Assistant Professor in the Conservation of Native American/ Pacific Islander Cultural Heritage

Position Overview

• Position title: Assistant Professor
• Salary range: The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See Table 1. The salary range for this position is $74,600 -$97,200. “Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions. See campus compensation page for additional information.

Application Window

• Open date: December 20, 2023
• Next review date: Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time)
  Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
• Final date: Monday, February 12, 2024 at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time)
  Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

The UCLA/Getty Interdepartmental Degree Program (IDP) in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position to begin as early as July 1, 2024. The appointment will be split 50:50 between the UCLA/Getty Conservation IDP and an appropriate home department within the Social Sciences Division. Some home departments may include, but are not limited to, American Indian Studies, Anthropology, Asian American Studies, Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, Gender Studies, Geography, History, & Sociology. The appointment will be made as part of the UCLA Native American and Pacific Islander Bruins Rising Initiative: https://equity.ucla.edu/ucla-native-american-pacific-islander-bruins-rising-initiative/. Faculty duties include teaching at the graduate and undergraduate level, research, service, and supervision of student research in both the Conservation IDP and the home department. The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See Table 1. The salary range for this position is $74,600 -$97,200. “Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions. See campus compensation page for additional information.

Candidates should hold a Ph.D. and have expertise in Native American / Indigenous cultural heritage. Preference will be given to candidates with experience working with collections and with Native American / Indigenous communities. Research specialization may be in Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Visual Anthropology, Museum Studies, Tribal Law, or other similar fields. Evidence of sustained engagement with Native American or Pacific Islander communities is highly desired. Faculty appointed through this search are expected to actively maintain an affiliation with the American Indian Studies Center or the IAC and AASC (for Pacific Islanders), champion the achievements of Native American or Pacific Islander scholars, and further develop their mentoring initiatives. Strong candidates will have a demonstrable work record within the Program’s core values of collaboration, sustainability, and diversity, equity, & inclusion.

The successful candidate will pursue an ambitious multidisciplinary research agenda, be able to bridge material and cultural knowledge, and incorporate some aspects of the conservation of cultural heritage in their research and teaching. They will be hired through the Institute of American Cultures (IAC) https://iac.ucla.edu/, and will be expected to be an active members of the centres in IAC and the larger IAC community. Upon separation from the university, the faculty line will go back to the IAC/centre along with acknowledgement that IAC/centre is the source of the hire (or portion thereof).

The UCLA/Getty Conservation IDP is the only academic Program in the Western United States devoted to cultural heritage conservation: https://conservation.ucla.edu/. The three-year MA degree educates students in the theory and practice of conserving archaeological and Indigenous cultural heritage. The doctoral Program engages students in a broad range of research within the conservation of material culture. The Program is embedded in the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and has state-of-the-art teaching labs at the Getty Villa in Malibu. There are rich interdepartmental research opportunities at UCLA and potential for research partnerships with other academic and cultural institutions. Primary among potential partners is the Fowler Museum, which has a large collection of Native American / Indigenous cultural materials: https://fowler.ucla.edu/.

Interested candidates should submit application materials via UC Recruit. Each application should include: (1) a Statement of Interest (1 page) describing qualifications and interest in the Program, (2) a Statement of Research, (2 pages), (3) a Statement of Teaching (2 pages) including classes the applicant is prepared to teach, (4) Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement (1 page), (5) Curriculum Vitae, (6) Three Publications or writing samples (7) Names and email addresses of three References (8) Signed Authorization to Release Information Form. Please refer to the UCLA Guidance for Candidates for information on EDI Statements: https://equity.ucla.edu/faculty-search-process/

Salary is commensurate with education and experience.

Candidates must complete their application by January 19, 2024, to ensure full consideration. After the initial review date, new applications will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled. For more information about the Program or the position, contact Glenn Wharton, Program Chair, at glennwharton@ucla.edu.

The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community
dedicated to the advancement, application, and transmission of knowledge and creative endeavours through academic excellence, where all individuals who participate in University programs and activities can work and learn together in a safe and secure environment, free of violence, harassment, bullying and other demeaning behaviour, discrimination, exploitation, or intimidation. With this commitment and a commitment to addressing all forms of academic misconduct, UCLA conducts targeted employment reference checks for finalists to whom departments or other hiring units would like to extend formal offers of appointment into Academic Senate faculty positions. The targeted employment reference checks involve contacting the finalists’ current and prior places of employment to ask whether there have been substantiated findings of misconduct that would violate the University’s Faculty Code of Conduct. To implement this process, UCLA requires all applicants for Academic Senate faculty positions to complete, sign, and upload the form entitled “Authorization to Release Information” form into RECRUIT as part of their application. The application will be considered incomplete if the applicant does not
include the signed authorization to release information with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete. As with any incomplete application, the application will not receive further consideration. Although all applicants for faculty recruitments must complete the entire application, only finalists (i.e., those to whom the department or other hiring unit would like to extend a formal offer) considered for Academic Senate faculty positions will be subject to targeted employment reference checks.

Link to Authorization to Release Information Form
https://ucla.app.box.com/s/8awvkn4szd0u3l20zs325lon1r560qj6

Qualifications

• Basic qualifications (required at the time of application)
  • Candidates should hold a Ph.D. and have expertise in Native American / Indigenous cultural heritage.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae – Your most recently updated CV.
• Letter of Interest – Statement of Interest (1 page) describing qualifications and interest in the Program.
• Statement of Research
• Statement of Teaching
• Statement on Contributions to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion – An EDI Statement describes a faculty candidate’s past, present, and future (planned) contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion. To learn more about how UCLA thinks about contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion, please review our EDI Statement FAQ document.
• Three Publications – Three Publications or writing samples
• Authorization to Release Information – https://ucla.box.com/shared/static/wqlh4ovm24bl79os5juy3rc7l9s0wpsj.pdf

Reference requirements

• 3-5 required (contact information only)

Names and email addresses of three References

Help contact: bronson@ioa.ucla.edu