Tenure-Track Professor of African Literature

The Department of African and African American Studies seeks to appoint a tenure-track professor in African literature and cultural studies. The appointment is expected to begin on July 1, 2025. The tenure-track professor will be responsible for teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

We seek a candidate with a grounding in one or more African national, regional, and/or diasporic literatures/cultures; and a dynamic critical approach to the tradition(s) in which they specialize. Specialization in any of the major language traditions for African literature is welcome (Anglophone, Francophone, Lusophone, Hispanophone, Afrophone). Regardless of specialization, the ability to speak or read an indigenous African language is highly desirable. The candidate will be expected to have expertise in African literature and culture ranging from oral to written literature across the pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial periods, extending to the present.  We are especially interested in scholars working on cultural production who employ innovative, interdisciplinary methods and ways of thinking. We seek candidates with the ability to teach African Literature in a global context as well as those with secondary specialization in any of the following areas: African cinema, African popular culture, and African performance. We also welcome applications from scholars with additional interests in any of the following areas: critical geographies/geocriticism, studies of spatiality, eco-criticism, digital cultures, disability studies, gender and sexuality studies, science and technology studies, urban studies, migration, and screen studies. Work that challenges established boundaries, regions, periods, and methods within literary studies is especially welcome.

The successful candidate should be able to teach introductory courses in African Literature and African Studies, as well as specialized courses in African Oral Traditions and/African Cultural Studies both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

For more information and to apply, please visit https://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/13896