In a higher-education landscape where many universities are scaling back their commitments to the humanities and world languages, The Ohio State University is making a bold investment in its future. This year, six departments across the College of Arts and Sciences are hiring faculty in world languages and cultures. “Together, we are building a future for world languages that is intellectually ambitious, publicly engaged, and responsive to the world our students will inherit,” said Dana Renga, dean of arts and humanities.

These six searches are part of a larger vision for the future of world languages at Ohio State, supported in part by the Mellon Foundation grant Global Fluency, Career Agility: Transforming World Languages at Ohio State. They also advance a transformative approach to language education that connects linguistic and cultural knowledge with experiential learning, interdisciplinary research, community engagement, and career preparation.

The three tenure-track assistant professor positions in East Asian Languages and Literatures, Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, and Spanish and Portuguese will focus on transnational approaches to technology and society, environmental humanities, and the relationships between empire and environment. Three additional positions in French and Italian, Germanic Languages and Literatures, and Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures will offer a postdoctoral-to-tenure-track pathway, with research spanning medical and health humanities, AI and second-language acquisition, and the digital visual cultures of the Middle East and North Africa.

“We invite outstanding scholars to join us in shaping what comes next for world languages and cultures. These positions represent an opportunity to build new intellectual connections, develop innovative curricula, mentor the next generation of globally engaged students.” 

Details and application instructions are available in the individual position announcements at jobs.osu.edu and at the links below.

Transnational World Language Studies: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor

• Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures: Transpacific AI/Technology/ Society Studies (job requisition id R160474)
• Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures: Environmental Humanities with Area Studies Expertise in Eastern Europe and Eurasia (job requisition id R160296)
• Department of Spanish and Portuguese: Empire and Environment in the Spanish and Portuguese Speaking Worlds (job requisition id R160266)

Postdoctoral Scholar to Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Humanities-based Interdisciplinary World Languages and Cultures

• Department of French and Italian: Medical and Health Humanities (job requisition id R160321)
• Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures AI, Second Language Acquisition, and Applied Linguistics (job requisition id R160518)
• Department of Near Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures: Digital Visual Cultures of the Middle East and North Africa (job requisition id R160526)