The Department of African American & African Studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor in African American History. This is a joint appointment with teaching across the Departments of African American & African Studies and History and a tenure home in the Department of African American & African Studies. The position is open until filled. Priority will be given to completed applications received by October 21, 2024. 

Applicantsâ™ research and teaching should focus on African American history, with deep grounding in the intellectual communities and interdisciplinary scholarship produced through historical Black struggles. The department is particularly interested in applicants pursuing public and engaged scholarship with communities around racial and educational justice. We welcome those who engage in broad areas of research in African American history, especially in terms of a temporal, geographical, and methodological focus. In addition, the department is interested in applicants who bring critical, comparative, and/or transnational perspectives to cast a new light on key historical processes from enslavement to social movements. Secondary fields of particular interest include critical histories of racial capitalism; social movements; migration and diaspora; and innovative approaches to historical methodology.

Applicants are expected to have an active research and/or creative program and contribute to service in the departments, college, university, and field. The faculty member will normally teach a 2-2 load to be split, in consultation, across two departments. Such courses as the two-semester survey course in African American history are already cross-listed between African American & African Studies and History and are just one example of the kind of synergistic teaching across these two units. In addition to university liberal education requirements, these courses will serve the two departmentsâ™ majors and minors. The faculty member will also engage with graduate students in the Africa and African Diaspora Graduate Minor Program, housed in the Department of African American & African Studies; in the Ph.D. Program in History; and in the M.A. Program in Heritage Studies and Public History. 

The appointment, to begin Fall 2025, 8/25/2025, will be 100% time over the nine-month academic year. Appointment will be at the rank of tenure-track assistant professor consistent with collegiate and University policy. Salary is competitive and will depend on the candidateâ™s qualifications and experience, consistent with school, college, and university policy. This position is eligible for the University of Minnesotaâ™s standard benefits package available to benefits-eligible faculty and academic staff. 

Required Qualifications

A Ph.D. in African American Studies, History, American Studies, Anthropology, or a related field in the humanities or social sciences is required. Advanced ABDâ™s may be considered for appointment at the rank of tenure-track instructor, with the understanding that the Ph.D. must be conferred in the first year of appointment.

Preferred Qualifications

The preferred candidate would be broadly trained in the interdisciplinary field of African American history, with attention toward public history and the importance of movement-building grounded in communities of struggles. We are particularly interested in candidates who are engaged in broad-based historical inquiries grounded in critical Black scholarship. In addition to a record of historical and interdisciplinary scholarship, the successful applicant will have a strong commitment to contribute at all levels of our undergraduate and graduate education, and have a demonstrated commitment to collaborative and community-engaged work.

Candidates will be evaluated according to a) overall quality of their academic preparation, scholarly work, and research trajectory, b) relevance of their scholarly research to the department's academic priorities and fields of inquiry, c) evidence of commitment to teaching and skills as a teacher, and d) strength of recommendations, (e) commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

About University of Minnesota Twin Cities

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