Tenured/Tenure-track Position in Africana Studies
About the role
The Department of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania seeks a historian of sub‑Saharan Africa at the rank of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor. The successful candidate will be selected based on superb scholarship and outstanding teaching and mentoring and will join a department distinguished by a clear commitment to Global Black Studies as an interdisciplinary endeavor. The Department is devoted to the critical and systematic examination of the cultural, political, social, economic, and historical experiences of peoples of African descent around the world, working closely with the Center for Africana Studies and housed within the School of Arts & Sciences, which comprises 28 academic departments, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate Division, and the College of Liberal and Professional Studies. The department offers a major and minor for undergraduates, a graduate certificate program, and a Ph.D., with a curriculum spanning Political Theories and Movements; Cultural and Literary Studies; Arts and Performance; Gender and Sexuality; Social Justice; and History.
Responsibilities
The candidate will conduct research, teach undergraduate and graduate courses, mentor and support a diverse student body, direct graduate/undergraduate research, and provide service to the department and school, including potential leadership roles in the Department and the Center for Africana Studies.
Qualifications
- Publications appropriate to rank
- Demonstrable commitment to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, and mentoring and supporting a diverse student body in Africana Studies
- Expertise/training in the history of sub‑Saharan Africa and its relationship with the African diaspora
- Active research agenda, preferably in religion and/or socio‑cultural practices in Africa
- Ability to direct graduate/undergraduate research for a diverse student body
- Willingness to provide service in the department and school, and to assume leadership positions in the Department and Center as appropriate
- Candidates are expected to have the PhD in hand by July 1, 2027