The School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at Oregon State University invites applications for a full-time (1.00 FTE), tenure-track, 9-month position as Assistant Professor of Latinx History after 1900, with a specialization in public history. Secondary specializations may include the history of the Pacific Northwest, labor, agriculture, public health, or immigration. Successful applicants will have formal training and experience in aspects of public history such as community and local history, museum studies, historic preservation, digital history, and/or oral history.
The College of Liberal Arts strongly endorses the vision and mission of Oregon State University to serve the people of Oregon as one of America’s top ten land grant universities and to contribute to the civic, economic, and social foundations of society. Above all, the College of Liberal Arts will maintain commitments to ensure excellence in teaching, scholarship, outreach and service, creative activities and to protect academic freedom and program integrity in the liberal arts disciplines. As part of our Land Grant Mission, we seek a public historian who has research and/or teaching strengths in areas that help OSU students majoring in Forestry, Public Health, Agricultural Sciences and other STEM disciplines gain historical, humanities-based perspectives.
OSU is one of only two American universities to hold the Land Grant, Sea Grant, Space Grant, and Sun Grant designation and is a Carnegie Doctoral/Research-Extensive university. OSU is located in Corvallis, a community of 57,000 people situated in the Willamette Valley between Portland and Eugene. Ocean beaches, lakes, rivers, forests, high desert, and the rugged Cascade and Coast Ranges are all within a 100-mile drive of Corvallis. Approximately 25,700 undergraduate and 4,700 graduate students are enrolled at OSU, with US students of color, first generation college students, and international students representing 25%, 23%, and 11% of the student population, respectively. The university has an institution-wide commitment to inclusive excellence, recognizing that success in all our endeavors is dependent on, and directly tied to, equitable access to opportunities and how we value, engage, and include the rich diversity within our community. There is an expectation that employees will support and model these shared fundamental values. OSU’s commitment to student success includes hiring, retaining, and developing diverse faculty to mentor and educate our undergraduate and graduate students from entry through graduation. This commitment is reflected in OSU’s membership in the University Innovation Alliance, a national network of 11 public universities with a shared mission of increasing graduation rates across the socioeconomic spectrum. In 2017, the Brookings Institution ranked OSU as a national leader in access to higher education, based on a combination of extending social mobility to students from underrepresented backgrounds and university research output. For more information, visit: http://diversity.oregonstate.edu, and www.theuia.org.
Oregon State University, Corvallis, and the state of Oregon present numerous opportunities for public history collaborations with diverse organizations and community members. OSU’s Special Collections and Archives Research Center houses the Oregon Multicultural Archives, the OSU Queer Archives, and a large collection of oral histories on university history. The expansion of the Benton County Historical Museum with the construction of a new exhibit space in downtown Corvallis will generate numerous opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate on local history projects. The history program at OSU also maintains strong ties with statewide organizations engaged in history programming, including the Oregon Historical Society and Museum, Oregon Humanities, and Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland.
Position Duties
Teaching (50%). The candidate would be expected to teach five courses per year, over three 10-week academic terms (2-2-1 teaching load). The candidate will teach undergraduate and graduate courses in public history and U.S. history, including the U.S. survey and courses in area of specialization. The candidate is expected to act as a graduate student mentor and serve on graduate committees. Coordinating a steady stream of research, outreach, and internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students will be a priority. Course releases and summer salary to allow collaboration with and mentoring of students engaged in public history projects are negotiable.
Research and Outreach (40%). The candidate will be expected to conduct research resulting in peer-reviewed scholarship and conference presentations, as well as to develop significant public history, oral history, or digital history projects. Research duties also involve developing long-term partnerships and programming with organizations and communities on and off campus, particularly with a focus on underrepresented Oregonians. Scholarship and public history projects should attract regional and national recognition and establish the employee’s reputation for scholarly excellence and public outreach.
Service (10%). The candidate may lead development of an MA track in public history, and public history curriculum at the graduate and undergraduate levels, in collaboration with other faculty. The candidate will also serve on School, College, and University committees, participate in peer review activities, and promote the profession through outreach and activity in professional societies.
Minimum/Required Qualifications
- Ph.D. in History or a related degree with a history focus, including in Public History, Latinx studies, or Chicanx studies. Degree must be in hand by August 15, 2020.
- Formal graduate training in public history
- Commitment to undergraduate and graduate education
- Demonstrated capability to develop an active research program leading to peer-reviewed publications
- Demonstrated commitment to promoting and enhancing diversity
Preferred Qualifications
- Successful peer-reviewed publication(s)
- Relevant university teaching experience.
- Experience developing and executing public history projects, which may include oral history, digital history, or consulting work on museum exhibits or historical preservation.
Special Instructions to Applicants
To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by November 1, 2019. Applications will continue to be accepted after the full consideration date, until a sufficient applicant pool has been achieved or the position is filled. The closing date is subject to change without notice to applicants.
When applying you will be required to attach the following electronic documents:
- A curriculum vitae
- A cover letter indicating how your qualifications and experience have prepared you for this position. The letter should include an overview of your research profile. It should also indicate which courses from the OSU catalogue you would like to teach, and any courses you hope to develop, along with a discussion of your pedagogical approaches to these specific courses.
- A diversity statement of no more than two single-spaced pages describing how the applicant would contribute to the development of a diverse and inclusive learning community at Oregon State University through teaching, research, service, and/or public history outreach.
OSU commits to inclusive excellence by advancing equity and diversity in all that we do. We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer, and particularly encourage applications from members of historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, women, individuals with disabilities, veterans, LGBTQ community members, and others who demonstrate the ability to help us achieve our vision of a diverse and inclusive community.
For additional information please contact the search chair: Stacey Smith (Stacey.Smith@oregonstate.edu)
For more information, please visit https://jobs.oregonstate.edu/postings/80493
