"Engaged Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowships"

Engaged Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowships

Location: Syracuse, NY

Pay Range: $64,000

Pay Determination:
Salary offers at Syracuse University will be based on education, experience, and relevant skills, as well as the academic or professional discipline of the position in the context of the home department, school, or college. Salary offers may also be influenced by prior relevant work or industry experience, where applicable.

FLSA Status: Exempt

Hours:
Standard university business hours

Job Type: Full Time

Rank: Post Doc

Job Description:
The Syracuse University Humanities Center humcenter.syr.edu, in partnership with the Engaged Humanities Network, or EHN https://artsandsciences.syracuse.edu/engaged-humanities/, which facilitates publicly engaged projects and coursework in partnership with community arts, education, civic, and cultural organizations, invites applications for two Postdoctoral Fellowships.

Fellows will join a vibrant scholarly and public engagement community at the Humanities Center, University, and in Central New York. This two-year appointment (July 16, 2026 - July 15, 2028) combines publicly engaged research, teaching, programming, and creative work: it is not remote/virtual and the residency period may not be deferred.

Compensation will include salary of $64,000; $2,000 in professional development funds each year; and office space, computing and full SU Libraries access. As exempt 12-month employees, Fellows are eligible to enroll in benefits, including medical insurance.

Qualifications:

• Must hold a (disciplinary or interdisciplinary) humanities PhD from between 2023 and no later than June 2026.

Job Specific Qualifications:
Applications welcome from scholars interested in combining research, teaching, and publicly engaged programming; working with diverse audiences (including, but not limited to, students, historically marginalized populations, and wider publics); and pursuing tenure-line as well as professional trajectories.

Preference will be given to applicants who:

• Demonstrate scholarly excellence in the humanities, broadly conceived;
• Have experience fostering reciprocal campus-community partnerships to advance the humanities as a public good (e.g., with a library, community organization, archive, gallery, social justice project, or school setting);
• Engage in work (research, pedagogy, programming) that attends to social differences and structural disparities.

Responsibilities:
While in residence, Fellows will immerse in communities of practice to further their research and deepen their publicly engaged teaching and organizational expertise. Fellows will:

• Advance their research agenda (via publications, grants, presentations, etc.) and offer an annual workshop or presentation about their work to the wider University community.
• Teach one Engaged Humanities course a year, incorporating participatory, digital, and/or public engagement humanities methods. The course may also contribute to a humanities department (African American Studies; Art & Music Histories; English; Philosophy; Religion; Womens & Gender Studies; Writing Studies, Rhetoric, & Composition) or interdisciplinary program in Arts and Sciences. As part of their teaching contribution, fellows will participate in EHNs Engaged Courses cohort.
• Mentor EHN-connected students and help administer core opportunities supporting student-led public scholarship in conjunction with EHNs Undergraduate Research initiative and the new EHN/Graduate School Public Scholarship Certificate.

Fellows will have the opportunity, as relevant to their interests and research needs, to participate in key Humanities Center research support offerings and in EHNs Engaged Communities initiative, focused on public projects in partnership with community organizations and arts, educational, and cultural centers.

Physical Requirements:
Not Applicable

Tools/Equipment:
Not Applicable

Application Instructions:
Applications preferred by December 10, 2025 (positions will remain open until filled).

In addition to completing an online application, where you will enter the names and email addresses of three references who can speak to your research, teaching, and public engagement (a non-academic reference is welcome, if desired, to address public humanities experience), please attach the following materials:

1. Cover Letter: Provide an overview of your research, teaching philosophy and experience, and public humanities experience. Discuss qualifications relevant to project administration and student mentoring, as applicable to supporting EHNs Undergraduate Research initiative and the EHN/Graduate School Public Scholarship Certificate. [2 pages, single-spaced, 12-point font, 1' margins]
2. CV
3. Research Statement: 1-page project statement discussing the research, including public humanities elements or multi-modal components (as relevant), you will advance in residence [single-spaced, 12-point font, 1' margins]
4. Other Document: 1-page description of a proposed public humanities seminar/topical course aimed at upper division undergraduates [single-spaced,12-point font, 1' margins]
5. Writing Sample: An article or chapter-length writing sample.

Questions may be submitted to the Humanities Center at humcenter@syr.edu