Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Spanish 2022-23

The Department of Romance Languages at St. Olaf College invites applications for a full-time, tenure track position in Spanish at the Assistant Professor level to begin August 2022. We are looking for candidates who will have completed their Ph.D in Literature and/or Cultural Studies with a focus on Mexico by the time of appointment. 

We seek a candidate committed to undergraduate liberal arts education and passionate about teaching language, literature, and culture. This position offers the opportunity to teach in a unique content-based curriculum, enhanced by a January term abroad, a languages-across-the-curriculum program, and area and interdisciplinary studies. Specialization in Mexican studies, native or near-native fluency in Spanish, and demonstrated excellence in teaching at the undergraduate level required. Interdisciplinary approaches such as critical race studies, gender studies, cultural studies, border studies, and/or film studies would be an asset. The successful candidate is expected to pursue high quality scholarly activity and contribute to the life of the department and the college.

The department is particularly interested in applicants who can and will advance the college’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion. We request that in the letter of application, candidates address their potential to contribute to the St. Olaf community that maintains a diversity of people and perspectives as one of its core values. We strongly encourage applications from Black, Indigenous, and people of color and members of other underrepresented groups in accordance with our equity goals.

The normal teaching load is six courses per year. Regular teaching responsibilities include all levels of Spanish language and major-level courses in the literatures and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, with approximately two-thirds consisting of introductory- or intermediate-level, content-based language instruction and the remaining third being major-level courses. There are also opportunities to teach courses in interdisciplinary programs such as Latin American Studies, Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum, Academic Civic Engagement, Race and Ethnic Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, American Conversations, and Linguistic Studies, as well as teach off-campus study courses. Duties also involve ongoing professional development, advising of students, service in the department and on college committees, and curriculum development.

Applicants must submit materials online at https://stolaf.hiretouch.com/faculty-postings. A complete application includes:

• Cover letter
• Curriculum vitae
• Short (1-page) statement of research interests
• Statement of teaching philosophy
• The contact information for three professional references who can speak to your abilities in teaching and scholarship (St. Olaf solicits letters directly after an initial round of screening.)

Review of applications will begin on October 18, 2021, and will continue until the position is filled. Finalist interviews are expected in February 2022. Questions about the position, department, or college may be directed to Jonathan O'Conner, Search Committee Chair, at tt2022spanish@stolaf.edu. Applicants who need assistance with the online application process should call 507-786-3356.

Founded in 1874, St. Olaf College is a residential, coeducational liberal arts college with approximately 3,000 students and 800 faculty and staff employees. It is located in Northfield, Minnesota, about 45 minutes from Minneapolis and St. Paul with their rich and diverse cultural resources. The college offers an academically rigorous, nationally ranked liberal arts education that fosters the development of the whole person in mind, body, and spirit and emphasizes learning in an inclusive and globally engaged community.

St. Olaf College is proud to be:

• Included in multiple editions of Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College
• An institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
• Ranked #1 among baccalaureate colleges in the number of students who study abroad
• One of the top producers of Fulbright U.S. students among liberal arts colleges
• Ranked #20 for best undergraduate teaching by U.S. News & World Report, 2018

To provide a safe and secure educational environment, St. Olaf College verifies the accuracy of all credentials presented by applicants and conducts a criminal background check on every new hire.