The Departments of Comparative Literature and Theatre Arts at the University of Oregon jointly invite applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Performance Studies to begin September 16, 2024.

We are especially interested in candidates who critically engage performance theory through a broadly conceived range of aesthetic and cultural practices. Preference will be given to candidates whose expertise builds upon research strengths in our departments, including (but not limited to) media aesthetics, environmental humanities, gender and sexuality, critical race theory, post-colonial studies, and methods of comparison across languages and cultures.

For this joint appointment, we seek applicants with demonstrated potential for outstanding research and teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The successful candidate will divide their teaching and service between the two units. Teaching may include undergraduate courses such as COLT 304 (Theories of Drama), TA 367-369 (History of Theatre I, II, and/or III), and classes on dramatic literature, dramaturgy, and critical theory related to public-facing artistic and performance practices. Graduate-level courses will include seminars in both Comparative Literature and Theatre Arts congruent with the hire’s research profile. We especially welcome candidates who are attentive to the range of issues experienced by historically underrepresented students, including (but not limited to) BIPOC students, LGBTQIA+ students, first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students with disabilities. Mentoring graduate research is a key aspect of service across both units.  

The University of Oregon’s Department of Comparative Literature is the home of the journal Comparative Literature, whose founding in 1949 led to the establishment of the first doctoral program in the field on the West Coast. Our graduate curriculum has both retained its sense of traditional grounding since its institution in 1962 and adapted to a constantly evolving and increasingly diverse field. In the spirit of active re-definition, Oregon offers one of the most flexible and innovative doctoral programs in the United States. We provide a solid foundation in theoretical and historical approaches essential to working across national traditions, historical periods, theoretical models, and media. We also strive to affirm and support the widest possible range of perspectives, voices, and backgrounds. Our discipline is transhistorical, translingual, and transcultural, and our practices are anchored in methods of formal analysis, reflection, and critique. Fostering an inclusive climate is integral to our work.

The Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Oregon believes in the value of theatre as a mode of cultural formation. We not only teach the theory, history, and literature of the field, we also teach design, technology, stagecraft, and performance methods for creating theatre on a stage before an audience. Our research informs our art-making and art-making fuels our research. Our practices are based on methods of analysis, creation, performance, and critique.  In addition to the historic theatre canon, the department also has a strong commitment to exploring contemporary theatre through dramatic literature, playwriting, performance styles, sustainable theatre creation, gender and sexuality studies, critical race theory, post-colonial studies, community-based performance, and comparisons of subjects across cultures. As collaboration and inclusiveness is the basis of all our work, we support a diversity of voices, backgrounds, and perspectives. All are welcome here.

Minimum Requirements

• PhD in relevant field at the time of appointment
• Demonstrated potential for outstanding research and teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

Required Application Materials

To ensure full consideration, apply by 1 November 2023 via https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/532069/assistant-professor-of-comparative-littheatre-arts. The application should include:

1. Cover letter
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Writing sample of 20-25 pages
4. Three letters of recommendation
5. Research statement
6. Teaching statement
7. Diversity statement discussing, with specific examples, past, present, and future contributions to equity and inclusion in your research, teaching, and (if applicable to current professional stage) service and mentoring