Associate​/Full Professor of Native American Studies: Indigenous North American Perspectives

Position overview

Salary range: 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, qualifications, and experience. A reasonable estimated salary range for this position is $119,600 - $198,300, inclusive of the salary scale and off-scale salary components.

Open date: September 22, 2025

Next review date: Monday, Dec 15, 2025 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time). Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Tuesday, Jun 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (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.

In collaboration with UC Online and colleagues throughout the system, the Department of Native American Studies (NAS) at UC Davis is developing a systemwide online minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies. To help further that effort, we invite applications for an Associate or Full Professor to begin on July 1, 2026, after completing the UC procedures for appointment with tenure.

The successful applicant will assume co-leadership of the UC systemwide online NAS minor and be expected to share in the teaching of core courses in the program, as well as contribute to in-person graduate instruction and mentoring. The successful applicant must demonstrate excellence in teaching and research, a commitment to mentoring graduate and undergraduate students, and dedicated innovation in online instruction.

We particularly welcome applications from senior scholars with demonstrated campus, community, national, and even international leadership, and publicly engaged research programs that demonstrate deep accountability to Indigenous communities.

Applicants should have PhD in Native American (or American Indian, Indigenous, First Nations) Studies and/or have sustained a clear focus on Native and Indigenous Studies through a related field; and maintain an active research program within Native North America (the continental United States, Canada, Alaska, and/or the northern Pacific). Topical expertise should complement and extend beyond the current strengths and interests of our interdisciplinary faculty.

Applicants must have expertise and experience with developing and offering online instructional programming; that is, intentional and comprehensive online pedagogy that is beyond just pivoting an in-person class onto Zoom due to the pandemic.

Applicants must have a publishing trajectory worthy of immediate tenure in the University of California system and momentum for continued excellence in research. Rank shall be determined by the UC Davis Committee on Academic Personnel. Candidates should have a strong record of creating innovative and impactful teaching experiences online; a solid track record in graduate student mentoring; a commitment to ongoing professional and scholarly development in Native American and Indigenous theory, methodology, pedagogy, and praxis;

and active leadership in departmental, university, professional, and/or public service, broadly defined.

Questions may be addressed to Search Committee Chair Prof. Beth Rose Middleton Manning, brmiddleton or Department Chair Prof. Liza Grandia, lgrandia.

The Department of Native American Studies (NAS) at the University of California, Davis, is one of three PhD-granting programs in this field in the U.S. From its founding in 1969, NAS at UC Davis has embraced and sustained an integrative hemispheric perspective. Located within Patwin homelands, our program acknowledges and supports the sovereignty, rights, and responsibilities of Indigenous nations within their ancestral and traditional lands.

More information about UC Davis' Land Acknowledgment as a living and evolving relationship with three federally recognized Patwin tribes can be found avis.edu/land-acknowledgement-statement.

In the  academic year, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of our graduate program (MA and PhD), the 31st anniversary of departmental status and the 55th anniversary of our undergraduate academic program (major and minor). Through our graduate program, we also offer a Designated Emphasis (DE) in Native American Studies, which provides NAS faculty the opportunity to mentor students from units across the campus.

Since 2020, our department has led an effort with other faculty in the UC system to develop an innovative online program of undergraduate courses in Native American and Indigenous Studies through UC Online.

The NAS Department houses the Native American Language Center, the Indigenous Research Center of the Americas, and the Yocha Dehe Endowed Chair in California Indian Studies. UC Davis is home to the following entities that support and promote Native American/Indigenous issues on campus: the Gorman Museum of…