Assistant Professor – Tenure Track – Department of Africana Studies
The Department of Africana Studies at Georgia State University invites applications for a tenure track Assistant Professor position to begin August 2022 at the Atlanta campus.
The successful applicant will be entering a robust intellectual community. The department hosts an undergraduate major, an undergraduate minor, an MA program, and a graduate certificate. Our programs attract a diverse student population from urban, rural, and suburban communities from across the U.S. as well as a significant international population. Our undergraduate and graduate programs are research intensive with opportunities for our students to develop and present their scholarship. The department was founded in 1994 as a result of student, faculty, and community activism and support. We have a strong and ongoing history of community engagement with relationships across academic units, professional organizations, community organizations, and public sites.
Georgia State University is the largest public research university in the Southeastern U.S. with campuses across the metro Atlanta area. GSU has been nationally recognized for its programs supporting student success and graduates more Black college students than any U.S. college. It hosts programs such as GSU-62, which diversifies the student body by supporting students over the age of 62; 25% of the students are first-generation; and the vast majority of students receive some form of financial aid.
The metro-Atlanta area provides scholars of Africana studies with a number of opportunities and resources for collaboration including several cultural institutions, libraries, archives, and neighborhood associations. As an international city, Atlanta hosts one of the most traveled airports in the world and is home to many longstanding migrant, refugee, and transnational communities.
Applicants must have a doctorate or comparable credential in Africana studies or a related field of study by the start date of the appointment. The successful applicant must be able to teach the department’s interdisciplinary undergraduate methods sequence. This is a two-semester sequence of upper-division courses required for Africana studies majors that focuses on the principles and methods of research in the field. The successful applicant will have the opportunity to add to the department’s diverse research profile, contribute to the department’s curriculum in their area of expertise, engage in ongoing community partnerships, and/or build new areas of collaboration.
Candidates with one or more of the following areas of expertise are strongly preferred:
- continental Africa or otherwise outside of the United States
- diaspora studies
- Africana literature, broadly defined
- cultural studies
- gender and sexuality
Applications should include a cover letter that details a clear research agenda, research methods, teaching interests, the ability to work with a diverse population, and any interest or experience in outreach and service in campus, professional, or wider communities; a curriculum vitae; three professional letters of recommendation; and a journal article or chapter-length writing sample.
Please send applications and letters of reference to aassearch@gsu.edu. Review of applications will begin on 1 December 2021 and continue until the position is filled. Applicants who successfully make it to the next round of review should expect to submit additional documents such as but not limited to a teaching statement that indicates the applicant’s teaching philosophy, methods, and experience; a diversity statement that indicates the applicant’s approach to and experience with working with diverse populations; and evidence of teaching excellence (such as but not limited to student evals and/or sample syllabi). If you have any questions about the position, please contact Dr. Lia T. Bascomb (LBascomb@gsu.edu).
An offer of employment will be conditional upon background verification. Georgia State University is an equal opportunity employer. It continues to be the policy of the University to implement affirmative action and equal opportunity for all employees, students, contractors, consultants and applicants for employment or admission without regard to race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, age, gender, transgender status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, genetic information, protected veteran status, or disability.
