Salary and benefits are competitive, commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Vanderbilt University's College of Arts and Science seeks a distinguished scholar to serve as Professor and Chair of the newly formed Department of Romance Languages, Cultures, and Diasporas. The ideal candidate will lead a dynamic department encompassing French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish global languages, literatures, and cultural studies programs, and will have a proven record of working across disciplines. The position will begin in the Fall 2026 semester.
The College and the Department are committed to interdisciplinary excellence, and to current faculty interests in the intersections of literature and culture, encompassing art, race, gender, cinema, environment and migration. The faculty is equally distinguished in research and teaching.
The Department is housed in the College of Arts and Science, the largest school within a major research university. The new department builds on a strong legacy of innovative scholarship and teaching. This includes co-curricular engagement, faculty-led study abroad, and courses in languages for the professions. The department also connects with other programs and institutional resources such as the Center for Languages; the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities; the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies; the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies; and the W. T. Bandy Center for Baudelaire and Modern French Studies.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide visionary leadership for departmental governance, strategy, and collaboration
- Direct the innovative curriculum that bridges multiple Romance languages and disciplines and contribute to Vanderbilt’s core curriculum https://as.vanderbilt.edu/internal/undergraduates/academics/college-core.php
- Develop interdisciplinary initiatives connecting Romance language curricular offerings and extracurricular programming to broader college and university goals
- Foster place-based, immersive, experiential learning and study abroad opportunities within the department https://www.vanderbilt.edu/immersion/
- Design retention and recruitment strategies for undergraduate students
- Support the professional growth of all faculty
- Oversee the department’s budget, support staff, and identify and pursue external funding opportunities
- Ph.D. in a Romance Language, Comparative Literature, or related field
- Demonstrated record of scholarly achievement meriting appointment as a tenured full professor
- Proven efficacy in administrative experience and academic program management
- Ability to develop strategic partnerships within and outside the university
- Comprehensive curriculum vitae
- A letter of application (2-3 pages) that includes a statement that speaks directly to your vision for this newly formed department, administrative experience, scholarly and teaching accomplishments, and ideas for promoting and expanding the study of literatures, languages, and cultures
- Please list the names and contact information of three references
For full consideration, all materials must be submitted electronically by the application deadline. Applications received by February 6, 2026 will receive full consideration.
For questions contact the chair of the search committee at marshall.c.eakin@vanderbilt.edu