Job Description

Position Description
The Department of Theatre & Film at The University of Mississippi invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies & African American Studies beginning August 21, 2025. This full-time, tenure-track position requires a Ph.D. in theatre studies, performance studies, literary studies, or a closely related field. The successful candidate will be a humanities research scholar with broad expertise in the field of race, drama, and theatre in North America, and specific research expertise in African American theatre and drama. Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate theatre studies courses at both the lower and upper division; maintaining and growing a strong record of publication; and performing service appropriate to the position including recruitment, academic advising, and participation in shared governance. Courses may include topics in theatre history, theatre studies, dramatic literature, with an expectation that the preferred candidate will develop specialized courses based on their research portfolio. Additional responsibilities may include directing or dramaturgical work within our mainstage season (as appropriate to the experience of the candidate) and mentoring students in the program.




The College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi is in Year 4 of its multi-year faculty cluster hire initiative. This initiative is designed to expand our understanding of multicultural competence in a number of areas including: successful, effective, and ethical leadership; inclusive pedagogy in STEM; and Black intellectual thought in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Fine and Performing Arts. The goal of this cluster hire initiative is to attract and support scholars who are doing cutting-edge research, scholarship, and creative achievement around one of these broad themes in their fields of specialization. This year (2024-25), two tenure-track searches will be conducted in the following areas: Psychology and African American Studies and Theatre and Film and African American Studies.




The Department of Theatre & Film and the African American Studies Program are committed to fostering students’ creativity through the development of critical-thinking skills combined with intellectual inquiry. With a focus on academic excellence, creative exploration, and scholarly investigation, our students and faculty learn, evaluate, and exchange their knowledge of theatre and film in an inclusive environment. Students experience a range of perspectives that prepare them for real-world practice in today’s complex world. As a community of artists and scholars we strive to be engaged global citizens as a means to propose and build new visions for the future, while examining expectations of being human in the 21st century. The Department of Theatre & Film currently enrolls 130 majors with 25 full time faculty and offers a BA in Theatre Arts and BFA in Theatre Arts emphases in Acting for Stage & Screen and Design & Theatre Production, as well as a BFA in Film Production.




The African American Studies Program develops and coordinates an interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum that focuses mainly on the African American experience in the United States, especially in Mississippi and the South. Its objectives are to encourage all students and faculty to examine the African American experience, to facilitate a cultural and intellectual atmosphere on campus favorable to such studies, and to develop and support a related program of research and community service. The African American Studies Program has joint appointments with several departments including History, English, Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, and Psychology. African American Studies has seven full time faculty and offers a B.A. in African American Studies as well as a minor.

Position Details
Appointment: 9 month

Assignment Type: Tenure Track

Minimum Qualifications
This full-time, tenure-track position requires a Ph.D. in theatre studies, performance studies, literary studies, or a closely related field.



Interview Requirements: Any candidate who is called for an interview must notify the Department of Equal Opportunity/Regulatory Compliance in writing of any reasonable accommodation needed prior to the date of the interview.

Application Procedures
Applicants should complete the University’s online application form at https://careers.olemiss.edu/ AND submit a letter of intent and a Curriculum Vitae. Review of applications will begin immediately. The position will remain open until an adequate pool has been established.