Career & Practice

The Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (IUMAA) and Department of Anthropology seek candidates for an Associate Director museum professional position with a tenure home in Anthropology. We seek an Associate or Full Professor in Anthropological Archaeology with demonstrated expertise in material culture research focusing on Indigenous North America. Appointment at the Assistant Professor level will be considered with relevant experience. The position would involve a 50% commitment to the IUMAA and a 50% commitment to the Anthropology Department, and would include teaching one class per semester for the Anthropology Department while leading museum initiatives. 

Preference will be given to scholars whose training, research, and publications demonstrate experience in working with descendant communities and who share a commitment to training students in community-engaged scholarship. Topical specializations are open, but priority will be given to candidates with research interests in Indigenous North America, including material culture, human-environmental interactions, and museum studies. We are particularly interested in a candidate whose research considers the social context of archaeology. Candidates should have a teaching portfolio that includes courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the candidate’s areas of interest and that contributes to the University’s stated priorities for diversity, inclusion, and equity. Candidates from underrepresented, Native American or minority communities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Associate Director works with IUMAA staff and specialists to increase the Museum’s profile and pursue publication, research, exhibition, and programming for the Museum, while promoting the ethical use of its collections. Commensurate with the candidate’s experience and qualifications, museum responsibilities may include archaeological and ethnographic collections assessment, organization, and research, Indigenous community outreach, and student oversight and mentoring. Applicants should be able to organize, fund, and lead research projects, which may include anthropological or archaeological field schools or other cultural research projects. Applicants should have a successful record of accomplishment obtaining grants, and demonstrate leadership and teaching experience. Candidates should be proficient public speakers willing to give tours and talks and engage with both public and professional collections inquiries.

This position will require collaboration with a broad range of scholars and Indigenous communities, as well as interfacing with the public. The Associate Director will assist museum and NAGPRA personnel with North American and International repatriation assessments and efforts.  

IUMAA
The IU Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology is Indiana University’s newest museum. Opening to the public in 2023, the IUMAA draws upon the strengths and rich archaeological collections of the former Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology and the diverse ethnographic collections of the Mathers Museum of World Cultures. Together, these collections of over 5 million artifacts span across a broad range of the human experience from Indiana’s first peoples to contemporary communities from around the world. Through cutting-edge technology and exhibition design, as well as special building features and a strong staff, the new museum will provide visitors a novel way of experiencing its collections, exhibits, and programs from the “inside-out.” Access to behind-the-scenes spaces of the museum will enable visitors to understand the meaning and purpose of the museum collections, and the museum’s research and study of artifacts from Indiana’s past and around the world. The archaeological laboratory provides additional state-of-the-art research opportunities for candidates and their students. 

IU Bloomington Anthropology Department
The Department of Anthropology is among the oldest and largest four field departments in the United States, offering the B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. The Department also offers an M.A. program in Food Studies. Indiana University Bloomington enrolls over 32,000 undergraduate and 8500 graduate students. 

Diversity Statement
The IUMAA and Department of Anthropology are committed to promoting respect for human diversity and support the mission of the College of Arts and Sciences of Indiana University in building and supporting a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community of students and scholars. Indiana University shall take affirmative action, positive and extraordinary, to overcome the discriminatory effects of traditional policies and procedures with regard to the disabled, minorities, women, and veterans. Indiana University is an equal employment and affirmative action employer and a provider of ADA services. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment based on individual qualifications. Indiana University prohibits discrimination based on age, ethnicity, color, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, national origin, disability status or protected veteran status. We acknowledge and honor the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee on whose ancestral lands Indiana University is built and recognize the responsibility that this carries.

Minimum educational qualifications include a Ph.D. in Anthropology or closely related field and evidence of a developed research program focused on North American archaeology, Indigenous Studies, museology, or material culture.