skills

Online teaching

Professional demeanor

Inclusive community

Contemplative education

Education

MA/MDIV/Doctoral in Religious Studies or related

Doctoral degree preferred

Tools

Canvas LMS

Job description

Position Title: Adjunct Faculty Wisdom Traditions
No. of Positions to Fill: 1
Department/Program: Religious Studies
Work Location: Hybrid
Reports to: Chair
FLSA Classification: Exempt/Salaried
FTE: 16% (6 hours/week)
Compensation: $1,300-$1,500 per credit

Application deadline 11/1 or until filled

Job Summary

Position available to teach online at the undergraduate and graduate level: REL-360 Psychedelics and Spirituality. This is a cross-listed 3-credit course, which requires 45 contact hours during the semester. This course is offered online and in-person, through Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, during the Spring 2027 semester and is delivered synchronously.

Course Description

REL-360 Psychedelics and Spirituality.
This course looks to the complex of relationships that has historically emerged between religious traditions and psychoactive substances classified as "psychedelic." We will survey numerous ways in which religious traditions interpreted, ritually assimilated, and envisioned the nature and use of these substances. A key element of this course will be the study of premodern religious communities that worked with psychedelic sacraments, including Indigenous traditions, the Greek mysteries, early Christianity, and Western Esotericism. In each case we will consider how these communities embraced-ethically, metaphysically, and in practice-psychedelic forms of worship and communion, and contrast this with colonial and post-colonial engagements with these substances, particularly the experimental explorations of European romantics, modern perennialists, and various counter-cultural movements. Throughout, attention will be paid to the myriad values attributed to these substances and the mental states they produce, and how that value is inextricably bound up with ritual structures, lineages of authority, and conceptual presuppositions about mind, human life, and human flourishing.

Job Duties

• Instruct students online -- in accordance with the syllabus, assess student progress and assign grades to students, accordingly, provide oral and written feedback to students on their progress in the course and on assigned work, submit grades to registrar by approved deadlines.
• Provide one hour of online office hours each week plus availability to students by appointment.
• Obtain permission from the copyright owner for any copyrighted material to be used in source books.
• Complete any and all faculty and staff trainings, including training in Canvas CMS, as required by the Human Resources Office or the Office of Academic Affairs within the time period set for completion by those departments.
• Create and maintain a positive team environment and behave professionally with everyone encountered in the course and scope of the job duties.

Required Qualifications

• MA, MDIV, or Doctoral degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, or a related field. Doctoral degree preferred.
• Ability to create and maintain an environment conducive to learning and to maintain a professional demeanor during online classes and office hours.
• Willingness to co-create an inclusive community and actively participate in related professional development, including openness to feedback and ongoing self- examination.
• Ability to create and maintain a positive team environment and behave professionally with everyone encountered in the course and scope of the job duties.
• A strong understanding of contemplative educational approaches
• All job candidates must hold a commitment to co-create a diverse and inclusive community and actively participate in related professional development regarding the dynamics of privilege and oppression and the impact these have in the workplace.
• All job candidates must demonstrate their level of understanding of the dynamics of privilege and oppression, and the impact these have on equity, access, and opportunity.
• All job candidates must be able to demonstrate an appropriate level of understanding of and appreciation for the values of Naropa University for this job and the capacity to provide a rigorous approach as evidenced in work, communication, collaboration styles, and other general workplace behaviors.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Canvas or other LMS platforms.
• Experience teaching online at the university level.

Physical Requirements & Environmental Conditions

As a faculty member teaching online, you may spend extended periods in front of students and speaking as well as:

• Reading academic texts and materials, student papers, etc.
• Operating personal computer and audio-visual equipment.
• Standing or sitting for hours at a time.

Naropa recognizes the following holidays throughout the year:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Fall Break, 4th Thursday and Friday in November, and Winter Break, the last two weeks in December encompassing the Christmas holiday as well as New Year's.

Naropa's health and welfare benefits

• medical
• dental
• vision
• FSA
• HSA
• employer-paid short-term and long-term disability
• employer-paid life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment
• an employer-sponsored pre-tax retirement savings plan
• a variety of voluntary, employee-paid supplemental insurance plans

A comprehensive benefits package is available to full-time employees who work a minimum of 30 hours each week. Employees who work 20 - 29 hours each week are eligible for only the employer-paid short-term & long-term disability, employer-paid life insurance & accidental death and dismemberment, and the retirement plan.

Employees who work fewer than 20 hours per week are eligible to participate in Naropa's retirement plan only.

All regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff, including student workers, accrue sick leave benefits. Full-time and part-time staff positions accrue vacation and personal time. All leave accrual rates vary based on the position, hours worked, and years of service.

The University recognizes the importance of including its employees in its organizational mission and values and welcomes employees into the classroom to "touch the magic." Specifically, regular employees are provided generous tuition remission opportunities for themselves and their family members.

Naropa University participates in the Council of Independent Colleges Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP). CIC-TEP is a network of CIC colleges and universities willing to accept, tuition-free, students from families of full-time employees of other CIC participating institutions (full-time as designated by the employer/institution). Additional information can be found here: https://www.cic.edu/member-services/tuition-exchange-program.

Naropa University is an equal opportunity, non-discriminatory employer and Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual and relationship violence. This law applies to all students, faculty, and staff.