Whittier College seeks a Postdoctoral Fellow in art history, design history, or visual culture with teaching, research, and/or curatorial specialties inclusive of Afro-Latinx, Caribbean, Latin American, U.S. Latinx, Indigenous North American, or Art of the Americas, broadly conceived. Within this geographic framework, we seek a colleague focused primarily in the 20th and 21st centuries with the ability to provide historical framework inclusive of the impact of Colonialism in the Americas. The ideal candidate will want to collaborate in redesigning our Department curriculum and be able to contribute to the College’s interdisciplinary programs in Gender Studies, Environmental Studies, Latinx Studies, and/or African American studies, and/or the Art department’s Design major track. The goal of Whittier’s Postdoctoral Fellowship program is to move fellows into tenure-track lines by the time they have completed their fellowship. The Rustin-Mellon Fellow will therefore be eligible for a tenure-track appointment by the end of this three-year Mellon-funded postdoctoral fellowship (appointment is dependent a successful performance review).
In the first three years, the Fellow’s responsibilities will include teaching, research, and participating in the campus’s new Mellon-funded Poet StoryLab (2023-2026). This project will investigate the historical evolution of a “brown” identity in the US, paying close attention to the way intersectional experiences related to gender and sexual orientation impact the lived experience of racialized bodies in our current cultural and political climate. The Fellow will teach two small classes of 15-20 undergraduate students per year on topics relevant to these themes. Additionally, the Fellow will join the faculty team responsible for grant-funded programmatic activities and assist particularly in the areas of coordinating student interns and community outreach.
Whittier College is a nationally recognized, selective, independent liberal arts college with a diverse student body of approximately 1,200 undergraduates and the College is distinguished by its small size and innovative interdisciplinary programs. The campus is located on 95-acre hillside campus 18 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. We have a long history of commitment to equity, reflecting our Quaker origins, and our student body mirrors the diversity of the region, making Whittier one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country. Our faculty committed teacher-scholars, weave diversity into their work with students.
We seek a colleague with enthusiasm for developing innovative and forward-thinking curriculum in art history and visual culture for students at one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country. The Mellon-funded Storylab initiative offers a framework for what we envision as a series of storytelling experiences that will act as a testing ground for experimentation in liberatory narratives rooted in joy and in celebration of the messiness of being in the world as a brown subject. Our team will work with faculty across campus and community partners to develop student-centered experiences including creative storytelling workshops, off-campus fieldwork using the abundant creative resources of Los Angeles, inviting resident artists and storytellers whose work focuses on “brownness”, and other programmatic and pedagogical activities. Because of the StoryLab focus on resources in greater Los Angeles, the Fellow will have ample opportunity to connect with artists, curators, writers, historians, and creative and cultural institutions whose work and research centers “brown” identities.
Preference will be for applicants who will add to the diversity of the Whittier College campus experience through their teaching, research, and programmatic activities. No prior teaching experience required. PhD in art history or other closely related areas of the arts and humanities (such as visual culture, design & media history) should be complete by August 2023. Individuals from historically underrepresented groups in higher education are encouraged to apply.
Starting salary for this position is $67,000 and includes an additional research stipend.
Interested applicants should submit (1) a letter of application, (2) a CV, (3) a teaching statement, and (4) a research statement that outlines your area of research. Names and contact information for three references will be requested during the second round of interviews.
Review of materials will begin March 15th, and will continue until position is filled. EO and AA Employer.
Whittier College 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 take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.
