Job Description

The Anthropology Department at Bates College invites applications for a full-time, tenure track position in Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS) at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning in August 2025. We seek an outstanding early-career scholar with strong commitments to excellent undergraduate teaching and mentorship in a liberal arts context. A PhD in anthropology or related field (with an active ethnographic research program) must be in hand before beginning the job in August 2025.

The successful candidate will also be part of a collaborative re-organization and rebuilding of a three-person department after a series of retirements, and where the focus will be on interdisciplinary sociocultural anthropology. We are especially interested in candidates who have an established and robust research program working with Indigenous communities. We are looking for a dynamic scholar-teacher whose program of research centers decolonial, antiracist, feminist, and queer approaches to anthropology and ethnographic research. Fields of specialization are open and might include environmental justice, climate justice, food sovereignty, reproductive justice, medical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, legal anthropology, anthropology of science and technology, and feminist anthropology.

The successful candidate will design and teach core courses including introduction to sociocultural anthropology and ethnographic research methods as well as develop courses in their field(s) of specialization. Candidates with a demonstrated commitment to inclusive pedagogy and the success of historically underrepresented, marginalized and first-generation students are encouraged to apply.

The position carries a standard five-course annual teaching load. The duties of the position include the three main areas of faculty work: teaching, professional achievement, and governance and engagement. The standards of excellence for faculty at Bates are articulated in Article II of the faculty handbook , and include a commitment to inclusive and evidence-based pedagogy, impactful professional work, and contributions to the broader Bates community. The successful applicant will offer courses in anthropology each year, and will teach in the general education curriculum, provide academic advising, and mentor student theses. Successful candidates will be expected to develop a signature and independent research program. We also expect the candidate to take part in our system of shared governance.

Bates students come from a diversity of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds, and we are committed to each student’s success. Thus, candidates should share evidence of their skills and experience supporting a diverse student body in their combined teaching and research statement. We encourage applications from individuals from historically marginalized groups and from those who may have followed non-traditional pathways to higher education due to societal, economic, or academic circumstances.

Bates College is a residential liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine—a diverse and growing community roughly 45 minutes from the state’s largest city (Portland), 2 ½ hours north of Boston, and 4 ½ hours south of Montreal. Faculty scholarship and creative work at Bates are robustly supported by start-up packages, internal grants , and a well-staffed external grants office . Community-engaged learning and study abroad are both broadly encouraged and supported; pedagogical development and innovation is further buttressed by our highly engaged Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning . Educational access and racial justice are central to Bates’ history and mission and our faculty and staff-led initiatives reflect this commitment.

We invite applicants to submit a cover letter, a CV, a combined research and teaching statement (3 pages max), and the names and email addresses of three references willing to write letters of recommendation. In their research and teaching statement, candidates should describe their current and future research program(s), their teaching philosophy and experience, and their skills and experience supporting a diverse student body and contributing to campus efforts in equity and inclusion. Please address the following questions: 1) What has prepared you to teach “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology” and “Ethnographic Research Methods” at Bates?; 2) What two courses in your specialty would you propose?; 3) How does your research contribute to the field(s) of interdisciplinary sociocultural anthropology and to Native American Indigenous Studies?; 4) How does your research inform your teaching, and how might you include students in your research program?

After an initial review of applications, shortlisted candidates will be asked to submit three letters of recommendation, relevant syllabi, and a writing sample. Review of applications will begin on Nov 4, 2024 and continue until the position is filled. Please direct any questions to the search chair, Dr. Jennifer Hamilton, at  jhamilto@bates.edu . Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check and verification of degree.

A PhD in anthropology or related field (with an active ethnographic research program) must be in hand before beginning the job in August 2025.

About

Founded in 1855, Bates is one of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, with a long history of commitments to principles of human dignity and diversity.Since its inception, Bates has been a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor and to programs and opportunities by qualified learners of all backgrounds. Historically, Bates students and graduates have linked education with service, leadership, and obligations beyond themselves.Bates has highly competitive admission, graduates over 90% of its entering students, and over half of its alumni earn graduate degrees. Bates has 1,700 students, 200 faculty members and 550 staff and administrative employees.The College is proud of its strong involvements in the Lewiston-Auburn communities, Maine’s second largest urban area, with a population of approximately 65,000. Bates is located on a beautiful, 109-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, Maine, a lively small city enjoying an exciting economic and cultural revitalization. With an engaged citizenry, lively arts scene, and historic downtown, this walkable city is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 340 miles north of New York City.

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