Assistant Professor of Sociology

Tenure Track Assistant Professor in History, Philosophy, Political Science, or Sociology

College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN

Date Available: Fall 2025

The College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University invites applications for multiple tenure-track assistant professorships with scholarship in areas pertinent to the history, foundations, functioning, and regulation of business sector and market institutions.

Depending on their background and interest, the successful candidate may be appointed with a tenure home in the Department of History, Philosophy, Political Science, or Sociology, where they will contribute to the intellectual life of their department. Potential areas of specialization include political institutions or political economy (for candidates in Political Science); political philosophy or philosophy of social science (for candidates in Philosophy); socio-legal or political or economic/organizational sociology (for candidates in Sociology); economic history or business history (for candidates in History); among others. Regardless of their academic training and ultimate tenure-home, the successful candidate will have an active, interdisciplinary research agenda and an interest in developing and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses that connect with the interdisciplinary field of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). 
 

Principal Duties:

These positions include half of the teaching and curriculum design in Purdue's innovative, nationally recognized Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts Program, which educates students across the university. These faculty will work to advance the Cornerstone for Business Certificate Program as well as teach in a two-course sequence in transformative texts which emphasizes works in political economy, political philosophy, political science, political, legal or economic sociology, and related foundational works. The Certificate will play a central role in transforming the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business in accordance with Daniels’ vision that it “be marked by graduates who embody the values of wisdom and creativity, grounded in a firm grasp of today’s technologies and their likely evolution and awareness of the history of progress that freedom of enterprise has created”. 

Qualifications

Candidates must complete all requirements for a Ph.D. in History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, or a closely related field by the time of appointment. The candidate should have a specialization in a field appropriate for PPE.  Candidates should have a record of publishing high-quality interdisciplinary research on PPE-relevant topics and evidence of preparation for quality instruction. 

The College and University

The College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University has embarked on a multi-year hiring strategy to address grand challenges in society and connect with innovative initiatives across campus. Positioned at the intersection of liberal arts and STEM, the college leverages Purdue’s strengths to propel graduates towards new advances in our disciplines. It houses the nationally recognized Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program, which challenges students to become independent thinkers, preparing them to become bold, visionary leaders. Since 2021, the college has hired more than 80 new faculty in emerging research areas such as science, technology, and society, artificial intelligence, social genomics/computational genetics, computational social science, and related fields. 

  
Purdue University is Indiana’s public land-grant university and a world-class research and teaching institution. In 2023, for the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Purdue among the top 10 Most Innovative Schools in the nation. A member of the Association of American Universities, the Big Ten Academic Alliance and the American Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), Purdue has outstanding academic programs in the colleges and schools of agriculture, education, engineering, health sciences, liberal arts, management, pharmacy, technology, science, and veterinary medicine. The University also has a rich culture of interdisciplinary research and translation, which is supported by university-wide institutes and centers. Purdue is home to nearly 2,900 full-time faculty and post-doctoral researchers, enrolls a diverse student body of over 10,500 graduate students and 35,000 undergraduate students. Purdue is in the West Lafayette/Lafayette community with an abundance of activities, high quality of life, and reasonable cost of living.
 

Application Procedure

Applications must include the following items uploaded into the online application portal: job requisition #34211. Items should be uploaded in this order and as one PDF document: 1) cover letter, with a discussion of the research agenda and teaching philosophy, and its connection to the description of this position; 2) Curriculum vitae; 3) the names of three referees (no letters please). Candidates who advance in the review process may be asked to provide additional documents such as a writing sample, letters of reference, or other materials. Questions about the position should be directed to the co-chairs of the search committee: JP Messina, at jpm@purdue.edu and Brian Kogelmann at bkogelma@purdue.edu. 

Review of the applications will begin on November 18, 2024, and will continue until the position is filled. A background check is required for employment in this position. 

Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.