UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA ASHEVILLE invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of assistant professor in indigenous, diasporic, and/or earth-centered religions to begin August 2013.

UNC Asheville is the only designated liberal arts institution within the sixteen campus UNC system, and is located in the culturally rich and religiously diverse setting of the city of Asheville in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Department of Religious Studies was organized as a new academic unit in August 2009, and the person appointed to this position will become the third full-time member of the departmental faculty, complementing existing strengths in American religion and the religions of Asia (affiliated faculty in other departments offer courses in Jewish studies, Islam, Greek and Roman religions, and the sociology of religion). More information about the department is available at http://religiousstudies.unca.edu/.

A Ph.D. in Religious Studies or closely related field is required, as is a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching (twelve hours per semester). Preference will be given to candidates with methodological expertise in social scientific approaches to the study of religion and whose research and teaching competencies will encourage collaboration with interdisciplinary programs such as Africana Studies and/or Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. The successful applicant will develop and teach courses appropriate to her/his field of specialty as well as offer general courses in the study of religion including an introduction to the study of religion, an upper-division theories and methods course, and the senior capstone seminar in rotation with current faculty. Candidates should also be prepared to participate regularly in UNC Asheville's Integrative Liberal Studies Program by offering freshman seminars, writing-intensive and diversity-intensive courses, and by teaching in the university's interdisciplinary Humanities Program. Candidates should send a letter of application, curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, and other supporting materials to Dr. Rodger Payne/ Chair, Religious Studies Search Committee/ 141 Zaegir Hall, CPO# 2860/ The University of North Carolina Asheville/ One University Heights/ Asheville, NC 28804-8520. Deadline for receipt of all materials is October 12; prearranged interviews will be conducted at the AAR/SBL annual meeting in Chicago.

UNC Asheville is committed to increasing and sustaining the diversity of its faculty, staff, and student body as part of its mission and commitment to excellence in the liberal arts. UNC Asheville is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.