Working/Functional Title
Ast/Asc/Full Professor Tenure System
Position Summary
The Department of Religious Studies is hiring an 1855 professorship in the position of Great Lakes Anishinaabe Knowledge, Spiritualities, and Cultural Practices. We seek a scholar with a focus on Anishinaabe communities, and more broadly, Great Lakes Native American cultures. The scholar’s areas of interest should include Anishinaabe worldviews, ceremony, knowledge systems, and communal cultural practices in the context of colonialisms, resistance, resiliency, and sovereignty. The specific area of focus is open with preference to knowledge of traditions of Anishinaabe communities, and more broadly, Native American communities. We are particularly interested in scholars whose work and teaching complement cross-university strengths in environmental practices, North American Indigenous Law, communal health and wellness, and social justice. In keeping with our land-grant mission, we seek a scholar engaged in public-facing conversations about how contemporary Native American knowledge, language, spiritualities, and culture can inform larger discussions around law, public policy, land stewardship, resource management, community health and wellbeing, tribal governance, museum collections and archives, and environmental justice movements.
This open-rank, tenure-stream position will be in the Department of Religious Studies (100%) in the College of Arts and Letters (CAL). It is a full-time, academic year (9 month) appointment, beginning August 16, 2023. The duty period runs from August 16 through May 15 of each year. The successful candidate will be expected to engage in professional activities under the broad headings of Research, Teaching, and Service, and in doing so, to seek out and cultivate diverse collaborations with a broad range of stake holders in academia, research, and tribal communities.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Degree
Doctorate
Minimum Requirements
All applicants should have the following:
- A relevant terminal graduate degree, such as:
- Ph.D in Religious Studies or a related field
- M.F.A.
- J.D.
- A demonstrated record of active engagement with Michigan's recognized Native communities and/or recognized Native communities elsewhere in the Great Lakes region.
Required Application Materials
Applications should include:
- A letter expressing interest in the position and describing qualifications and experience
- A current curriculum vitae
- A writing sample taken from current or past research, or that engages the public in knowledge sharing
- A statement describing your philosophy as a teacher
- A document summarizing experience with diversity in teaching and/or past research and administrative endeavors, any experience mentoring diverse students or community outreach initiatives, and an explanation of how you will advance our goals of inclusive excellence. For more about MSU’s DEI efforts, see https://inclusion.msu.edu/
- The names of three references and their contact information
Please note: Three letters of reference will be requested at the time candidates advance to the second round of interviews and will be asked only of those candidates.
Together-we-will Statement
The university is requiring all MSU students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 with limited exceptions. Learn more at:
https://msu.edu/together-we-will/Special Instructions
Date to begin review of applications: September 1, 2022 and will continue until the position is filled. Applicants should submit applications through the careers page at careers.msu.edu/792878.
For more information, please contact Dr. Chris Frilingos, Chair of the Search Committee, Department of Religious Studies,
frilingo@msu.edu
Review of Applications Begins On
09/01/2022
Website
www.religiousstudies.msu.edu
Department Statement
Michigan States University’s 1855 Professorships MSU established the 1855 Professorships as a reimagining of the university’s foundational critical land grant mission. The nineteenth century land-grant vision of higher education inspired universities to both elevate the pursuit of practical knowledge and to widen educational access to include working class students. The 1855 Professorships are intended to critically examine this heritage and create full educational access. The first cohort of cross-disciplinary 1855 Professorships will engage in critical public outreach in the areas of social and environmental justice; minority politics, urban journalism, and the intersections of law and democracy; diversity and data sciences; and one health. These categories will serve as the professorship cohorts to advance collaboration and help build each area's research, teaching, and outreach agendas at MSU. The inaugural class of 1855 Professors will be in place by the end of the academic year 2023.
The College of Arts & Letters promotes an academic and organizational culture which actively seeks out and strengthens diverse voices and perspectives among its members in order to achieve true excellence. The College of Arts & Letters is interested in candidates of all backgrounds who are committed to the principle that intellectual leadership is achieved through open access and pro-active inclusion.
MSU Statement
Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
