Call for Proposals:

Newberry Library Scholarly Seminar - Premodern Studies 2025-2026

"Premodern Ecologies"

Application deadline: July 7, 2025

This seminar provides a forum for new approaches to classical, medieval, and early modern studies, allowing scholars from a range of disciplines to share work-in-progress with the broader community at the Center for Renaissance Studies. We meet four times a year, and every meeting is free and open to the public.

Our theme for this year is “Premodern Ecologies,” and our aim is to explore the entanglements of nature and culture and of the human and other-than-human before 1800. How did people in the ancient, medieval, and early modern world think about and describe their relationship with the natural and built environments in which they lived and worked? How did they use natural resources, and with what lasting legacies? How were political, economic, religious, artistic and intellectual choices and priorities in the premodern world influenced by ecological possibilities and restraints? What can the surviving material witnesses of the premodern past tell us about the natural world at the times they were produced? How did environmental concerns and understandings intersect with practices of power and resistance in the ancient world, Middle Ages, and early modernity? How might premodern approaches and interactions with the natural environment inform, anticipate, or provide alternative models to contemporary efforts towards conservation, sustainability, and environmental justice? What does “greening” premodern studies do for our understanding of premodern pasts, and what does a focus on premodernity bring to the environmental humanities and the study of human-and-other-than-human relationships more generally? 

We welcome submissions on these questions from all fields of premodern studies. Global approaches are particularly welcome, and we invite work that is both archival and theoretical. Papers will be pre-circulated, so that the majority of the seminar session will be devoted to discussion. For 2025-2026, all meetings will be held in-person at the Newberry Library.

Submissions must include a one-page proposal (300 words), a list of Newberry materials related to your research, a statement explaining the relationship of the paper to your other work, and a brief CV (maximum 2 pages). If you have any questions about the submission process or the seminar in general, please send an email to:fletcherc@newberry.org.

Please submit your application here!

Apply to be the Director of Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks

Job Summary

Dumbarton Oaks is a leading research center in Garden and Landscape Studies, with a library that is a point of reference for the field, joined to world-renowned museum collections and a historic garden designed by Beatrix Farrand. In recent years, thanks to a grant from the Mellon Foundation, Dumbarton Oaks has expanded its support of landscape studies in the areas of urban studies, and landscape and democracy.

The Director of Studies is a key contributor to Dumbarton Oaks’ mission to support residential fellows and scholars, promote advanced research in our fields of study, and advocate for the humanities. Candidates should have a distinguished record of scholarly achievement, as well as significant experience in program management and academic administration, and a desire to contribute to a wide array of programs and activities in a collaborative environment.

Reporting to the Director, the Director of Studies oversees and coordinates all programming related to Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, including the residential fellowship program, scholarly visitors, scholarly events, and committee meetings. Additionally, the Director of Studies administers the Mellon grant that supports the Landscape and Democracy Initiative at Dumbarton Oaks.

This is a term position (five years, potentially renewable for another five years).

For full details follow this LINK.

Apply for a Job at Texas State University

The Department of History at Texas State University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of environmental history with a focus on water in human history (regional and period specialization open). Preference will be given to candidates with experience in Applied History/Digital Humanities. Active participation in departmental programs, service, and governance will be expected of the successful candidate. The successful candidate will be expected to teach survey courses, specialized undergraduate and graduate courses, and to direct theses and participate on graduate committees. In addition to thriving programs in Sustainability Studies and Geography and Environmental Studies, Texas State is the home of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, whose mission is to inspire research, innovation, and leadership that ensures clean, abundant water for humanity and the environment. This position is part of a cluster hire in the History of Science & Technology.

• Candidates must demonstrate an active research agenda in environmental history. A PhD in History is required by the time of appointment.

• Preference will be given to candidates with experience in Applied History/Digital Humanities. Ideal candidates should also demonstrate an active research agenda with a record of scholarship that complements the strengths of the History Department.

The link to the job posting can be found here: 

https://jobs.hr.txstate.edu/postings/53043

ACE Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship: The Fallout of Fallout – Documenting and Contextualizing the Downwinders Experience in rural Nevada and Utah

During this one-year Fellowship program, one Mellon Humanities Fellow    will research, document, contextualize, and interpret the first-hand experiences of area residents who lived through a decade (1951-1962) of above-ground nuclear tests that blanketed the region in radioactive fallout. The project gives voice to communities impacted by this first phase of the Cold War through recording and sharing of oral histories, while also analyzing what influence these events still have on the region decades later. By placing these events in the context of American history, the Fellow’s scholarship will enable the heritage areas to appropriately and accurately interpret the region’s significance in an important chapter of our history.

This opportunity is generously supported by a generous grant from the Mellon Foundation through American Conservation Experience (ACE).  

Employer: American Conservation Experience (ACE) 

Location: Eligible for remote/telework flexibility with significant travel for research and interviews in eastern Nevada and southwestern Utah. The Fellow is expected to reside within Great Basin National Heritage Area or Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area or along the I-15 corridor between Salt Lake City, UT and Las Vegas, NV. Cedar City, Utah (cedarcity.org) is the town most central to the study area. 

Term: Position is fully funded through August 31, 2026

Start Date: Late August 2025, exact date negotiable.

Salary & Benefits:

Compensation: Annualized salary $70,304 for Year (40 hours/week for 52-weeks). Paid bi-weekly, a two-week pay period. 

Medical/Health Benefits: ACE offers competitive medical and ancillary plans (health, mental health, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, and other supplemental benefits). Fellows are also eligible to participate in ACE's 403b retirement plan, which includes a 1% employer contribution for participating, contributing staff.

Holidays, Vacation, and Sick Time: As a Fellow, you will be eligible to accrue up to 80 hours of paid vacation time during your year of continuous employment. Additionally, ACE observes 13 paid annual holidays and provides 10 days (or 80 hours) of paid sick time annually.

Additional Benefits: Outdoor Perks - As an ACE Fellow, you will be eligible to receive pro deals which include deep discounts on outdoor gear providing 30 - 50% off retail prices on 100s of established outdoor gear brands.

To Apply: Please submit here.: 1) a cover letter stating interest and vision for the fellowship (letters may include a summary of the dissertation, a statement of personal research interests and plans, discussion of past engagement with public humanities, discussion of willingness to participate fully in NHA research and education programs); 2) comprehensive curriculum vitae; 3) writing sample accessible to the general public; 4) confirmation of Ph.D. award by August 31, 2025; and 5) names and contact information for 3 professional references. 

Deadline to apply: Application will be reviewed on a rolling basis but no later than July 21, 2025.

Position at St. Olaf College

The Department of Environmental Studies at St. Olaf College invites applications for a 5/6-time, one-year position at the level of Visiting Instructor or Assistant Professor, to begin August 2025. The teaching load is 5 of a possible 6 courses (0.83 FTE). The successful candidate will teach 2 sections of an intermediate level “topics” course in Environmental History; 1 section of an upper level “topics” course in the candidate's area of specialization; and 2 sections of ENVST 233 Environmental Justice. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. More information and a link to apply are available  HERE.