Assistant Professor of Modern African American History

The Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History at William & Mary, a public university of the Commonwealth of Virginia, seeks applications for a tenure track position at the Assistant Professor level in modern African American history. Appointment will begin August 10, 2027.

Duties include research, teaching, and service to the University. The applicant is expected to establish and maintain a vibrant research program that inspires a highly motivated undergraduate student body, as well as Master’s and Ph.D. students. 

Teaching expectation is 2 courses per semester. Successful applicants must possess the skills to teach compelling courses in African American history and other lecture and seminar-style courses, and to contribute to the graduate program.

Required Qualifications:

• A Ph.D in History or a related field at the time appointment begins (August 10, 2027).
• Completion of 18 graduate credit hours in the discipline in which they will teach.
• Research experience in modern African American history.
• Experience teaching (or ability to teach) courses in African American history and other lecture and seminar-style courses.
• Experience mentoring graduate students or ability to contribute to the graduate program.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous experience in teaching and mentoring successful undergraduate research.
• Evidence of scholarly achievement or demonstrated potential as a scholar.

Applicants must apply online at https://go.wm.edu/VphZB3. All applications must consist of the following materials for full consideration. Please note: No more than 5 individual documents may be uploaded into the upload field provided (“i.e. Resume/Coverletter” upload field). Each individual file must not exceed a size limit of 5MB. If necessary, candidates can compress multiple files into a single zip file for upload:

• Curriculum vitae;
• Cover letter;
• A statement of teaching interests that describes your approach to teaching and mentoring and that may also incorporate a discussion of how your past scholarly work informs your approach;
• A statement of research interests;
• Unofficial graduate transcripts outlining proof of 18 graduate credit hours in the curricular area specified in the position description above. For international hires, a letter of graduate credit hour completion from your graduate school may be submitted if unofficial transcripts are not provided by your university.

Applicants are encouraged to reflect on teaching and mentoring practices that advance academic excellence and success of all learners/scholars in History in any of the aforementioned required documents. 

Select candidates will be prompted to submit online the names and email addresses of three references who will be contacted by the system with instructions for how to submit a letter of reference.

For full consideration, submit application materials no later than November 1, 2026 Applications received after the initial application deadline will be considered if needed. All required supplemental application materials mentioned above must be clearly identified and included with your application for full consideration.

Information on the degree programs in the Harrison Ruffin Tyler Department of History may be found at www.wm.edu/history.