Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

The Department of Environmental Studies at St. Olaf College invites applications for a full-time, tenure track position in the area of North American Indigenous Environmental Relations at the Assistant Professor level, to begin August 2026.

The Department seeks a tenure-track assistant professor with expertise in Indigenous environmental relations whose teaching and scholarship address relationships between one or more North American Native nations and their cultural spaces, places, territories, and/or ecosystems. The Department prefers candidates whose teaching and scholarship incorporate a historical lens. Candidates with demonstrated, ongoing connections with one or more North American Native nations, and those with potential to develop research that engages and co-creates knowledge with and for such communities, are particularly encouraged to apply. Exhibited interest in forging relationships with Indigenous communities proximate to the College is particularly desirable. Primary teaching responsibilities include contributing to our core sequence by teaching Integration & Application in Environmental Studies (ENVST 237), an interdisciplinary core course that challenges students to apply their environmental skills and knowledge toward community needs; a course in Environmental History; and elective courses in the candidate's areas of expertise. Specialized areas of interest to the department include: environmental justice; native land, sovereignty and territory; traditional ecological knowledge; and Indigenous cultural resource management.

Salary: $74,190 - $79,000

Qualifications: Ph.D. in Native American and Indigenous Studies, History, Environmental Humanities/Studies, or a related discipline. ABD candidates are welcome to apply and will receive full consideration, but must have a Ph.D. by the start date of their appointment.

About the Department: The Department of Environmental Studies (ES) is thriving and growing. ES consistently ranks in the top 10 majors at the college, and its number of majors continues to rise. We also offer a concentration, and together, the major and concentration have served nearly 10 percent of recent graduating classes. The ES department has been a leader in interdisciplinary teaching and thinking at the college. Teaching in ES provides faculty with an exciting opportunity to share our specific modes of inquiry with a broad range of students - those focusing in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.

ES is also well supported and strongly positioned as the college continues to pursue efforts to create a sustainable, diverse and inclusive campus. Faculty in ES seek to create students who are critical thinkers and agents committed to reconciliation and reparation addressing the legacies of both environmental exploitation and colonization in the homelands of the Wahpekute Band of the Dakota Nation. For more information about the department, visit wp.stolaf.edu/environmental-studies/.

We strive to be a campus of welcome where students, faculty, and staff thrive by bringing their full humanity—gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, national origin, socioeconomic class, disability, religion, spirituality, and age—to St. Olaf each day. Our goal is to generate conversations and processes that over time create greater clarity, transparency, trust, cooperation, consensus, respect, and measurable outcomes. Practices that support this goal include listening, cultivating a growth mindset, respecting those with different views, being informed by data, and understanding that the work is ongoing, collaborative, organic, and ever evolving. We encourage applicants to familiarize themselves with our Community and Belonging website to learn more about our commitment and to identify how you might contribute to these efforts.

How to Apply: Throughout your materials, include how you would contribute to the development of a diverse and inclusive learning community at our college through your teaching, research, and/or service. A complete application includes the following: References: Provide contact information for three professional references who can speak to your abilities in teaching and scholarship. Letters will be solicited from references by the search committee for candidates who advance to the interview stage. Supporting Documents and URLs: 1. Cover letter outlining your qualifications and why you are interested in this particular position 2. Curriculum vitae 3. Graduate transcripts (unofficial) 4. Teaching Statement: A statement (no more than 1000 words) describing your teaching philosophy and the courses you are interested in teaching for St. Olaf undergraduates, including how your teaching experience has informed pedagogical strategies you employ in your classrooms. 5. Professional Statement: A description (no more than 1000 words) that describes current and future directions of your scholarship, including ideas for how you would engage St. Olaf undergraduate students in your work. Review of applications will begin on September 22, 2025, and will continue until the position is filled. Applications received by that date will receive fullest consideration. Finalist interviews are expected in November. Questions about the position, department, or College may be directed to Anne Gothmann, Search Committee Chair, at tt2026envst@stolaf.edu.