Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Africana Art History
Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Africana Art History. Both entry-level and experienced candidates are encouraged to apply. This is a full-time position beginning July 1, 2023. Please visit this web page (https://www.hollins.edu/offices-and-services/human-resources/faculty-positions/) to learn more about Hollins; its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice; faculty development; the university’s students; and the Roanoke Valley.
Position and Qualifications
The art history program at Hollins empowers students in the liberal arts to think critically about the meaning of the visual arts in diverse areas, affirming the importance of visual literacy and historical perspective for an active engagement with images, artifacts, and built environments. We desire to hire a scholar/teacher whose work focuses on histories and theories of visual culture specifically engaging with race, racial equity, and social justice and with particular emphasis on African art and design histories. This includes specializations in diasporic art, architecture, and/or visual culture of the Americas and the Caribbean.
We welcome applicants with Ph.D.s or who are A.B.D. in fields including art history, Africana studies, African-American studies, American studies, visual and cultural studies, and history, and who can teach introductory and advanced art history courses in an art department. Candidates committed to reimagining art historical methods and techniques, including approaches to research, fieldwork, and critical analysis, are encouraged to apply. The Art Department faculty are dedicated to teaching, scholarship, and experiential learning that further Hollins University’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
The successful candidate for this position will have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in Studio Art and at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum, all of which are housed in the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center at Hollins. They will also be able to help shape the future of the Art History program which offers a B.A. major and minor. The Art Department works closely with other departments including Classical Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies, and there are multiple opportunities for interdisciplinary work across the curriculum. Additionally, Hollins offers support for pre-tenured faculty including funding for travel and research, professional development, and pre-tenure course releases.
We are especially interested in interdisciplinary scholars who interrogate asymmetrical power relationships including, but not limited to, race and culture, the representation of race, and constructions of race in myriad spaces, particularly highlighting anti-racist methodologies. Candidates whose scholarship and/or teaching portfolios address visual culture through the lenses of transnational histories, migration, and the legacies of colonialism are also encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to candidates who demonstrate intersectional, innovative, community-engaged, and cross-disciplinary approaches to research and/or teaching within a liberal arts context and who value mentoring and advising a diverse student body.
This position carries six courses per year throughout the fall, spring, and January short terms including surveys, seminars in area of expertise, a seminar on Critical Methods of Art History, and contributions to a newly adopted general education curriculum that will roll out in the next three years. Additional duties include service to the department and university, such as student mentorship and advising, supervision of undergraduate internships, and active participation in campus-wide faculty governance.
About Hollins
Known for its creative and highly engaged student body, Hollins University prides itself on its nationally-recognized and award-winning undergraduate and graduate academic programs, its deeply committed alumnae/i network, its extraordinarily beautiful campus surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, and its unique ability to ensure that each of its students has the opportunity to design a transformational college experience.
Application Process
Screening of candidates will begin October 10, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled.
To apply, please submit the following materials:
• A cover letter describing teaching and research interests and detailing progress towards the Ph.D. with an expected completion date of no later than July 2023 if not in hand;
• A curriculum vitae; and
• A diversity, equity, and inclusion statement that addresses your approach to teaching, mentoring, and recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds, and how you promote inclusivity and anti-racism in your teaching, writing, research, and/or service.
Candidates advanced to the second stage of review will be invited to submit the following materials:
• A teaching statement;
• A sample syllabus;
• Three letters of recommendation (at least one of which must focus specifically on the candidate’s teaching experience and abilities); and
• Unofficial copy of graduate school transcripts.
Applicants should submit materials via this web page (https://hollins.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3UBHQoIJweywPem). The selected candidate will be asked to submit official transcripts to the Office of the Provost, and once they accept a contingent employment offer, a criminal history background check will be conducted. For questions about the position, please contact search chair Genevieve Hendricks ([email protected]).
Hollins is an equal opportunity employer and is strongly committed to promoting diversity and inclusivity at every level of the university. Persons of all genders; persons with disabilities; persons of all racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds; and first-generation college graduates are encouraged to apply.
