Assistant Professor, Southeast Asian and Southeast Asian-American Literatures, Medias, and Cultures

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) and the Department of English at Northern Illinois University (NIU) invite applications for a joint tenure-track Assistant Professor hire in Southeast Asian, Transnational, and Southeast Asian American Literatures, Medias, and Cultures. Successful candidates for this position will present strong evidence of excellence in research and teaching and have the Ph.D. conferred by the start date.  

Proficiency in one or more Southeast Asian languages is required. Interest in one or more of the following areas is desirable: theories and politics of race and ethnicity; immigration, diasporic, and/or refugee studies. We are particularly interested in a community-engaged scholar who will develop relationships with Southeast Asian communities in the Greater Chicago area and develop materials appropriate for the Illinois Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act within the Secondary Teacher Licensure program in English Language Arts. The 2/2 course per year teaching load could include teaching opportunities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in Southeast Asian/Asian American Literatures and Medias, World Literature, Postcolonial Literature, and Diverse Literature Special Topics. 

Full consideration will be given to all applications received by December 1, 2023. Submit application letter, CV with names and contact information for three academic references, 7,000-10,000 word writing sample, and unofficial transcripts to this portal. In your cover letter, please be sure to address 1) how you meet the language proficiency requirement in a Southeast Asian language and 2) how you will positively contribute to the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Candidates invited to the initial interview round should be prepared to submit three letters of reference at that time. Questions can be addressed to search chair, Dr. Melissa Adams-Campbell, madamscampbell@niu.edu.

About NIU

CSEAS and the English Department actively seek qualified candidates who can contribute to the diversity of our faculty and campus. In accordance with OFCCP regulations, Northern Illinois University encourages applications regardless of race/color, sex, gender, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability, religion, marital or parental status, veteran or military status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected category. 

NIU’s commitment to diversity includes a thriving Office of Academic, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, 6 cultural resource centers, including the Asian American Resource Center, and 6 academic diversity centers. NIU is a 2021 and 2022 recipient of Insight into Diversity magazine’s Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award and an Association of American Colleges and Universities Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Campus. NIU draws its predominately first-generation and transfer students from the cities of Chicago and Rockford, their suburbs, and the rural areas of the region. CSEAS offers U.S. Dept. of Education Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for the study of five Southeast Asian languages: Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Thai, and Tagalog at the graduate and undergraduate levels with a robust representation of heritage language learners. Twenty-four faculty in 12 departments are the core faculty teaching languages, cultures, history, and politics of the region. The NIU English department’s secondary teacher licensure program for English Language Arts offers opportunities for collaborating with others on the new TEAACH act, the Illinois state requirement to include Asian American history and culture in public school curricula.