Great Books (Assistant Professor)
College/School/Unit: School of Civic Leadership
Department:
Posted: Mar 16, 2026
Apply By: Open until filled
Description
The School of Civic Leadership at The University of Texas at Austin(UT Austin), supported by funding from the National Endowment forthe Humanities, invites applications for full-time tenure-trackfaculty positions at the assistant professor level in the GreatBooks (disciplinary specialty open).
Considering the responsibility public institutions of highereducation have to prepare students for leadership in a freesociety, the University of Texas System Board of Regentsestablished the School of Civic Leadership at UT Austin. The Schoolof Civic Leadership is an interdisciplinary school whose dualmission is to equip students with the knowledge and aptitudesnecessary to lead in a free society, and to produce academicresearch at the highest levels of scholarly excellence.
Successful candidates will teach in a discussion-based Great Bookscurriculum centered on close reading of primary texts. Courses areconducted as discussion sections and seminars in which studentsengage directly with foundational, wisdom-seeking works in andbetween a range of disciplines: political thought, philosophy,literature, religious studies, and the liberal arts broadly.Instruction emphasizes careful textual analysis, sustained inquiryinto enduring questions, and thoughtful conversation among studentsand faculty.
The School of Civic Leadership is expanding its major offerings. Inaddition to the Civics Honors major, in Fall 2027 the school isstarting a Great Books major in partnership with the ThomasJefferson Center and a Strategy and Statecraft major offered inpartnership with the Clements Center. It is developing aconceptually interdisciplinary PhD Program in Civic Thought.
Qualifications
We seek outstanding candidates with a Ph.D. in a field related tothe great books whose pedagogy and scholarship speaks to the Schoolof Civic Leadership's core mission of educating citizens forfreedom in its multiple senses: economic, political, andintellectual. We are especially interested in work that inquiresinto the deep roots of the West in the wisdom-seeking literature ofAthens and Jerusalem; into the political inheritance of Roman law;into American letters; into the major works of strategic thought;into works of literature, art, architecture, music, science,reflection on politics and civic life, and moral reflection.
Ideal candidates will (1) have excellent records of scholarshipwith robust research agendas, (2) provide evidence of exceptionalteaching and a commitment to the pedagogical idiom of discussionoriented toward clarifying fundamental questions, and (3) show areadiness to contribute to the intellectual life, governance, andprogrammatic development of the School of Civic Leadership.
The University of Texas at Austin, as an equalopportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with allapplicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination andaffirmative action. The University is committed to a policy ofequal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on thebasis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex,sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability,religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs andactivities, and admissions.
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