[Commlist] Job announcement: Tenure Track position at Gonzaga University (USA)

*Job announcement: Communication Studies - Assistant Professor (tenure 
track)*
Gonzaga University (USA)

The Communication Studies Department at Gonzaga University in Spokane 
WA, invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant 
Professor, beginning Fall 2026. We wish to welcome humanities-based 
teacher-scholars with a commitment to inclusive, equity-minded teaching 
to join a department with an innovative curriculum grounded in rhetoric, 
media, and cultural studies and animated by the concepts of social 
justice, civic engagement, and systems of power, privilege, and oppression.

We look  forward  to  collaborating  with  a  colleague  who  possesses  
strong  pedagogical  abilities,  with particular sensitivity to 
inclusive, equity-minded teaching practices; who can address questions 
of diversity, equity, and social justice broadly considered; who can 
effectively teach the impacts and consequences of communication  on  
society,  media,  culture,  and  identity;  and who  approaches  
communication  as  a  constitutive material, social, cultural, and 
political endeavor.

We seek a candidate who is invested in creative, reflective pedagogy and 
who has experience teaching about communication as symbolic action from 
a rhetorical, media, and/or cultural studies perspective. Our curriculum 
is centered around three theoretical pillars: communication and 
meaning-making, communication’s relationship to systems of power, 
privilege, and oppression; and intersectionality and the performance of 
identity. This colleague will contribute to our introductory theory and 
methodology courses in addition to teaching our upper-level course 
offerings for majors and minors (see course and curriculum descriptions 
on department website). In addition, all members of our department share 
in the responsibility of teaching the first-year, Core Curriculum 
course, COMM 100: Communication and Speech. This course emphasizes 
communication as symbolic action and foregrounds civic engagement—a 
theme that continues throughout all our courses. The teaching load for 
the tenure-track position is 18 credits per year (3 3-credit courses per 
semester). We envision applicants whose teaching and scholarship explore 
intersections of rhetoric, media, and

cultural studies with one or more of the following areas, which form the 
foundations of our curriculum:

  * Meaning-making, representation, and media
  * Communication, power, and culture
  * Intersections of race / ethnicity / gender / sexuality / ability /
    religion / citizenship
  * Activism, organizing, civic engagement, and social movements

Technology and digital cultures

Applicants should be comfortable working in a liberal arts setting that 
fosters faculty collaboration and student engagement both inside and 
outside the classroom. Thus, we hope to find a colleague with potential 
for interdisciplinary collaboration with departments and programs in the 
College of Arts and Sciences such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies; 
Native American Studies; Environmental Studies and the Institute for 
Climate, Water, and the Environment; Women, Gender, and Sexuality 
Studies; International Studies; and Film Studies.

Additionally, all members of the department contribute to and 
participate in peer review of teaching activities, department 
committees, and special projects. Gonzaga University features an 
outstanding Center for Teaching and Advising that sponsors regular 
faculty development and education opportunities.

The Communication Studies Department is committed to inclusive 
excellence and to increasing the diversity of the campus community. 
Gonzaga University is a Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic institution, and is 
therefore interested in candidates who will contribute to its 
distinctive mission of educating students “for lives of leadership and 
service for the common good.” The University is committed to fostering 
“a mature commitment to dignity of the human person, social justice, 
diversity, intercultural competence, global engagement, solidarity with 
the poor and vulnerable, and care for the planet.” Gonzaga’s campus sits 
adjacent to downtown Spokane, WA, along the Spokane River in the Inland 
Northwest’s most metropolitan region. We exist on the traditional 
homelands of the Spokane people, one of the Interior Salish speaking 
tribes of the region. Spokane is Washington’s second largest city and 
boasts a vibrant restaurant, entertainment, and arts community; it is 
also home to a diverse array of neighborhoods and popular outdoor 
recreational areas.

Successful applicants will have read the mission statement and engaged 
with it in their application materials. In alignment with Gonzaga 
University’s mission, we expect applicants to demonstrate commitment to 
issues of social justice, diversity, global engagement, and care 
for/solidarity with vulnerable and marginalized communities. We welcome 
applicants who can contribute to the departmental ethos and campus 
climate of inclusivity. Applicants are encouraged to describe their 
experiences with diverse populations and/or underrepresented and 
minoritized students.

