Assistant Professor of English

The Department of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University Chicago (LUC), invites qualified candidates for an appointment as Assistant Professor, beginning Fall 2024. The successful candidate will teach at a university that has made social justice central to its vision and will join an intellectual community with faculty doing interdisciplinary work in textual studies and digital humanities, gender and sexuality studies, and critical race theory. The English Department serves over 250 undergraduate majors and minors and offers the MA and PhD degrees. For more information about the department, please visit its web site at www.luc.edu/english/.

We welcome candidates with strong research and teaching profiles in the forms, history, and politics of 20th- and 21st-century African American literature. Specialists in all literary genres and critical approaches are encouraged to apply, particularly those working in or at the intersection of the Black avant-garde; Black optimism and/or Afropessimism; Afrofuturism and speculative literature; Queer and Trans of color critique; Black feminisms; archives and memory studies; affect and psychoanalysis; or Black digital humanities. Work that expands the definition of African American literature using global, oceanic, or hemispheric frameworks or comparative race and ethnic studies is welcome, as are interdisciplinary approaches that will expose our students to the many methodological possibilities of Black studies.

Located on Chicago’s vibrantly multicultural North Side, LUC is committed to creating an inclusive, responsive community of faculty, students, and staff. As an urban-based Department of English dedicated to mentoring a diverse student body, many of whom come from under-represented and under-served populations, we especially encourage applications from candidates from under-represented groups. We also encourage applications from scholars committed to interdisciplinarity (i.e., working with colleagues across different subfields and disciplines) and the successful pursuit of external grants.

The position involves teaching undergraduate courses as well as graduate courses in our MA and PhD programs. The successful candidate will pursue a strong program of scholarship and engage in service at the department level or above.

The candidate will have a PhD in English or a closely related field, or have a plan in place to defend by May 2024. Candidates for the position must demonstrate clear potential for excellence in research and teaching and must be willing to support the mission of LUC and the goals of a Jesuit, Catholic education.

Instructions to Applicants

Candidates should submit a cover letter and a current Curriculum Vitae to www.careers.luc.edu/. After an initial round of review, selected candidates will be asked to submit additional materials: (1) a writing sample; (2) a statement on teaching experience; and (3) a statement addressing past and/or potential contributions to mentoring a diverse student body through research, teaching, and other channels and engaging a diverse community through scholarship and service. They should also provide evidence that attests to their teaching performance and experience, and the names and addresses of three individuals prepared to advise on their professional qualifications for this position. References will not be contacted immediately but might be consulted at subsequent points in the review process, in which case they will receive an electronic prompt from LUC.

Please direct inquiries to the search committee chair, Dr. Suzanne Bost (sbost@luc.edu).

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Applications received before November 17 will receive full consideration.

Loyola University Chicago is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer with a strong commitment to hiring for our mission and diversifying our faculty. The University seeks to increase the diversity of its professoriate, workforce and undergraduate and graduate student populations because broad diversity—including a wide range of individuals who contribute to a robust academic environment—is critical to achieving the University’s mission of excellence in education, research, educational access and services in an increasingly diverse society. Therefore, in holistically accessing the many qualifications of each applicant, we would factor favorably an individual’s record of conduct that includes experience with an array of diverse perspectives, as well as a wide variety of different educational, research or other work activities. Among other qualifications, we would also factor favorably experience overcoming or helping others overcome barriers to an academic career or degrees.

As a Jesuit Catholic institution of higher education, we seek candidates who will contribute to our strategic plan to deliver a Transformative Education in the Jesuit tradition. To learn more about LUC’s mission, candidates should consult our website at www.luc.edu/mission/. For information about the university’s focus on transformative education, they should consult our website at www.luc.edu/transformativeed/.

The Loyola University Chicago community acknowledges its location on the ancestral homelands of the Council of the Three Fires (the Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes) and a place of trade with other tribes, including the Ho-Chunk, Miami, Menominee, Sauk, and Meskwaki. We recognize the tragic legacy of colonization, genocide, and oppression that still impacts Native American lives today. As a Jesuit university, we affirm our commitment to issues of social responsibility and justice. We further recognize our responsibility to understand, teach, and respect the past and present realities of local Native Americans and their continued connection to this land.