JOB: Assistant/Associate Professor of Black Studies

The Black Studies Program at Swarthmore College invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position at the rank of assistant or associate professor in the Black Studies Program, to begin in the fall of 2022.

The Black Studies Program at Swarthmore College recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. It is an interdisciplinary program drawing on faculty from multiple departments and incorporating a wide range of perspectives and methods within Black Studies. Located in the suburbs of Philadelphia and near Wilmington DE, Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to diversity, and actively seeks and welcomes applications from candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitments to a more inclusive society and world. Applicants from traditionally underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply. For more information on Faculty Diversity and Excellence at Swarthmore, see http://www.swarthmore.edu/faculty-diversity-excellence/information-candidates-new-faculty 

Applicants must hold a Ph.D at the time of appointment. 

The successful candidate will be deeply humanistic in their training and outlook and will place the aesthetics of Black life and Black expressive cultures and their connection to Black politics at the heart of their scholarship and teaching. The Program invites applications from scholars trained in Black Studies or Africana Studies programs but also Diasporic Cultural Studies; Critical Race Studies, Performance Studies and Performing Arts; Media Arts and other disciplines and fields focused on the aesthetics, meaning and interpretation of Black cultural forms and genres. Applicants’ scholarship and teaching must be centrally engaged with and defined by the intellectual and institutional project of Black Studies. Candidates will be expected to teach core courses in the program, including Introduction to Black Studies and other advanced thematic courses, as well as to supervise a capstone course and participate in the life of the program.   Successful candidates will also have demonstrated a capacity for program leadership.

Interested candidates should submit a letter of application, CV, and three letters of recommendation. The cover letter should discuss their teaching experience, style, and objectives, with a focus on their interest in teaching at a liberal arts college, and leadership in Black Studies. In addition, applicants should outline their research interests and indicate why they believe they are prepared to teach students of diverse backgrounds. The Program will begin to review applications by October 1, 2021. Candidates must apply via apply.interfolio.com/88041.