*_Required Qualifications:_*

  * Ph.D. in Communication with concentrations in rhetoric, media,
    and/or cultural studies. ABDs considered with the expectation of
    degree completion by June 26, 2026.
  * Evidence of effective and reflective college-level teaching
  * Evidence of inclusive, equity-minded teaching practices
  * Evidence of an active research program (particularly at the
    intersections of rhetoric, media, and culture studies and the
    relationship to power, social identity, and social/environmental
    justice)

*_Preferred Qualifications_**:*

·Ability to communicate disciplinary ways of thinking within a liberal 
arts curriculum

·Collaborative approach to teaching and institutional service

·Demonstrated abilities, or strategies for, mentoring and advising 
traditionally underrepresented identity groups

*_Job Duties_*:

The teaching responsibilities for the tenure-track position include an 
18-credit annual course load. All

tenure-track faculty share responsibility for teaching the following:

  * COMM 100: Communication and Speech, our first-year, core curriculum
    course. This course emphasizes communication as symbolic action and
    foregrounds civic engagement – a theme that continues throughout all
    our courses
  * Our introductory theory courses (media, rhetorical, and cultural
    studies theories related to meaning-making, identity, and power)
  * Our introductory methodology courses (textual analysis and
    ethnographic methods)
  * Our upper-level courses for majors and minors that deepen themes
    from our introductory courses

All tenure track faculty are expected to establish and maintain an 
active and well-defined research agenda.

In addition, all members of the department contribute to and participate 
in student advising, reflective and

effective teaching that includes equity and diversity-minded teaching 
practices, department assessment and evaluation, academic service, 
program development, and recruiting.

Gonzaga University is an internationally prominent university with a 
faculty dedicated both to innovative teaching and ongoing teaching 
development and to socially transformative and justice-oriented 
research. We have a branch campus in Florence, Italy, as well as a 
robust study abroad program.

__

*_Application Procedure:_*

To apply, please visit our website at www.gonzaga.edu/jobs 
<http://www.gonzaga.edu/jobs>. All application materials should address 
the candidate’s alignment with Gonzaga’s Jesuit, Catholic, and humanist 
mission (see: https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values 
<https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values>). We also 
encourage applicants to review the Communication Studies department 
mission and 
courses(see:https://www.gonzaga.edu/college-of-arts-sciences/departments/communication-studies 
<https://www.gonzaga.edu/college-of-arts-sciences/departments/communication-studies>). 
Applicants must complete an online application and submit the following 
materials:

(1) Cover letter that addresses the applicant’s alignment with Gonzaga’s 
Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic mission;

(2) /Curriculum vitae/;

(3) Statement of teaching philosophy that includes reflection on: a) 
your role and methods as a teacher, b) your goals for student learning 
and your approach to assessing that learning, and c) your ongoing growth 
as a teacher;

(4) Statement on inclusive, equity-minded teaching that includes 
reflection on: a) how you create an environment in which all your 
students can learn, b) your strategies for including a diversity of 
perspectives, voices, and lived experiences in the learning process, c) 
your experience supporting traditionally underrepresented students in 
higher education (e.g., race, ability, gender identity, sexuality, 
first-gen, etc.);

(5) Copies of graduate school transcripts (unofficial copies are 
acceptable); and

(6) Names and contact information for three (3) professional references 
(letters will be requested when finalists are selected).

Please direct questions about this position to Melissa Click, Search 
Committee Chair, Communication Studies, (click /at/ gonzaga.edu) 
<mailto:(click /at/ gonzaga.edu)>. Position closes on October 10, 2025, 
midnight, Pacific Time. For assistance with your online application, 
please call the Human Resources department at 509-313-5996.

Gonzaga University is a Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic institution, and is 
therefore interested in candidates who will contribute to its 
distinctive mission. Gonzaga University is a committed EEO/AA employer 
and diversity candidates are encouraged to apply. All qualified 
applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to 
their disability status and/or protected veteran status. Applicants with 
disabilities needing reasonable accommodations to complete the 
application or hiring process should contact Human Resources (509) 313-5996.


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