Assistant Professor

The Department of Peace, Human Rights, and Cultural Relations (PHRCR) in the School of International Service (SIS) at American University (AU) invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in Global Migration Politics, Processes, and Policies at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning August 1, 2025. Special consideration will be given to migration scholarship that focuses on asylum, refugee resettlement and/or dispersal, human rights violations, authoritarian surveillance, or persecution based on political affiliation, race, religion, gender, and/or sexuality.  We also welcome scholars whose work contributes to how governments, multilateral institutions, and migrant service providers think about and govern migration life cycles (root causes, transit, and post-migration contexts), and/or demonstrate the capacity for cutting-edge scholarship on migration beyond regional flows to account for emerging global trends and crises. 

Given the cross-cutting nature of migration and its growing importance for national, regional, and global politics, we are particularly interested in scholars utilizing a variety of methodological approaches and innovative methods to understand present and future migration trends, including Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Capacity to teach required courses in at least two of the department’s thematic areas (Ethics, Peace, and Human Rights; Intercultural and International Communication; and International Peace and Conflict Resolution) are also desirable, though not required. We are an interdisciplinary department and school, and welcome applications from scholars of Migration Studies, Anthropology, Geography, History, International Relations, Political Science, Economics, and Sociology, as well as interdisciplinary programs focused on migration, gender, race and ethnicity, religion, and/or postcolonialism. 

The faculty hire will join PHRCR and SIS in growing and consolidating a dynamic community of scholars focused on the evolving, multivalent processes and challenges of migration. The ideal candidate will thereby strengthen research and course options in this area, and become part of multi-disciplinary and multi-regional research teams pursuing cutting edge scholarship on the present and future of global migration.

The successful candidate will also share a commitment to the university’s diversity and inclusion plan. 

Applicants should hold a PhD or the highest equivalent degree in a social science discipline by the start date, though ABD applications will be considered.  The standard course load for a tenure track faculty is 2/2. All faculty are expected to hold office hours and participate in School and University activities and service. Annual salary range: $95,000 - $105,000.  Benefits are competitive. Review of applications will begin on September 1st, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled, subject to ongoing budgetary approval.

Applications must be submitted electronically via the Workday application system.  https://american.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/AU/job/Main-Campus-Washington-DC/Assistant-Professor_R1478. Applications should include the following:    

• A cover letter detailing your research, teaching and service record to date
• Curriculum vitae
• Sample publications
• A short teaching portfolio with a statement of teaching philosophy and evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g., teaching evaluations)
• A statement describing past examples of your contributions to diversity and inclusion in your scholarship, the classroom, and/or in other professional settings
• NOTE: Please do not submit references when submitting your application. You may be contacted later in the review process to submit the names and email addresses of three references that the Workday system can contact for a confidential letter of recommendation.

Queries about the search may be sent to Professor Anthony Fontes (awfontes@american.edu). Queries about the online application system may be sent to SIS Faculty Affairs Manager Alissa Iwaniuk (aiwaniuk@american.edu).

American University is a private institution within easy reach of the many centers of government, business, research, and the arts located within the nation’s capital. For more information about American University, visit www.american.edu. American University's School of International Service (SIS) is a top-ten school of international affairs with 3,000 students, 120+ full-time faculty and more than 20,000 alumni worldwide.  SIS faculty produce transformational research and our prime location provides opportunities for collaboration with professionals in government, the private sector, and think tanks and other non-profits. The Department of Peace, Human Rights, and Cultural Relations offers graduate degree programs in Ethics, Peace, and Human Rights; Intercultural and International Communication; and International Peace and Conflict Resolution as well as undergraduate thematic areas in Identity, Race, Gender, and Culture; Justice, Ethics, and Human Rights; and Peace, Global Security, and Conflict Resolution.  Learn more about SIS at www.american.edu/sis and the department at https://www.american.edu/sis/departments/peace-human-rights-cultural-relations/.

American University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution that operates in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The university does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy), age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, personal appearance, gender identity and expression, family responsibilities, political affiliation, source of income, veteran status, an individual’s genetic information or any other bases under federal or local laws (collectively “Protected Bases”) in its programs and activities.

American University is a tobacco and smoke free campus.

Hiring offers for this position are contingent on the successful completion of a background check.