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Assistant Professor of Anthropology (AI)

Posting Number F00271JP

Department Anthropology

Position Summary

Bowdoin College’s Department of Anthropology invites applications for a full-time tenure-track faculty appointment in Anthropology at the Assistant Professor level, beginning July 1, 2026. We seek a cultural anthropologist or contemporary archaeologist whose research and teaching critically engage the contemporary issues and globally significant challenges of artificial intelligence (AI). The teaching load is two courses per semester. Bowdoin is particularly interested in candidates dedicated to undergraduate teaching and with a promise of long-term successful research and/or creative work. A PhD in anthropology or a related field is expected by the date of the appointment.

We welcome applications from candidates whose research offers perspectives on the

social, political, and economic consequences of AI and its ethical dimensions, especially in relation to non-Western ways of knowing and being. Geographic area specializations are open. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: surveillance, security, and militarization; materialities of infrastructure and extraction; labor inequities; epistemologies and ontologies of personhood, relationality, and intelligence; green colonialism and land dispossession; Indigenous and non-hegemonic re-imaginings of AI, human creativity, innovation, and technological change. We seek a new colleague who has an active ethnographic, fieldwork-based, or empirical research program attuned to social theory and demonstrated excellence in teaching. The successful candidate will teach courses in their topical and geographic areas of expertise and will contribute to the rotation of core courses for the major in Anthropology (currently including “Introducing Anthropology: What Makes Us Human?” and “Anthropological Research: Methods and Ethics in Practice” or “Anthropological Theory: Concepts in Context”). The Department offers a curriculum integrating cultural anthropology and anthropological archaeology.

Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix and a Bowdoin College alumnus, has committed $50 million to launch the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity (https://www.bowdoin.edu/hastings-ai-initiative/index.html) —the largest gift in the college’s history. This transformative initiative will integrate the study of artificial intelligence with Bowdoin’s liberal arts mission, focusing on its societal, ethical, and humanistic dimensions. The gift will fund new faculty positions across disciplines, support faculty in AI-related teaching and research, and create programming that fosters dialogue around AI’s role in shaping the future. This position is one of three being offered in the first year.

Bowdoin College offers opportunities for professional development, a fully funded, year-long pre-tenure sabbatical leave (after three years of teaching and successful reappointment), and regular, generously funded, post-tenure sabbaticals. Support for teaching, grant-writing, artificial intelligence initiatives, computing software, and community partnerships in courses is available. The College also offers robust programming and resources for establishing and enhancing mentoring networks.

At Bowdoin, we are committed to inclusive excellence, an ongoing collective practice that honors our institutional commitment to provide an outstanding liberal arts education and serve the common good. The College is home to talented students, faculty, and staff. We encourage applications from candidates committed to the inclusive instruction and support of a diverse student population, and those who will enrich and contribute to the College’s multifaceted diversity.

Accessibility during the application and interview stages, as well as once employed, is a priority of the College: https://www.bowdoin.edu/accessibility/index.html. In addition, visa sponsorships for faculty hires are available.

Bowdoin College accepts only electronic submissions. Please visit https://careers.bowdoin.edu to submit: 1) a cover letter that explains your scholarly research program and your teaching experience; 2) a curriculum vitae; 3) a 1-2 page statement that describes your teaching philosophy and practice, including how you create learning environments that prepare students to interact constructively with different people, spaces, situations, and ideas; 4) one sample syllabus of an intermediate-level elective course in your area of expertise; and 5) a chapter or article-length writing sample; and 6) the names and contact information for three references who have agreed to provide letters of recommendation.

Review of applications will begin September 4, 2025 and continue until the position is filled.

Founded in 1794, Bowdoin has maintained its commitment to the liberal arts for well over 200 years. Bowdoin’s reputation as a preeminent liberal arts college rests on the excellence of its faculty, students, and staff; intimate size; strong sense of community; and connections to the people, history, and natural beauty of Maine. Bowdoin’s campus is situated in a beautiful natural setting. Located in Brunswick, Maine, a town of approximately 20,000, the College is a short drive from the Maine coast, twenty-five miles from Portland and 120 miles from Boston. Bowdoin College complies with applicable provisions of federal and state laws that prohibit unlawful discrimination in employment, admission, or access to its educational or extracurricular programs, activities, or facilities based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry and national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, age, marital status, place of birth, genetic predisposition, veteran status, or against qualified individuals with physical or mental disabilities on the basis of disability, or any other legally protected statuses. For further information about the College and our department, please visit our website: http://www.bowdoin.edu.

Posting Date 07/25/2025

Applications Accepted Until

Open Until Filled No

Special Instructions to Applicants

At the time of application, you will be required to include information for three references, including name, title, email address, phone number and how you know the reference.

Reference providers will receive an automatically-generated email from the application system. The email will provide them a link to upload a confidential reference letter on your behalf.

You will not be able to view the reference letters but will be able to see how many have been submitted on your behalf.

Employment Category Full Time Year Round

Job Start Date 07/01/2026

Job End Date

Job Type Faculty

Background Check Package Requirements Faculty/Administrative

Applicant Documents