Assistant Professor- Anthropology

Position Rank and

Title:

Assistant Professor in Applied Anthropology (Technology and Material Culture focus)

Anthropology

Commensurate with qualifications, experience, and rank as established by the CSU Salary Schedule. Anticipated hiring academic year annual salary range: $88,000-$92,000. Faculty employee benefits are very competitive for the higher education sector. See the CSU Employee Benefits Summary for details about the CSU’s excellent benefits package.

August 17, 2027

November 16, 2026 (Applications accepted until filled or closed)

The Anthropology Department at San José State University is pleased to announce a search for an Assistant Professor in Applied Anthropology, to begin in August 2027. We are seeking applicants whose work demonstrates innovative approaches at the intersection of two disciplinary subfields: anthropological archaeology (material culture) and cultural anthropology (especially technology or design studies). The Department is particularly interested in candidates with expertise in data science and AI tools (for example, applied robotics, machine learning, predictive analytics, large language models, and neural networks) that can be applied to one or more of the following areas: digital archaeology, remote sensing, geospatial archaeology, heritage management, artifact reconstruction, archaeological robotics, space archaeology, design anthropology, urban archaeology and built worlds, and ergonomics and human factors.

The Department is also seeking candidates who are interested in applying their skills in cutting-edge topics such as the archaeology of racialization, affective archaeology, collaborative and participatory museum curation and repatriation, indigenous and other inclusive archaeologies, speculative design, and the archaeology of trauma.

The Anthropology Department has gained national recognition for its commitment to applying anthropology in an integrated, innovative way—by reconnecting the discipline’s subfields, encouraging interdisciplinary approaches, and collaborating with organizations. Anthropology faculty take a student-centered approach, providing dedicated advising, professional development, and career consultation. Students apply social science skills for a wide range of public, private, and non-profit organizations, and faculty encourage the development and implementation of projects that address real-world problems for partner organizations.

The Department is committed to equitable and inclusive teaching and learning and to providing culturally sustaining, academically affirming approaches to supporting and engaging students and faculty. (For more information, visit our website: sjsu.edu/anthropology/.)

The Anthropology department is part of the College of Social Sciences, which is committed to equitable and inclusive teaching and learning. The College sees faculty and student success as inextricably linked, and strives to provide culturally-sustaining, and academically-affirming approaches to supporting and engaging students and faculty. We provide opportunities for faculty development around asset-based, holistic student success, and support scholarship of engagement that addresses issues that affect our campus and community.

In all of our endeavors, we strive to build leadership capacity and foster a culture of support and belonging for faculty, staff, and students.

The Anthropology Department and San José State University value institutional excellence and are committed to advancing equity through research, teaching, and service. We enroll more than 40,000 students, many of whom are historically underserved; approximately 45% of our undergraduate students are first-generation college students and 38% are Pell Grant recipients. In addition, we are both a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).

SJSU aspires to create holistic learning environments that facilitate both individual and collective transformation. We seek teacher-scholars who cultivate…