Assistant Professor in Anthropology

Application Window

The Department of Anthropology at UC San Diego invites applications for a full-time Assistant Professor to begin July 1, 2023 or earlier. We seek an anthropologist at the cutting edge of research in the Anthropology of Climate Change. The ideal candidate would be an interdisciplinary scholar working in any Anthropology subdiscipline (Archaeology, Sociocultural Anthropology, Bioanthropology, Medical Anthropology or Linguistic Anthropology), whose work critically engages with climate change and society in Latin America as a geohistorical setting, and/or with climate change as it relates to or affects those with Latinx / Chicanx identities. Areas of programmatic interest of our Department include (but are not limited to): environmental justice and social vulnerability in Chicanx, Latin American, or Afro-Latinx contexts; Anthropological approaches to paleoclimate, climate history, environmental hazards and risks; climate impacts on human health and well-being (including migration and refugees); meaning-making and climate adaptation; climate disasters, extreme weather, and social responses; extractivist development, inequality, and indigeneity; cultural heritage and climate change; and differential social vulnerabilities and resilience. We welcome innovative perspectives from the understandings of the deep past to the imaginings of indigenous futures.

We seek candidates whose research, teaching, and service will advance UC San Diego’s transition to HSI and/or anti-racism, anti-oppression, equity, and social justice with a focus on the Latinx/Chicanx community. The selected candidate will also have the opportunity to engage with ongoing efforts at UC San Diego including the Climate Action Lab, the Climate Change and Human Solutions Major, CREATE, the Human Ecology Lab, the Climate Champions Program, and the Indigenous Futures Lab, among many others. We especially welcome candidates whose professional experience, community engagement, and personal background have facilitated their understanding of and ability to better serve students from traditionally underrepresented communities in higher education. Faculty are expected to have an inclusive approach to mentoring and advising that incorporates working with women and underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students.

This position is one of 14 new ladder-rank faculty positions in the Latinx Cluster Hire Initiative (LCHI) at UC San Diego. The LCHI aims to increase faculty diversity, innovative research, and culturally relevant curriculum and mentorship through increased engagement and collaboration between various departments across campus with the Chicanx and Latinx Studies (CLS) and Latin American Studies (LAS) programs. Faculty hired under LCHI will have multiple opportunities to contribute to UC San Diego’s transformation from an emergent Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) to a full-status HSI that meets the curricular and cultural needs of Latinx, URM, and first-generation students. This includes faculty engagement with scholars across disciplines to address issues of race and racism, access and equity, and social and political debates pertinent to Chicanx, Latinx, and Latin American Studies, while also working within their home departments and professional communities. Faculty hired under LCHI will be expected to design and teach undergraduate courses that align with the CLS and LAS academic programs. They will also be expected to serve as faculty affiliates in CLS and/or LAS and mentor undergraduate students in one or both programs.

We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic may have had a substantial impact on academic productivity. In our academic hiring processes, we will be keeping this in mind as we consider achievement relative to opportunity. We encourage you to reflect on constraints on opportunity in your field that were caused by the events of the pandemic and where applicable, to discuss your achievements in this light.

Candidates must have a PhD or be working toward completion of a PhD (ABD) in anthropology or related field.

Preferred qualifications include applicants with emerging scholarly records, demonstrated teaching experience with undergraduate students and commitment to mentoring doctoral students, commensurate with experience. The Department seeks candidates whose research, teaching, and/or service has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.

The University of California, San Diego is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, covered veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program Policy. All Covered Individuals under the policy must provide proof of Full Vaccination or, if applicable, submit a request for Exception (based on Medical Exemption, Disability, and/or Religious Objection) or Deferral (based on pregnancy) no later than the applicable deadline. Please refer to Appendix F, Section II.C. of the policy for the deadlines applicable to new University of California employees. (Capitalized terms in this paragraph are defined in the policy.) Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California prohibits smoking and tobacco use at all University controlled properties.

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