Assistant Professor – Digital Humanities in Black Studies

Position Description 

The Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Digital Humanities Approaches to Black Studies to begin fall of academic year 2025-26.  

We seek an exceptional scholar specializing in political, cultural, social, economic, artistic, and/or intellectual experiences of people of African and Asian descent in the Black Diaspora, especially in Latin America, the Circum-Caribbean, and Brazil. We are especially interested in such scholars who draw on critical theories in the intersectionality of race, gender, class, and sexuality. Successful candidate will utilize and be able to teach a combination of digital methodologies in their research and pedagogy on the Black diaspora. These digital methodologies should include one or more of the following: GIS/mapping and other geo-spatial analysis and visualization techniques; data mining via APIs and web scraping; managing complex datasets; cultural analytics; algorithmic text analysis and encoding; machine learning/artificial intelligence; corpus construction; OCR-driven machine translation; and/or similar tools/methods.  

We are seeking outstanding scholars with training in a broad array of possible disciplines, which can include Black Studies, any of the Humanities (e.g. History, Rhetoric, Literature, Cultural Studies), Anthropology, Geography, Computer Science, Information Sciences, Environmental Studies, Law, Health, Social Work, Communications, Architecture, Public Affairs, and Fine Arts. Successful candidates must be committed to developing innovative undergraduate and graduate courses and programs in Black Studies; and to building and participating in a strong intellectual community.  

The African and African Diaspora Studies Department (AADS) is committed to interdisciplinary scholarship and creative production that explores the history and culture of Black people around the globe. AADS is part of the Black Studies Collective, which includes the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, the Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis, and the Art Galleries at Black Studies. Our scholarship, cultural creativity, and pedagogical practices reflect our investment in comparative and transnational approaches, intersectional analyses, and critical theoretical frameworks. These attributes mirror our collective commitment as scholars, artists, teachers, and students to bridging the perceived gap between scholarly and artistic work and political engagement. We promote the activist academic careers of our students and faculty members, coordinate with Black staff on University issues of relevance to our communities, and collaborate with local, national, and international organizations in the investigation and enhancement of the lives of Black people 

Qualifications 

Applicants must hold a Ph.D. for appointment as an Assistant Professor or expect to obtain it within a year of joining the faculty as an Instructor. Applicants holding a Ph.D. in a traditional discipline or interdisciplinary field must have a record or trajectory of research on the people of African descent. Preferred qualifications also include a solid and ongoing history of research, publication, and teaching on gender, sex/sexuality, race, and power articulated within Africa and the African Diaspora. 

Application Instructions 

Review of applications will begin October 15, 2024, and continue until the position is filled. Please submit a cover letter, a list of at least three references, a sample of scholarly writing (30 pages maximum length), and a curriculum vitae. Semi-finalists will be invited to participate in an on-campus interview in early 2025. 

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. Position funding is subject to budget availability.  

For further information, please contact: 

Dr. Edmund Gordon, Search Committee Chair 

Email: etgordon@austin.utexas.edu