The position may be filled at the assistant (tenure-track) or associate (tenured) rank.

Note also that the Search Committee particularly welcomes applicants with expertise in Hinduism, though the search leaves open the successful candidate’s area of research focus as regards religious tradition, language expertise, and historical period of study.

The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia invites applicants for a tenure-track Assistant or tenured Associate Professor position, focused on Religion, Nature, and Culture in South Asia. These hires are part of a multiyear initiative in the environmental humanities, supported by the Andrew H. Mellon Foundation and the College of Arts & Sciences.

Area of research is open to multiple religious traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, and other formations, including those communities referred to as “indigenous” or “tribal” (adivasi). Knowledge of Hinduism, modern or premodern, is particularly sought after.

The successful candidate will have teaching and research expertise in classical or contemporary literature (facility with both is welcome), and facility with the relevant languages (such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Tamil, Hindi-Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, among others). The candidate should have interest in environmental humanities, broadly construed, and could have expertise in such issues as: how classical knowledge systems may inform contemporary environmental debates; intersections between particular traditions and changing ecosystems; pre-modern environmental histories addressing the emergence of religious formations, including their roles in the regional systems that connected Europe and East Asia; connections of political ecology to social or religious marginalization; the continuities and discontinuities of human and non-human worlds (including relations with animals) as mediated through religious and cultural sensibilities; South Asian and postcolonial perspectives on environmental discourses.

During the first year of the appointment the new hire will be appointed as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow of the Institute of Humanities and Global Cultures and will receive one course release. The Fellow will be an actively engaged member of the IHGC community and will serve on the IHGC Faculty Advisory Committee.

Review of applications will begin on November 20, 2015. The appointment start date will begin August 25, 2016. Applicants must be on track to receive a Ph.D. in the relevant field by May 2016 and must hold a Ph.D. at the time of appointment.

To apply candidates must submit a Candidate Profile through Jobs@UVa (https://jobs.virginia.edu), search on posting number 0617540 and electronically attach a cover letter describing research agenda and teaching experience, C.V., and names of three references. Please arrange for three confidential letters of reference to be sent to Julie Garmel, jg4e@virginia.edu.

Questions about the position may be directed to, Willis Jenkins, Chair of the Search, at willis.jenkins@virginia.edu.

The University will perform background checks on all new faculty hires prior to making a final offer of employment.

The University of Virginia is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, veterans and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.