Tenured/Tenure-track Position in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Tenured/Tenure-track Position in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

Location:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Open Date:
Sep 21, 2026
Description:
The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Museum invite applications for a faculty-curator position in Mesopotamian Archaeology

to be appointed jointly by the Museum as a curator in the Near East Section and by the School as a tenured or tenure-track faculty member, with time, duties and responsibilities evenly split between the two roles. Faculty-curators have their teaching load reduced from four to two courses per year.

 

Applications are welcome from archaeologists actively engaged in fieldwork in Mesopotamia (modern Eastern Syria and Iraq) with a research focus on Mesopotamia’s historic periods.  The successful candidate will carry out independent research and publication; complement current course offerings on ancient Mesopotamian cultures, history, and material remains at the undergraduate and graduate levels; supervise B.A. and M.A. theses and Ph.D. dissertations; participate in the mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students working in these areas; and engage actively in all other faculty duties.

 

As curator, the candidate will participate in exhibition, research, education, and outreach activities related to the collections within the Section.  Experience in collections stewardship is highly desirable.

 

 

The Penn Museum

Home to over a million extraordinary artifacts and archaeological finds, the Penn Museum has been uncovering our shared humanity across continents and millennia since 1887. In bridging archaeology (the study of objects made by humans), with anthropology (the science of humanity), we chart a course for finding one’s own place in the arc of human history. We are dedicated to telling powerful stories that emerge from our own excavations and research across the world.

 

The curatorial appointment will be in the Museum’s Near East Section, home to over 100,000 artefacts most of which come from over a century of excavations carried out by the Museum in almost every country in the Middle East and spanning a broad range of time periods.

 

 

The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC)

 MELC engages in the interdisciplinary study and teaching of the cultures and peoples of the Middle East as they have expressed themselves in languages, texts and literatures, including written and oral sources, as well as art, architecture, archaeology, and material objects. Our studies encompass the geographic region that stretches from North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula through the eastern Mediterranean to Arabia and Iran.

 

The areas we study primarily include Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel/Palestine, greater Syria, Arabia, Iran and the Persianate world, and Anatolia and Turkey. We teach ancient and modern languages including Sumerian, Akkadian, Egyptian, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Kurdish. We endeavor in teaching and research to explore past and present social contacts across communities and places. In this way, we push boundaries and frontiers within and beyond the Middle East.

 

Our department upholds a conscious commitment to scholarship within the University of Pennsylvania and the world. The intellectual life of the Department is collaborative and flourishes from its culture of inclusion, which aspires to make everyone feel welcome. We aim to build connections to scholars across the University of Pennsylvania campus and elsewhere at local, national, and international levels as we exchange ideas and spread knowledge. This commitment to collegiality, inquiry, and exploration makes our department a vibrant center for the humanistic study of the Middle East from ancient times to the present.

 

The department offers an undergraduate major that provides students with an understanding of the ancient, medieval and modern Middle East.  Our faculty also participate in cross-disciplinary graduate programs, such as the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World.

 

 

Interdisciplinary Connections

The successful candidate will join a highly interdisciplinary collective for research and teaching, including the PhD programs in the Art and Archaeology of the Ancient World and Ancient History, as well as faculty and students in Anthropology, Art History, MELC and the Museum’s Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials. In addition to Penn’s groups, a strong regional collective for faculty and graduate students engages in course exchange with Bryn Mawr College, Princeton University, and Temple University.

 

 

The School of Arts and Sciences

The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures is housed within the School of Arts & Sciences, at Penn. The School is comprised of 28 academic departments, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate Division, and the College of Liberal and Professional Studies.  Interdisciplinary research and collaboration are supported as much by the breadth and depth of academic pursuits at Penn as well as the proximity of resources on our contiguous green urban campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  We promote and encourage curiosity, intellectual engagement, and discovery among all our students and faculty. University, School, and departmental resources that support our efforts/ include but are not limited to: the Offices of the Vice Provost for Faculty and Vice Provost for Research, PennGlobal, Wellness at Penn, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Penn Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, and Penn Human Resources.

 

 

Qualifications include:

●      All candidates should have:

o   publications appropriate to rank

o   a deep commitment to teaching undergraduate and graduate students, and mentoring and supporting a diverse student body

o   expertise in the archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia

o   active research and fieldwork in the area of ancient Mesopotamia

o   the ability to direct graduate/undergraduate research for a diverse student body

●      Candidates are expected to have a PhD/postdoctoral experience/other terminal degree by the time of appointment, which is July 1, 2027.

 

Application instructions/Required documents:

Cover letter (2-3 pages)CVA research statement (3-5 pages) covering recent, present, and planned research programs Contact information for three individuals who have agreed to provide letters of recommendationA writing sample of no more than 40 pages will be requested from longlisted applicants

Review of applications will begin October 19th and continue until the position is filled.

Please contact Dr. Steve Tinney (stinney@sas.upenn.edu) with questions regarding the application process

 

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any class protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.