Endowed Bartlett Chair Professor/Associate Professor, Free Speech

About the role

Bentley University invites applications for the Bartlett Chair of Free Speech, an endowed position at the Associate or Full Professor level, to begin in Fall 2027. Funded by a generous gift from Bruce and Patricia Bartlett, this professorship affirms Bentley’s commitment to fostering free expression, intellectual pluralism, and the constructive exchange of ideas as central to a liberal education. The position is part of a broader Bartlett Initiative that also includes a companion Chair of Free Enterprise; the two chairs will collaborate on programming, events, and curricular initiatives that promote inquiry, debate, and engagement across disciplines. The Bartlett Chair carries a 1‑1 teaching load and receives substantial support for scholarship, professional engagement, and leadership of the Bartlett Initiative.

Responsibilities

• Teach one course per semester (1‑1 teaching load), offering undergraduate courses on freedom of speech and related topics and developing a Free Speech Seminar within Bentley’s Falcon Discovery Seminar first‑year program.
• Foster rigorous, inclusive, and intellectually open classroom environments.
• Maintain an active and visible research agenda related to free speech, free expression, or closely connected areas; publish in scholarly journals and public‑facing venues; present research at national and international conferences, public forums, and professional gatherings.
• Contribute to public conversations about free expression, academic freedom, and civil discourse through writing, speaking, media engagement, or related activities.
• Develop and sustain relationships with relevant scholarly, professional, and civic organizations, which may include the Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
• Collaborate closely with the Bartlett Chair of Free Enterprise on joint programming, including speaker series, public events, and curricular initiatives.
• Help shape and advance a compelling long‑term vision for the Bartlett Initiative; lead campus conversations on free expression, academic freedom, and civil discourse.
• Engage students and faculty in discussions about the role of free speech in higher education and democratic society; serve as a resource to university leadership on issues of expression and academic freedom.
• Build connections between the Bartlett Initiative and relevant external scholars, organizations, and public conversations.

Qualifications

• PhD in History, Philosophy, Political Science, Law, or a closely related field.
• Distinguished record of research, teaching, and public engagement appropriate to appointment at the Associate or Full Professor level.
• Active, high‑quality research agenda with a direct and substantive connection to free speech, free expression, or closely related areas.
• Strength in interdisciplinary teaching and dialogue across fields.
• Evidence of active and visible engagement in their discipline and in broader scholarly, professional, civic, or public conversations related to free speech.
• Particularly welcome work engaging cultural history, intellectual history, or political thought; First Amendment law or theories of expression; academic freedom, civil discourse, or democratic institutions.
• Experience in public‑facing scholarship, civic dialogue, media engagement, or leading campus and community conversations is encouraged.

Benefits

• Summer salary.
• Chair stipend.
• Generous research and travel account.
• Support for scholarship, professional engagement, and leadership of the Bartlett Initiative.

Pay

Professor rank range: $127,000 – $165,000. Associate Professor rank range: $110,000 – $145,000.

Schedule

1‑1 teaching load (one course per semester).