The President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP)

College of Liberal Arts

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Welcomes Applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in American Studies

As part of a continuing commitment to build a culturally diverse intellectual community and advancing scholars from underrepresented groups in higher education [including, but not limited to, individuals from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and others], the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota is pleased to announce its participation in the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP), made possible by the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Equity and Diversity, and the Office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

As part of the University of California Partnership for Faculty Diversity, the goal of the University of Minnesota program is to offer a rewarding postdoctoral experience that includes the possibility of a transition to a tenure-track faculty position after two years. The University seeks applicants whose research, practice, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education and at the University of Minnesota.

The Department of American Studies postdoctoral fellowship is open to scholars with diverse interests and sub-fields within American studies. The Department of American Studies at the University of Minnesota is one of the leading programs of its kind in the United States and globally, having a distinguished record of cutting-edge work leading and transforming American studies and other fields. Our department is ranked as the second-best American studies department at a public institution in the country, and ranked fifth in the nation. We provide undergraduate and graduate students with knowledge and skills that address the vital and timely questions that local, global, regional, and transnational societies face today. We are home to eight core faculty, and over 50 affiliated faculty who specialize in fields ranging from history, American Indian studies, geography, and more. We value collaboration, collegiality, and highly interdisciplinary scholarship and practice.

The department seeks a scholar whose work is aligned with advancing American Studies as a field through their interests and whose research encourages critical, comparative and relational analyses and substantively engages with race, gender, class, sexuality, and/or disability. Areas of particular interest for this position include race and empire; new media studies, including digital humanities; and intersectional approaches to the environment, nature, and technology, including medical humanities.

The responsibilities of this postdoctoral position are focused on research and publication/dissemination that allow the fellow to continue growing their work in ways that are productive to their research agenda and that are also aligned with the interests of the department. The postdoctoral fellow is expected to participate in department activities that include attending department meetings, contributing to positive faculty and student relationship development, and building connections across the University of Minnesota system wherever possible and in ways that can advance the fellow’s research while being mutually beneficial with other faculty members, researchers, students, and communities served by the University of Minnesota.

The Department of American Studies highly values supporting the research and professional growth of the postdoctoral fellow. Fellows are not required to teach or advise students.

The candidate should hold a background in the humanities, social sciences, or interdisciplinary studies, and the PhD/doctoral degree in American Studies or a related field, is required by the start date of the appointment.

Mentorship/Selection for American Studies

The fellow will be matched with a faculty mentor from the Department of American Studies’ core or affiliate faculty list. Our department is committed to providing mentoring support to fellows that will allow them to thrive as scholars, teachers, and leaders. The fellow and mentor will meet throughout the year to discuss research trajectories; professional and teaching goals; professional development; grant writing; and work/life balance.

Please feel free to name potential faculty mentors in your research statement. However, in the online PPFP application portal, please enter “Elliott Powell” (ehpowell@umn.edu) as the acting faculty mentor for your application. In the preliminary application process, the acting faculty mentor will generate automated mentor letters of support for all applicants. After reviewing all applications, the search committee will contact the list of applicants who have been selected for the second phase of the search.

Apply here: https://ppfp.umn.edu