Cluster Hire - American Indian and Indigenous Studies

The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is pleased to undertake a cluster hire in American Indian and Indigenous Studies.  This initiative is part of the College’s commitment to advancing an innovative curriculum and expanding its outstanding and diverse faculty, The cluster will comprise four faculty positions: three tenure track appointments at the assistant professor level and one appointment for a distinguished professor at the full professor rank. Centered in the social sciences and humanities, the positions are located principally across four departments (American Studies, Geography, Religious Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies) that are working collaboratively and closely with the College’s leadership to support three critical goals:

• expanding and strengthening leading undergraduate and graduate curricula in American Indian and Indigenous Studies substantially increasing our faculty and scholarship devoted to the historical and contemporary experiences of American Indian and Indigenous peoples bolstering the College’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by focusing specifically on Indigeneity, colonialism, decolonization, and sovereignty

In coordination with the cluster hire, the Dean of the College has convened a Working Group to seriously explore the development of an independent Curriculum in American Indian and Indigenous Studies. We invite applications from dynamic and outstanding scholars who will offer substantive research and teaching expertise in this field. Selected candidates will have the opportunity to contribute their voices to our ongoing process of reimagining scholarly, curricular and community engagement around Native North America and global Indigeneity in the College of Arts and Sciences.

UNC-Chapel Hill is the largest public university in a state that holds the second largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River. Undergraduate courses within the university’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) major concentration and minor attract broad and enthusiastic student interest, while several departments offer graduate courses in and have students with focused research on the Indigenous world. The campus also has a robust set of resources supporting Native people, including the American Indian Center, Carolina Indian Circle, and The First Nations Graduate Circle. Additionally, our campus is home to the renowned Southern Historical Collection, the Center for the Study of the American South, the Research Labs of Archaeology, and the Institute for the Study of the Americas, which is set within an expansive network of global studies centers and institutes.

Faculty joining this cluster will be hired in a home department and have teaching obligations for the AIIS curriculum. As a cluster cohort, they will receive support for their development as a scholarly community.  They will also interface closely with a new Working Group on American Indian and Indigenous Studies, which is in the process of authoring a long-term vision for the field. Faculty in the cluster will also meet regularly with the Senior Associate Dean for diversity, equity and inclusion, who will provide resources for professional growth and mentoring.

The College of Arts and Sciences affirms its responsibility to belonging and diversity. Ideal candidates will share in and demonstrate this commitment. The University of North Carolina has a dynamic and growing Office of Diversity and Inclusion and is an equal opportunity employer, with resources available to support Indigenous and American Indian faculty, faculty of color, women, transgender and nonbinary faculty, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. Applicants of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

To apply to one of the four positions, go to one of the links below:

1) Department of American Studies: Distinguished full professor of the U.S. Southern Native Studies

2) Department of Geography: Tenure track Assistant Professor of Native American and/or Indigenous Geographies

 3) Department of Religious Studies: Tenure track Assistant Professor of Indigenous Religions in the Americas

4) Department of Women and Gender Studies: Tenure track Assistant Professor American Indian and Indigenous studies (AIIS), with a preference for specialization in Transgender Studies