Auburn University is seeking to fill an assistant English professor position in cultural rhetorics with a series of desired qualifications, including expertise in queer and trans rhetorics, decolonial rhetorics, feminist rhetorics, and more.
The university posted the job listing on its online portal, advertising it as a tenure-track position to begin in the fall of 2025.
"Successful candidates will contribute to the growth of the Department's Public and Professional Writing undergraduate major; the Rhetoric and Composition and Master of Technical and Professional Communication graduate programs, and will have opportunities to affiliate with interdisciplinary programs like Africana Studies or Women's & Gender Studies," the listing reads.
Cultural rhetorics is a somewhat obscure field of study that is an offshoot of the larger academic rubric of critical theory. Steven Mailloux, a chancellor's professor of Rhetoric at the University of California, Irvine, and researcher at the Critical Theory Institute, defines cultural rhetorics as, "[T]he critical, pedagogical, historical, and theoretical consideration of the effects of trope, argument, and narrative in different cultures."
The minimum requirements for the Auburn position are:
"[A] PhD in English, Rhetoric and Composition, Technical and Professional Communication, Writing Studies, or related field by August 16, 2025, a clear agenda for scholarly productivity, and a strong commitment to collegiality, with a willingness to take part in the life and work of a unified department of English Studies (which includes majors/concentrations in creative writing, literature, and writing studies). The candidate selected for this position must be able to meet eligibility requirements to work in the United States at the time the appointment is scheduled to begin and continue working legally for the proposed term of employment."
The desired qualifications are more obscure than the field itself. In the job listing, Auburn requested "expertise" in one or more of the following areas:
Black/African-American rhetorics
Indigenous/Decolonial rhetorics
Non-Western rhetorics
Antiracist rhetorics
Queer/trans* rhetorics
Feminist rhetorics
Disability rhetorics
Auburn is one of many state universities that recently disbanded its Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to comply with a state law that went into effect on October 1 and banned taxpayer-funded DEI offices and training.
SEE: Auburn University to close DEI office, reassign staff in August
The law prohibits public entities, including universities, from "promoting, endorsing, or requiring affirmation of certain divisive concepts relating to race, sex, or religion."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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