How to Apply
A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your resume. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position.
- Cover letter. The 1-2 page letter will briefly outline your interests in the work described in this job posting and highlight some of the professional experience you have.
- Curriculum Vitae or Resume.
- Contact information for up to three (3) professional references who may be contacted by phone.
Job Summary
The Humanities Program Manager will be housed at the Tishman Center for Social Justice, the Environment, and the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. The Humanities Program Manager role is devoted to advancing the Environmental Justice (EJ) + Humanities Hub (the Hub), a joint project of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) and the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS). The Hub is led by Kyle Whyte and Sara Soderstrom.
Your work will connect with a new partnership between the Tishman Center, the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and the Nichols Arboretum that is being crystallized by the new Hub. You will lead key aspects of educational development and evaluation of the Hub. You will design a mentorship program for students in the Hub and foster educational programming that connects students with external partnerships devoted to environmental justice.
Your educational work - especially in relationship to external partnerships - will be buttressed by the networks, resources, existing projects, and lands, places, and spaces of the Tishman Center and Matthaei Botanical Gardens. For evaluation, you will set up a formative and summative evaluation of the overall Hub, including the completion of a final assessment of the Hub at the end of the Coordinator's 4th year (the 5th year of the Hub).
You will report to Hub Principal Investigator (PI) Kyle Whyte, who is also the Faculty Director of the Tishman Center. You will collaborate directly with Sara Soderstrom, Director of the PitE Program, Michelle Martinez, Inaugural Director of the Tishman Center, and Tony Kolenic, Director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
Term Limited Appointment: This is a four (4) year term limited appointment with the possibility of renewal depending on funding availability and performance.
Who We Are
The University of Michigan's EJ + Humanities Hub unlocks humanistic research, education, mentorship, and social impact towards ending environment-based insecurities and environmental injustices associated with climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. The Hub, launched in December 2024, will include:
- Partnerships with community-based organizations and governments.
- Postdoctoral fellowships, graduate and undergraduate student research assistantships, course and curriculum development, and an Environmental Justice and Humanities minor and graduate certificate, and ongoing opportunities for mentorship.
- A new tenure system professorship at a senior rank and a new lecturer position (LEC III) with leadership effort.
The publications and creative activities emanating from the program will raise awareness of the importance of humanities in environmental justice, which, in turn, will support fundraising efforts to sustain and grow opportunities for future research, education, and social impact. The outcomes of the Hub will include:
- Establishment of a new minor in PitE and a graduate certificate in environmental justice and the humanities.
- The training of 50 graduate and undergraduate students in the hub.
- Engagement with faculty to adopt new teaching approaches to EJ and the humanities The advancement of the careers of humanities graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in EJ who will serve in the hub.
- A state of the art curriculum with extensive national and global reach.
- 'Needle-moving' impacts in communities affected by injustice toward their aspirations to achieve EJ via the community-based projects funded by the hub.
Publications and media about the education, mentorship, curriculum, fundraising materials and organizing methods of the hub, for the sake of motivation the sustainability of the hub at SEAS and LSA and its potential replication (in differentiated form) at other institutions of higher education.
For more information, visit:
About the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
About the Tishman Center
About the PitE Program
About Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum
Why Work at Michigan?
In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, The University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:
- Generous time off
- A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting
- Many choices for comprehensive health insurance
- Life insurance
- Long-term disability coverage
- Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses
Responsibilities*
- Oversee the development and expansion of 3-4 projects and land-based educational programs in collaboration with external partners, building on existing initiatives at the Tishman Center and Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
- Create new and support existing mentorship programs, in collaboration with the Hub's leaders, and participating faculty and staff in the Hub, that will support the success of students in the new undergraduate and graduate curricula.
- Serve on the Management Team and Leadership and Advisory Team for the Hub.
- Launch and oversee a collaborative formative and summative evaluation process of the Hub's activities.
Required Qualifications*
- Master's degree required. PhD in a humanities or humanities-adjacent field, including possible interdisciplinary science fields is preferred.
- Three (3) or more years of experience in related work.
- Experience in humanities education.
- Experience with qualitative and quantitative evaluation processes.
- Experience fostering cultures of care, mutual support, and mentorship.
- Demonstrated robust communication skills including verbal, written, presentation, and listening skills.
- Experience with leadership in plural cultures, social change, and varied forms of environmental stewardship.
Modes of Work
Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.
Additional Information
Salary will be determined based on experience.
Application Deadline
Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. This job may be removed from posting boards and filled any time after the minimum posting period has ended.
Applications will be reviewed as received throughout the posting period and continue until the position is filled.
U-M EEO Statement
The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.