Assistant Professor of American Studies

• Ph.D. in American Studies or related field at time of application or official notification of completion of the doctoral degree by August 1, 2027.
• Evidence of, or clear potential for, effective teaching at the undergraduate level.
• Demonstrated potential for successful research, scholarly, and creative activities.
• Demonstrated commitment to working successfully with a diverse student population, including those of low-socioeconomic status and first-generation students.

• Expertise and experience in research and teaching in American Studies, including knowledge of its interdisciplinary American Studies aims, including its relationship to social movements inside and outside the academy.
• Experience successfully working with populations demographically and/or socioeconomically similar to the CSULB student body to promote the success of our diverse student populations, including recruiting, retaining, and empowering Black students and students of color
• Experience mentoring or supporting students using inclusive and culturally relevant teaching strategies in a diverse classroom
• Ongoing or potential research projects that can foster student involvement. Demonstrated potential for successful course and program development including grant writing
• Demonstrated ability to support the growth of the American Studies program and to form cross-disciplinary and community partnerships
• Specific areas of interest for this search include interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches to abolition studies and social and racial justice, broadly conceived, through lenses including but not limited to, land, housing, environment, policing, carcerality, borders, and placemaking; race and gender in relation to critiques of capitalism; and community-engaged scholarship and action-oriented research

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• Teach undergraduate courses, including current core and elective courses as well as other American Studies courses in a specialty area. (Mode of instruction may include in-person, hybrid, online, and/or combinations thereof).
• Assist American Studies and the College of Liberal Arts in developing curriculum on comparative frameworks of place, space, and abolition with a focus on the communities of Long Beach and Southern California that have amplified these issues in the context of their historical antecedents, as well as such communities that have demonstrated new pathways for advocacy and justice
• Maintain a research agenda leading to publication that supports the curriculum and research agenda. Collaborate with program faculty to continue the growth of CSULB’s American Studies Program and its curriculum
• Participate in regional and national American Studies organizations
• Participate in service to the department, college, university, and community

This position is part of a cluster hire that attends to the need for CSULB faculty whose teaching and research addresses issues of equity and inclusivity, especially issues of concern to Black communities.

CSULB seeks to recruit faculty who enthusiastically support the University’s strong commitment to the academic success of all of our students, including students with disabilities, students who are first generation to college, veterans, students with diverse socio-economic backgrounds, and students of diverse sexual orientations and gender expressions. CSULB seeks to recruit and retain a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the People of California, to maintain the excellence of the University, and to offer our students a rich variety of expertise, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning.

Information on excellent benefits package available to CSULB faculty is located here: CSU Employee Benefits

• Letter of application addressing the required and preferred qualifications
• A statement about your knowledge and practice of interdisciplinary American Studies approaches and methods in your research and teaching (approximately one page, single-spaced)
• A Student Success Statement about your teaching or other experiences, successes, and challenges in working with a diverse student population (maximum two pages, single-spaced). For further information and guidelines, please visit: Student Success Statement
• CV
• Names and contact information for three references (to be contacted for confidential letters of recommendation should you reach the semi-finalist)
• Evidence of teaching excellence, as shown by course syllabi, assignments, and assessments
• Writing sample, preferably a maximum of 25 pages
• Finalists should be prepared to submit an official transcript (e-transcript preferred, if available)