The Department of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University invites applications for a tenured appointment at the rank of Associate or Full Professor in anthropological archaeology, with a research specialization in Mesoamerica. We seek a scholar with an established international reputation and an active, sustained research program that complements current faculty expertise.
We are particularly interested in candidates whose work engages one or more of the following: regional-scale landscape and settlement archaeology, including airborne lidar and other remote-sensing approaches; coupled human-environment systems, historical and political ecology, and human ecodynamics; urbanism, collective action, and political economy; or the archaeology of colonial transformations and long-term indigenous histories. Demonstrated strength in data-intensive analytics — machine learning, geospatial methods, archaeometry, or paleobotany — is desirable.
Successful candidates will direct a substantial, ongoing, externally-funded portfolio of field-based, or mixed field-and-laboratory research, long-standing institutional and host-community partnerships, and the capacity to contribute to departmental and program leadership within a dynamic four-field program with deep hemispheric commitments. The appointee will join a growing cluster of faculty working at continental scales on the long-term histories of Indigenous American societies, with opportunities for collaboration with Vanderbilt’s College of Connected Computing, the Data Science Institute, the Vanderbilt Lab for Immersive AI Translation (VALIANT), and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies, among other trans-institutional initiatives.
The teaching load for research-active faculty is 2:1. Courses with experiential or field-based components are particularly welcome.
As a senior hire, the successful candidate will bring a strong record of externally funded research, high-impact publication, highly effective teaching, and graduate mentorship. They will contribute intellectual leadership to the growth of the department’s undergraduate program and the continued strength of its Ph.D. program. This position will also support the Arts & Science Core curriculum. We especially value candidates whose work will connect to other campus units, including with the College of Connected Computing, History of Art and Architecture, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies.
Applicants should submit through Interfolio: (a) a cover letter describing research, teaching, and community-engagement trajectories; (b) a full curriculum vitae; (c) a research statement; (d) a statement of teaching and mentorship philosophy; and (e) the names and contact information of three references. Review of applications will begin on November 9, 2026, and will continue until the position is filled. Start date: August 16, 2027.
Vanderbilt University shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors provide equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.
