Please visit Asst/Assoc Curator of Archaeology & Asst/Assoc Prof of Anthropology for complete job posting and application instructions.
This is a joint tenured/tenure-track position between the Biodiversity Institute/Natural History Museum (BI/NHM) (Assistant or Associate Curator of Archaeology, 50%) and the Department of Anthropology (Assistant or Associate Professor, 50%). This faculty-curator position is responsible for research on human culture as obtained from curated cultural remains, teaching courses in general archaeology and related subjects, mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, stewarding the collections of the BI/NHM Division of Archaeology, supervising the human, fiscal, and structural resources of the division, and providing professional service and outreach.
The Archaeology Division of the BI/MNH curates ~3 million artifacts, representing one of the largest university-based archaeology collections in the Midwestern United States. Grants from Federal agencies and other sources have improved the curation standards and supported adherence to Federal mandates. Funds have been obtained for Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) compliance. The collections are regularly used by students, faculty, and visiting researchers. Numerous students have received training and research support.
The archaeology program within the Department of Anthropology provides opportunities for training and research in several areas. Faculty members have conducted archaeological research in Europe, Arctic North America, Great Plains, Great Basin, Rocky Mountains, the Big Bend region of southwest Texas, Patagonia, Mesoamerica, Central America, and Northeast Asia. Their specializations include ancient technology, geoarchaeology, paleoecology, human adaptation, cultural evolution, variability in hunter-gatherer societies, origins of sociopolitical complexity, ancient American exchange and interaction, lithic and faunal analyses, ancient DNA, and quantitative and computer applications in archaeology. Current research includes: peopling of the Americas; Paleoindian and Paleolithic archaeology and hunter-gatherer adaptations; prehistory of western North America, Alaska, Patagonia, and Asia; hunter-gatherer ecology and adaptations in extreme environments (arctic and arid); human-environment interactions; archaeology of pre-Hispanic Indigenous cultures in Latin America, with a strong focus on Indigenous populations of southern Central America between Mesoamerica and the Central Andes; resilience of small-scale societies during periods of environmental and social change; application of molecular methods to supplement traditional studies of faunal material in investigating the relationship between people and their environment; environmental archaeology with strength in the geoarchaeological problems of site formation and paleoclimate reconstruction; and lithic technology with a strong focus on lithic systems in small-scale societies. The endowed Odyssey Archaeological Research Program provides support for students and faculty involved with archaeological and geoarchaeological research related to the peopling of the Americas.
The University of Kansas is located in the city of Lawrence, a thriving community 40 minutes from the Kansas City metropolitan area and 30 minutes from the state capital, Topeka. Lawrence, a progressive college town of 95,000, boasts a lively downtown with many music venues, award-winning restaurants, and a nationally celebrated independent bookstore among its many independently owned small businesses. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest school within the campus and plays a central role within the University. Founded in 1865, KU is a designated Carnegie comprehensive doctoral and research university and is one of only 34 public members of the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). The University enrolls more than 28,000 students and offers students and faculty opportunities to collaborate in its graduate and professional programs.