Job Description

Posting number: 2026-01928

Department: University of Hawai'i at Manoa - College of Social Sciences - Anthropology

Job classification: ASSISTANT/ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

Posting type: Open

Categories: Higher Education

Summary

Title: Assistant Professor (Sociocultural Anthropology – Indigenous Health)

Position Number: 0082638

Hiring Unit: UHM College of Social Sciences – Department of Anthropology

Location: Manoa Campus

Date Posted: September 8, 2026

Closing Date: Continuous; review of applications to begin October 23, 2026 and will continue until the position is filled. Applications received by October 22, 2026 will be given priority.

Salary Information: Commensurate with qualifications and experience

Monthly Type: 9 Month

Tenure Track: Tenure

Full Time/Part Time: Full Time

Temporary/Permanent: Permanent

The Department of Anthropology, College of Social Sciences, University of Hawai'i at Manoa (Honolulu, Hawai'i) invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in sociocultural anthropology at the rank of Assistant Professor. We seek a sociocultural anthropologist with a specialty in Indigenous health to contribute to our programs in Medical Anthropology and Applied Cultural Anthropology of Hawai'i, the Pacific, and Asia. This is a 9-month, full-time, permanent, tenure-track position, subject to position clearance and availability of funds.

We seek an applicant to support our undergraduate and graduate programs by teaching and mentoring on topics of Indigenous anthropology, medical anthropology, methodology, applied anthropology, and/or relations of land, food, water, and human well-being. While applicants working in all geographic regions are welcome, we are particularly interested in candidates whose work is focused in Hawai'i, the Pacific, and Asia.

Topics of interest within Indigenous health include but are not limited to: the relationship between environment and health, toxicity, sustainability, care, health sovereignty, disability, communicable and non-communicable diseases, healthcare, health screening and surveillance, and multispecies health interactions.

More information about the Department of Anthropology is available at https://anthropology.manoa.hawaii.edu/.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Contribute to the department's growing specialization in Medical Anthropology and Indigenous Health, including teaching, research, and mentoring in these areas, grounded in sustained community relationships;
2. Teach introductory- and upper-division undergraduate courses as well as graduate-level seminars in sociocultural anthropology and related areas, which may include Culture and Health, Ethnographic Field Techniques, Indigenous Anthropology, Food, Health, and Society, Biomedicine and Culture, Applied Cultural Anthropology, Methodology in Cultural Anthropology, and a proposed new course in Indigenous Health;
3. Develop an active research program with a strategic vision that includes fieldwork among the communities of Hawai'i, the Pacific, and/or Asia, building on existing community relationships and trust;
4. Contribute expertise and advising to students pursuing Indigenous-focused research and careers, including undergraduate capstone projects and graduate theses;
5. Support the department's Combined Bachelor's and Master's (BAM) pathway and the Applied Cultural Anthropology MA program;
6. Contribute to cross-disciplinary collaboration with campus units such as the Department of Public Health Science, the Department of Native Hawaiian Health, the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM), and the Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge;
7. Mentor undergraduate, MA, and PhD students;
8. Provide service to the department, college, university, and relevant professional communities;
9. Other duties as assigned by the Department Chair.

Minimum Qualifications:

1. PhD in Anthropology or closely related field from a university of recognized standing (ABDs will be considered; PhD must be conferred by the date of hire);
2. Demonstrated specialization in Indigenous health within sociocultural anthropology;
3. Demonstrated ability to conduct research and teach undergraduate and graduate level courses in sociocultural/medical anthropology;
4. Demonstrated deep, longstanding, and ongoing relationship with an Indigenous community or field site, reflecting sustained community-embedded engagement rather than solely externally-based research;
5. Record of scholarly and instructional achievement or promise in the field as evidenced by teaching, publications, and research;
6. Demonstrated ability to maintain professionalism in meeting and conferring with others.

Desirable Qualifications:

1. Demonstrated expertise in Hawai'i, the Pacific, and/or Asia.
2. Research and teaching experience relevant to Indigenous health, health sovereignty, food and nutrition, environmental health, multispecies ethnography, health inequalities, or community-based research.
3. Community-based research approaches developed through sustained collaboration with, and accountability to, the Indigenous community/communities in which the candidate works.
4. Demonstrated engagement with important contemporary health issues, including policy-relevant topics such as health disparities in Indigenous and Pacific Islander communities.
5. Demonstrated ability to develop comparative projects that situate Hawai-i, the Pacific, and/or Asia in a broader global health context.
6. Demonstrated ability to create opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.
7. Demonstrated potential to successfully compete for extramural and intramural research and training grants (e.g., NIH, NSF, etc.);.

To Apply:

Click on the "Apply" button on the top right corner of the screen to complete an application and attach the following required documents:

1. Detailed cover letter stating how you fit the position description and satisfy the minimum and desirable qualifications, while also summarizing your Teaching, Research, and Service. Please specifically address your relationship to the Indigenous community/communities central to your research, including the nature, depth, and duration of that relationship;
2. Curriculum vitae;
3. One (1) writing sample (representative peer-reviewed journal article or dissertation chapter);
4. One (1) sample syllabus for an upper division or graduate course that you would offer here.

Letters of reference will be requested for long list candidates. Finalists must be prepared to submit copies of official transcripts prior to a campus visit. Official transcripts will be required for hire.

Note: If you have not applied for a position before using NeoGov, you will need to create an account.

inquires:

Seth Quintus, Chair: 808-956-8193 / squintus@hawaii.edu

Examples of duties

The University of Hawai'i is an Equal Opportunity Institution and is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in employment, including on the basis of veteran and disability status. For more information, visit: https://www.hawaii.edu/offices/eeo/policies/

Employment is contingent on satisfying employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986; reference checks of previous employers; and for certain positions, criminal history record checks.

In accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, annual campus crime statistics for the University of Hawai'i may be viewed at: https://www.hawaii.edu/titleix/help/campus-security/, or a paper copy may be obtained upon request from the respective UH Campus Security or Administrative Services Office.

Accommodation Request: The University of Hawai'i complies with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the EEO coordinator directly. Determination on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis. For further information, please refer to the following link: https://www.hawaii.edu/offices/eeo/accommodation-request/