As part of a major hiring initiative across its new curriculum, Hampshire College welcomes applications for the position of Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS). For this position, we seek a community-engaged scholar, artist, or expert in NAIS from any specialization within the humanities, arts, or humanistic social sciences who will make a critical contribution to our curricular emphasis on Decolonization, Liberation, and Racial Justice. We are particularly interested in candidates dedicated to the self-determination of indigenous peoples, and whose work and teaching falls into one or more of the following areas: intersections between Critical Indigenous Studies and Black studies, global Indigeneities, Indigenous methodologies and experiential practice, land-based learning, community engagement, art theory and practice for social change. This position is a result of several initiatives, including the Five College NAIS initiative “Gathering at the Crossroads,” supported by a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. It stems directly from ongoing activist efforts to ensure the College’s commitment to developing meaningful land acknowledgments and repairing relationships with local Native communities, including our 2022 Common Good Residency Series “Living Land Acknowledgments: Reciprocity, Reparations, and Right Relations.” Successful candidates will be welcomed into the NAIS community in the Five Colleges.

 

Hampshire College is an experimenting institution with a mission to advance social justice and transform higher education, and we seek creative and collaborative colleagues to join its faculty. Hampshire’s academic program is unique within higher education in the United States. Students draw from multiple disciplines and methodologies to develop their own concentrations, and every student completes a substantial year-long project synthesizing their course of study as a condition of graduation. Students are provided narrative evaluations of their work instead of grades. Our student community is distinctively diverse: this year 39% are BIPOC or international, 37.5% receive Pell Grants, approximately a third are neurodivergent, and a substantial majority identify as LGBTQIA+. Hampshire is a member of the Five College consortium (Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts) and located in Amherst, MA.

 

Building on its student-driven approach, Hampshire is implementing a radically new academic program that emphasizes urgent challenges, transdisciplinarity, antiracism, community engagement, and project-based skills. We convene transdisciplinary Learning Collaboratives that assemble faculty, students, and staff to address urgent questions developed by and voted on by the community. Additionally, Hampshire has implemented a “Race and Power” requirement that ensures students, staff, and faculty alike will engage in critical reflection on racial justice and equity throughout their Hampshire careers. In the letter of application, candidates are encouraged to explain how their teaching and scholarly/artistic work does or could contribute to this curricular and pedagogical vision.

 

The successful candidate will:

 

 

For this position, the terminal degree or its equivalent in professional work experience is required by the time of appointment. Qualified candidates must have demonstrated teaching experience at the undergraduate level and an active research agenda. An ability to communicate and work effectively within a culturally diverse and multi-disciplinary campus community is essential. This position involves full-time teaching, as well as substantial student advising and participation in program and college governance. This position is advertised at the assistant professor level, but under certain circumstances, we may consider candidates at higher ranks.

 

Hampshire College is an equal opportunity employer and deeply committed to a community of excellence, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We're particularly committed to revealing and combating the social and institutional structures that support racism and white supremacy in all phases of employment and college life. We believe that the educational and employment environment is enhanced when diverse groups of people with diverse ideas come together to work and grow. We encourage applications from women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, sexual minority groups, veterans, and other candidates who will contribute to the diversification and enrichment of ideas and perspectives. Hampshire College is committed to removing barriers to employment faced by equity-seeking groups and encourages (but does not require) members of these groups to self-identify in their application materials. Applicants whose work incorporates a global perspective and a demonstrated commitment to issues of diversity in the work environment are particularly encouraged to apply.

 

Candidates should submit the following to apply:

 

 

Please submit your cover letter, statement, CV, references, and work samples via our website: https://jobs.hampshire.edu. No hard copies will be accepted.

 

If you have general questions about this search, please email [email protected].

 

 

Hampshire College is an equal opportunity institution, committed to diversity and inclusion in education and employment.