"Assistant Professor of History"

Located in Lewiston, Maine, Bates is internationally recognized as a leading liberal arts college. We are proud to offer a highly personalized education that centers on deep and sustained interactions among students, faculty, and community. We are engaging the forces — intellectual trends, demographic changes, and technology — that are transforming higher education and the world into which our students graduate.

The Department of History and Program in Africana at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, invite applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty in 19th-century U.S. history with a specialty in African American history. The position will begin July 2026.

We seek candidates who are strongly committed to teaching at the undergraduate level and to research and publication. Applicants should have a disciplinary expertise in history and an interdisciplinary engagement with histories and experiences within the African diaspora. The successful applicant will be appointed in the History department and will also serve as a member of the Africana program committee.

The duties of the position include the three main areas of faculty work: teaching, professional achievement, and governance and engagement. The standards of excellence for faculty at Bates are articulated in Article II of the faculty handbook, and include a commitment to inclusive and evidence-based pedagogy, a signature research program, and participation in our system of shared governance. The successful candidate will teach five courses per year, provide academic advising, and mentor senior theses. Courses will include a 19th-century US history survey course as well as an upper-level seminar and three mid-level courses related to the candidate’s areas of expertise that complement the existing curricular strengths of the college. Each year at least three of these courses will be cross-listed with the Africana Program.

Bates students come from a diversity of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds, and we are committed to each student’s success. Thus, candidates may choose to share evidence of their skills and experience supporting a diverse student body either in a separate, additional document or integrated into the teaching and research statements. We encourage applications from individuals from historically marginalized groups and from those who may have followed non-traditional pathways to higher education due to societal, economic, or academic circumstances. The search committee will request letters of recommendation from three referees for short-listed candidates. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check and verification of degree.

Bates College is a residential liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine—a diverse and growing community roughly 45 minutes from the state’s largest city (Portland), 2 ½ hours north of Boston, and 4 ½ hours south of Montreal. Faculty scholarship and creative work at Bates are robustly supported by start-up packages, internal grants, and a well-staffed external grants office. Community-engaged learning and study abroad are both broadly encouraged and supported; pedagogical development and innovation is further buttressed by the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning.

Educational access and racial justice are central to Bates’ history and mission and our faculty-led initiatives reflect this commitment. Bates students come from a diversity of educational and socioeconomic backgrounds, and we are committed to each student’s success. Thus, candidates may choose to share evidence of their skills and experience supporting a diverse student body either in a separate, additional document or integrated into the teaching and research statements. We encourage applications from individuals from historically marginalized groups and from those who may have followed non-traditional pathways to higher education due to societal, economic, or academic circumstances.

Bates College is a residential liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine—a diverse and growing community roughly 45 minutes from the state’s largest city (Portland), 2 ½ hours north of Boston, and 4 ½ hours south of Montreal. Faculty scholarship and creative work at Bates are robustly supported by start-up packages, internal grants, and a well-staffed external grants office. Community-engaged learning and study abroad are both broadly encouraged and supported; pedagogical development and innovation is further buttressed by the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning.

Educational access and racial justice are central to Bates’ history and mission and our faculty-led initiatives reflect this commitment.

By July of 2026 they should have a PhD in history, African American studies, or a related field.

Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2025. Applications should include a cover letter and a curriculum vitae. They must also include a teaching statement that describes how the applicant meets Bates’ standards of excellence in terms of inclusive and evidence-based pedagogy as well as a research statement that speaks to the current and future promise of a candidate’s professional work.

The search committee will request letters of recommendation from three referees for short-listed candidates. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check and verification of degree.

Bates College is committed to equal opportunity and to providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. All college faculty, staff, students, contractors, visitors, and volunteers are responsible for understanding and complying with the Non-Discrimination Policy.

Inquiries concerning the college’s policies, compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations (such as Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/Section 504), and complaints may be directed to the Title IX Officer, Gwen Lexow at 207-786-6445 or titleix@bates.edu.