What are the responsibilities and job description for the Two-year Visiting Assistant Professor in Peace and Social Justice Studies position at Berea College?
Please note that references provided at the time of application for staff positions will not be contacted until the applicant has been offered the position.
Description:
Berea College invites applications for a two-year visiting assistant professor in Peace and Social Justice Studies, beginning the Fall semester of 2026. Applicants should hold a PhD by August 1, 2026, preferably in Peace and Justice Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, or an associated social science discipline. Teaching expertise and research or professional experience in one or more of the following areas are strongly preferred: social movements, community organizing, and nonviolent action; peacebuilding and conflict transformation; restorative justice and trauma awareness; participatory action research and ethnographic methods. Responsibilities include teaching six courses per year, including courses in Peace and Social Justice Studies and in the General Studies core curriculum, as well as advising duties in the second year. Commitment to the mission of Berea College, superior teaching, research, and mentoring of undergraduates in a liberal arts environment is essential. Restorative justice, peacebuilding, community organizing, or conflict transformation practice experience is highly desirable.
Applicants should submit a letter of application, curriculum vita, teaching evaluations, statement of teaching philosophy, research statement, and contact information for three references. Review of candidates will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
Your Key Responsibilities:
Responsibilities include teaching six courses per year, including courses in Peace and Social Justice Studies and in the General Studies core curriculum, as well as advising duties in the second year. Commitment to the mission of Berea College, superior teaching, research, and mentoring of undergraduates in a liberal arts environment is essential. Restorative justice, peacebuilding, community organizing, or conflict transformation practice experience is highly desirable.
Founded in 1855, Berea College is nationally recognized as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls more than 1,500 students from 46 states and U.S. territories and more than 70 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides all of them with a no-tuition promise. Berea’s students excel in the College’s supportive yet demanding academic environment, and most are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only ten federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students are expected to work 10-12 hours weekly in various positions across campus. Berea College is also the only institution in Kentucky to receive the 5-Star Rating from Money Magazine, 2025. Washington Monthly has named Berea College the #1 Best College in the nation in its 2025 College Guide. Berea College appears in their rankings as #1 College (overall): Best College for your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars, #1 Best-in Class College, #1 Liberal Arts College and #1 Best Bang for the Buck Southern College.
Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 16,000) lies forty miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu.
Berea College, in light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, welcomes all people of the earth to learn and work here.
Berea College is always looking for talented, self-motivated individuals to join our team.
Berea College is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.
Our Benefits:
Berea College offers a comprehensive benefits package to eligible employees and their families including health care, dental, vision, retirement, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, life insurance, short-term disability, long-term disability and an Employee Assistance Program. The benefit package also includes access to the Child Development Laboratory for children of College Staff, ages 6 weeks to 6 years, Seabury Center Membership, Staff Development Funds and Tuition Reimbursement.
Eligible staff employees also receive paid holidays, vacation, and sick leave.
Part-time employees who work an average of 24 hours per week over the course of a year, receive benefits on a pro-rated basis.