Two-Year Visiting Faculty Position in Linguistics at Bennington College

Bennington College seeks a visiting faculty member in linguistics to teach four courses per year (two per semester) over the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years. The ideal candidate will bring new content and perspectives to our curriculum through an active research agenda and course offerings in specializations including (but not limited to): language variation and change, language documentation, multilingualism, or functionalist/usage-based approaches to language structure. We are especially interested in applicants who could teach courses with broad appeal for students across the liberal arts disciplines, addressing intersections of language with themes of identity, power, education and mobility; we will also value applications from those who can teach undergraduate students to gather and use data from the field. Applications from those whose work involves languages of the Americas or South Asia are especially encouraged, though all language focuses are welcomed. PhD or ABD in linguistics or adjacent field preferred.

Bennington College is a small residential liberal arts college in southern Vermont, long distinguished for its progressive approach to higher education. The College was founded in 1932 on the principle of active engagement in learning, which manifests in individualized plans of study developed by students together with faculty. Bennington’s open curricular structures facilitate innovative teaching across traditional disciplinary boundaries, and small class sizes enable student-centered and engaged learning within the classroom. 

Bennington serves a student population inclusive of members of ethnically/racially diverse, international, LGBTQIA+, and disability communities as well as diverse gender identities, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, and political beliefs. Our staff and faculty also reflect diverse and intersecting backgrounds and identities. All employees are expected to be respectful and responsive to these differences in the service of building community that promotes student and employee success. Each individual (faculty, staff and student) will be accountable for upholding these values. The College’s approach to pluralism and inclusivity—both as fields of inquiry and practice—is to prioritize flexible thought, and to invite the examination of access, value, power, and privilege through its institutional policies and areas of study. We encourage applications from women and/or candidates from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds and diverse realms of interest and experience to apply. 

Candidates should apply online to by submitting the following: a) cover letter that addresses one’s qualifications for the position and capacity to contribute toward a diverse, equitable and inclusive campus; b) curriculum vitae, including names and contact information of three professional references; and c) statement of teaching philosophy that includes three proposed courses one might teach at Bennington. Review of applications is ongoing, with preference being given to applicants submitting materials before May 9, 2024. This position requires the successful completion and acceptable results of a background check.