Position Description

Description

Position No. 00050592. The Department of English at Southern Methodist University invites outstanding applicants for a tenured Full Professor appointment to the D.E. Hughes Distinguished Chair beginning in Fall 2026. The field is open. We welcome applications in any areas of literary study, broadly defined.

The holder of this chair, generously funded by the Hughes Family Trust, should have a major research agenda and be committed to active involvement in the department and its well-endowed Ph.D. program. This commitment should include the chairing of dissertations and the mentorship of graduate students. This appointment comes at a pivotal moment, as SMU, a well-endowed private university, has recently achieved R1 status, and the Hughes Chair is central to strengthening our national and international profile.

We are a dynamic department with impressive resources and ambitious initiatives. Our Ph.D. students receive an annual stipend of $41,000, as well as generous research travel funds and a stipend to cover their initial moving expenses. The department recently launched transformative initiatives in narrative and poetics. Narrative Now redefines the art and study of storytelling by amplifying a wide range of voices, perspectives, and forms. SMU Project Poëtica has made the university a hub of the English-language poetry world, attracting both established and emerging writers. Both initiatives sponsor symposia and campus visits, including week-long residencies by Alison Bechdel and Chen Chen.

The Hughes Chair carries generous research support and the opportunity to help shape the direction of a thriving department. Faculty in English collaborate with colleagues across the humanities, including History, Film & Media Arts, and the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, as well as with Dallas’s vibrant literary and cultural institutions. The department is housed in historic Dallas Hall on a campus that Architectural Digest ranked among the 25 most beautiful in America, in Dallas, “home to one of the most dynamic, international literary scenes in the country,” as The New York Times has called it.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for a scholar of distinction to join a department in a moment of growth and to help shape the future of literary study at SMU and beyond.

Qualifications

Candidates must hold a Ph.D. in English or a related discipline at the time of appointment, with a profile commensurate with the rank of full professor.

Application Instructions

Applications should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references. Review of applications will begin November 1, 2025, but the committee will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. Please submit applications through Interfolio at https://apply.interfolio.com/170516. Questions about the position and process may be directed to the chair of the committee, David Caplan (dcaplan@smu.edu).

Hiring is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a background check.

SMU is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.