Assistant Professor for American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) Program

Hamilton College•Clinton, MD

10h•Onsite

About The Position

The American Indian and Indigenous Studies (AIIS) Program at Hamilton College invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor (without tenure but on the tenure-track), beginning July 1, 2027. We seek candidates whose research and teaching are grounded in American Indian and Indigenous Studies and centered on Indigenous literatures, narrative, and cultural production in conversation with the environmental humanities. We are especially interested in candidates working across climate fiction, multispecies and ecological thought, and decolonial approaches to the Anthropocene, and whose scholarship engages the political and legal dimensions of sovereignty and self-determination. We welcome candidates whose work is in conversation with Indigenous communities in North America and/or globally, and who bring an expansive, cross-disciplinary perspective to questions of land, justice, and Indigenous futures. In particular, we are seeking a candidate with demonstrated leadership experience who can help build and lead our college’s interdisciplinary program in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, including teaching courses at the heart of the minor and guiding the program’s growth toward a concentration. Because the program is still in its early stages, we are prioritizing candidates who bring a track record of program building in addition to teaching in the field. Applicants should provide evidence of this experience, such as developing curricular structures or degree programs, evidence of external funding, building and leading advisory committees, establishing and sustaining partnerships with tribal nations or Indigenous communities, leading community engagement and public programming, and navigating shared governance to launch or grow academic programs. We are seeking candidates who can demonstrate their experience in teaching or working with broadly diverse student populations while contributing to a vibrant learning community that values academic freedom, creativity, and intellectual curiosity. Your cover letter should address the ways in which you would enhance the educational experience of students and further the College’s educational goals. The position requires institutional service, including academic advising of undergraduate students after the first year. The American Indian and Indigenous Studies program at Hamilton College was formally established by faculty governance in May 2025. It is both interdisciplinary and extradisciplinary, spanning academic departments, disciplines, and fields of inquiry to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing across the liberal arts curriculum. The program is grounded in a reciprocal, community-based partnership with the Oneida Indian Nation, whose gift of land and vision helped found Hamilton College in 1793 as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy. The vision of the 1793 Promise was to educate both American Indian and colonial settler youth; the College is working to honor and fulfill that promise. The program offers a five-course minor, currently draws on contributing faculty across nine departments, and is supported by a three-year grant from the Mellon Foundation. The program is building toward an eventual concentration. For more information, please visit the AIIS program website. The teaching load for this position is four courses during the first year and five courses thereafter.

Requirements

Research and teaching grounded in American Indian and Indigenous Studies.
Focus on Indigenous literatures, narrative, and cultural production in conversation with the environmental humanities.
Work across climate fiction, multispecies and ecological thought, and decolonial approaches to the Anthropocene.
Scholarship engaging the political and legal dimensions of sovereignty and self-determination.
Work in conversation with Indigenous communities in North America and/or globally.
Expansive, cross-disciplinary perspective to questions of land, justice, and Indigenous futures.
Demonstrated leadership experience.
Track record of program building in addition to teaching in the field.
Experience developing curricular structures or degree programs.
Evidence of external funding.
Experience building and leading advisory committees.
Experience establishing and sustaining partnerships with tribal nations or Indigenous communities.
Experience leading community engagement and public programming.
Experience navigating shared governance to launch or grow academic programs.
Demonstrated experience in teaching or working with broadly diverse student populations.
Ability to contribute to a vibrant learning community that values academic freedom, creativity, and intellectual curiosity.
Ability to address the ways in which you would enhance the educational experience of students and further the College’s educational goals.
Ability to provide institutional service, including academic advising of undergraduate students after the first year.
Cover letter.
Curriculum vitae.
Writing sample.
Names/contact information for three references.

Nice To Haves

Associate Professor rank (without tenure but on the tenure-track)

Responsibilities

Teach courses at the heart of the minor and guide the program’s growth toward a concentration.
Help build and lead the college’s interdisciplinary program in American Indian and Indigenous Studies.
Provide evidence of program building experience, such as developing curricular structures or degree programs.
Establish and sustain partnerships with tribal nations or Indigenous communities.
Lead community engagement and public programming.
Navigate shared governance to launch or grow academic programs.
Demonstrate experience in teaching or working with broadly diverse student populations.
Contribute to a vibrant learning community that values academic freedom, creativity, and intellectual curiosity.
Address the ways in which you would enhance the educational experience of students and further the College’s educational goals.
Perform institutional service, including academic advising of undergraduate students after the first year.