How to Apply
A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and should be attached as the first page of your curriculum vitae. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position. In addition, please include contact information for three individuals who can serve as references.
You have the option of providing a sample of previous work in any form that you see as relevant to the Hill Auditorium research project. This may be a single-author or multi-author paper or publication, a digital humanities project you contributed to, an exhibition catalog, a performance, some other public engagement project, etc. This sample of previous work is not required.
Job Summary
The Inclusive History Project (IHP) is looking for a Research Fellow to join our team on the Hill Auditorium research project site, with a desired start date in June 2025.
The IHP is a multi-year presidential initiative studying and documenting a comprehensive history of the University of Michigan that stretches across its three campuses and Michigan Medicine. The IHP is working to engage the entire university and neighboring communities to understand better the institution's full history, including its record of inclusion and exclusion, and to consider what actions this history demands in the present.
Operating in partnership with the University Musical Society and the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance, this research project considers the 100+ year history of U-M's Hill Auditorium with a focus on belonging and inclusion. More specifically, it considers the shifting ways in which Hill's world-renowned stage has been used across time by different groups (university faculty and administrators, arts organizations, student activists, community groups, etc.) to redefine the boundaries of culture, performance, and politics on the Ann Arbor campus and across our region.
In residence at the NCID and working under the guidance of the Hill Auditorium Project's principal investigators-Mark Clague, Cayenne Harris, and Jay Cook-the research fellow will make key contributions to planning, organizing, and conducting research for this project. They will be responsible for conducting historical research, preparing research findings to share with internal and external audiences, collaborating with and often leading a multigenerational research team, working with campus and external stakeholders, and teaching one upper-level research seminar connected to the project in AY 2025-26. The research fellow will also be responsible for helping to manage project activities and deliverables. The research fellow may participate in additional IHP activities as needed.
The IHP Research Fellow will report to the IHP Managing Director, Jennifer Brady.
Please note that, during the term in which the research fellow teaches, the research fellow will hold a faculty position (i.e., a non-tenure track lecturer appointment) in the academic unit in which they will teach. The combination of the research fellow and lecturer appointment efforts for that term will equal 100% effort.
The initial appointment will be for one year, with the potential for renewal for a second year based on satisfactory performance and funding availability.
This is a residential fellowship based in Ann Arbor, MI. Work will be hybrid, with regular in-person work required.
The fellowship package includes an annual salary of $65,000, health benefits, and a total of $3,000 for research and scholarly travel expenses.
Responsibilities*
- Conduct archival, primary, and secondary research
- Create and maintain research records, and prepare research reports as needed for IHP leadership
- Provide guidance and coordination for a team of 3-4 research assistants, including undergraduate and graduate students
- Teach one upper-level undergraduate research seminar connected to the project
- Prepare and make presentations that summarize, analyze, and synthesize findings for IHP leadership as well as campus and external audiences
- Collaborate and meet regularly with the IHP research team, including PIs, graduate students, archivists, and additional colleagues
- Assist with the creation of public-facing deliverables for the Hill Auditorium project, including research reports and presentations, public programming, a digital history platform, and the creation of a multimedia installation on the history of Hill Auditorium inside the venue's public spaces
- Help to coordinate project activities and deliverables, including but not limited to scheduling and documenting meetings and monitoring progress
Required Qualifications*
- Ph.D. in History, American Studies, Musicology, Ethnomusicology, Theater, Performance Studies, or a related field, with deep subject knowledge of 20th-century U.S. cultural history.
- Note that candidates must have a Ph.D. in hand by the start of the appointment.
- Experience working as part of collaborative research teams, ideally with some prior experience coordinating a research team.
- Experience conducting archival research with multiple types of primary sources.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
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.
U-M EEO Statement
The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.