Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing

Cornell College, a private undergraduate liberal arts college, seeks a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of English and Creative Writing with a specialty in multimedia writing and publishing (including digital storytelling, podcasts, or creative nonfiction) and the ability to teach global Anglophone literature, 19th-century preferred. We welcome candidates eager to contribute to the vibrant Center for the Literary Arts, particularly in supporting and growing the digital, letterpress, and hybrid publications of the innovative Foxden Press. Also welcome is an expertise in journalism, social media writing, digital poetics, AI rhetorics, or writing for the screen. The successful candidate will teach six courses per year, beginning August 2024, to include writing and publishing courses in the area of specialization, first-year writing and other courses in the College’s core curriculum, and a literature course. A Ph.D. in the area of specialization is required; a strong relevant teaching background is highly desirable as well as creativity and innovation in course design.

Because Cornell College values diversity and strives to create a welcoming community in which all individuals are respected and included, the entire campus community engages in dialogue around issues of difference, identity, and ideology. The college is committed to fostering a faculty and staff community that reflects our diverse student body. We encourage applications from candidates who share our vision for a campus that embraces differing backgrounds, viewpoints, and identities, and who will excel at teaching and mentoring a student body that is broadly diverse.  (See our diversity statement.)

All Cornell faculty are expected to participate in service to their department and to the college and to facilitate their department's support of the college's Ingenuity core curriculum. The college encourages interdisciplinary interests among its faculty and the development of teaching strategies that capitalize on our unique academic calendar. Our academic calendar allows us the freedom to take students off-campus without impinging on other course commitments. In addition, class size is limited to 25 students, and upper-level courses are often smaller. Full-time faculty teaching load is 6 OCAAT courses during the academic year with the other 2 blocks reserved for ongoing research projects, course preparations, or travel to academic meetings; further opportunities for summer teaching and research supervision may also be available.

About Cornell College

Cornell College is a national liberal arts college committed to excellence in teaching and the creation of a welcoming community in which all individuals are respected and included. Our innovative curriculum includes a focus on the essential abilities of writing, quantitative reasoning, and intercultural literacy as well as experiential learning. Cornell’s One Course At A Time (OCAAT) academic calendar is divided into eight- 3½ week blocks in which students take and faculty teach a single course. This one-at-a-time approach fosters strong student engagement and close faculty-student relationships while allowing faculty freedom to design and carry out their classes, on campus or off.

Founded in 1853, Cornell’s distinctive campus community reflects our ongoing pursuit of our core values and continuing tradition of shared governance.  Always a coeducational institution, we were the first college west of the Mississippi to graduate both men and women and the first college in the country to afford a female faculty member the same title and pay as her male colleagues. Academic immersion, real world experience requirements through Ingenuity in Action, and unparalleled flexibility attract an ambitious student body from around the world. Seventy percent of our students are from outside Iowa, representing 44 states and 13 foreign countries. Students of color comprise one-fifth of the student body.

Cornell's picturesque hilltop campus contains a mix of historic and modern facilities. Mount Vernon, Iowa, is a flourishing community with a vibrant arts scene, recognized by Frommer's as one of "America's Coolest Small Towns" and located in the heart of the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids creative corridor.

Cornell College offers a fantastic benefits package that includes health, dental, vision, HSA & FSA accounts, a TIAA 403(b) retirement account, and tuition remission and exchange for employees and dependents.  We also offer life insurance, disability insurance, travel insurance, and accident insurance.

Interested applicants should submit the following materials through Cornell College’s online application system:

•       a letter of application, which includes a description of any experience working with individuals from historically marginalized or underserved groups;
•       a current Curriculum Vitae;
•       graduate transcript(s) (may be unofficial);
•       a teaching statement, describing teaching interests, experience, and philosophy, and including examples of inclusive pedagogy;
•       names and contact information for a minimum of three references.

Formal letters and a writing sample not to exceed 20 pages will be requested at a later stage.

Review of applications will begin on January 1, 2024, and continue until the position is filled.

For more information about the department, please visit the Department of English & Creative Writing website. 

Questions can be directed to Dr. Katy Stavreva, Department Chair and Professor of English, at kstavreva@cornellcollege.edu.

Cornell is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from underrepresented groups. Cornell complies with Iowa's Smoke-free Air Act. Cornell utilizes E-Verify and requires the satisfactory completion of a background check.