Duke Kunshan University (DKU) invites applications for a regular rank, tenure-track, position in World Literature with a focus on Africa to begin in the academic year 2022-2023.  Mid-career and senior faculty are especially encouraged to apply.  We seek candidates whose scholarship and teaching take a global and/or comparative approach to understandings of Africa and African literatures. The candidate will teach within the interdisciplinary major of Global Cultural Studies. Interests in one or more of the following areas are particularly welcome: transnational or world historical frameworks for the study of literature in Africa; literatures of the African diaspora; Global Race Studies; overlapping issues between Africana Studies and Asian Studies; and Africa in the world.  Successful candidates will articulate how they might contribute to DKU’s interdisciplinary curriculum, including the interdisciplinary major in Global Cultural Studies. 

As an international intellectual community that encourages diversity, openness and creative learning, DKU welcomes outstanding faculty from around the world who contribute diverse perspectives and experiences to a global learning and research environment. DKU particularly welcomes applications from underrepresented groups and minorities. 

In order to meet Chinese visa requirements, prior to the position start date international (non-Chinese) candidates must have worked full-time (work experience obtained while studying full-time is not considered as full-time work experience) for at least two years in a relevant area (including post-doctoral work) after receiving their Bachelor’s degree, or begin their appointment at DKU within 12 months of obtaining their master’s degree/Ph.D. and without having work experience between graduation date on master’s degree diploma/Ph.D. diploma and position start date.

DKU is a collaborative partnership of Duke University, Wuhan University and the Municipality of Kunshan, China (https://dukekunshan.edu.cn/).  Our campus provides an innovative and robustly interdisciplinary undergraduate liberal arts experience to a student body that will number 2000 students and 150+ faculty, with an acceptance rate of <8% and a student body represented by over 60 countries. We also offer a discrete number of Master’s level graduate programs. The DKU pedagogical model draws on the best of Duke’s educational experience and resources to reimagine undergraduate instruction on an intimate campus setting. 

Similar to the best liberal arts colleges in the United States, DKU values dedication to teaching excellence in a liberal arts environment, as well as a strong commitment to successful scholarly engagement and research. This includes research with undergraduate students.  As a whole, the Duke Kunshan faculty will have strong commitments to teaching and research, and outstanding quality in both areas will be highly valued. 

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. degree or equivalent in a relevant field. Research experience at a postdoctoral level (or greater) and teaching experience are desirable, as is experience working in an interdisciplinary setting. Applicants should provide a cover letter including a clear statement of the candidate’s specific interest in DKU, a curriculum vitae, a research statement, a teaching statement, and three reference letters. All materials should be submitted through Academic Jobs Online: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/19346. The search committee also invites and encourages letters of nomination for potential candidates. Nominations and questions about the positions may be sent to arts-humanities-search@dukekunshan.edu.cn using “World Literature Search” as the subject line. Priority will be given to applications received by October 15, 2021; we will accept applications until the positions are filled.  

The DKU campus is 37 miles west of Shanghai in Kunshan, and is connected to Shanghai via an 18-minute high-speed train and a subway-light rail train system. DKU provides internationally competitive compensation, housing allowance, child education benefits (for applicable faculty positions), and a discretionary fund or start-up package.