Faculty Hiring!

Title: Assistant Professor, Communication Studies

Area: College of Arts and Sciences

Department: Communication Studies

Employee Classification: Tenure Track Faculty (Full-time)

Location: Spokane, WA

Appointment Percentage: 100

Months per year: 9

Salary Range: The budgeted annual salary that the University reasonably expects to offer for this position is $70,552. The internal salary range is $70,552 - $75,255.

Review Date: October 10, 2025

Is this position eligible for relocation reimbursement or a signing bonus?: Yes

Job Purpose:

The Communication Studies Department at Gonzaga University in Spokane WA, invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor, beginning Fall 2026. We wish to welcome humanities-based teacher-scholars with a commitment to inclusive, equity-minded teaching to join a department with an innovative curriculum grounded in rhetoric, media, and cultural studies and animated by the concepts of social justice, civic engagement, and systems of power, privilege, and oppression.

We look forward to collaborating with a colleague who possesses strong pedagogical abilities, with particular sensitivity to inclusive, equity-minded teaching practices; who can address questions of diversity, equity, and social justice broadly considered; who can effectively teach the impacts and consequences of communication on society, media, culture, and identity; and who approaches communication as a constitutive material, social, cultural, and political endeavor.

We seek a candidate who is invested in creative, reflective pedagogy and who has experience teaching about communication as symbolic action from a rhetorical, media, and/or cultural studies perspective. Our curriculum is centered around three theoretical pillars: communication and meaning-making, communication’s relationship to systems of power, privilege, and oppression; and intersectionality and the performance of identity. This colleague will contribute to our introductory theory and methodology courses in addition to teaching our upper-level course offerings for majors and minors (see course and curriculum descriptions on department website). In addition, all members of our department share in the responsibility of teaching the first-year, Core Curriculum course, COMM 100: Communication and Speech. This course emphasizes communication as symbolic action and foregrounds civic engagement—a theme that continues throughout all our courses. The teaching load for the tenure-track position is the equivalent of 18 credits per year (3 3-credit courses per semester).

We envision applicants whose teaching and scholarship explore intersections of rhetoric, media, and cultural studies with one or more of the following areas, which form the foundations of our curriculum:

• Meaning-making, representation, and media
• Communication, power, and culture
• Intersections of race / ethnicity / gender / sexuality / ability / religion / citizenship
• Activism, organizing, civic engagement, and social movements
• Technology and digital cultures

Applicants should be comfortable working in a liberal arts setting that fosters faculty collaboration and
student engagement both inside and outside the classroom. Thus, we hope to find a colleague with potential for interdisciplinary collaboration with departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies; Native American Studies; Environmental Studies and the Institute for Climate, Water, and the Environment; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; International Studies; and Film Studies.

Additionally, all members of the department contribute to and participate in peer review of teaching activities, department committees, and special projects. Gonzaga University features an outstanding Center for Teaching and Advising that sponsors regular faculty development and education opportunities.

The Communication Studies Department is committed to inclusive excellence and to increasing the diversity of the campus community. Gonzaga University is a Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic institution, and is therefore interested in candidates who will contribute to its distinctive mission of educating students “for lives of leadership and service for the common good.” The University is committed to fostering “a mature commitment to dignity of the human person, social justice, diversity, intercultural competence, global engagement, solidarity with the poor and vulnerable, and care for the planet.” Gonzaga’s campus sits adjacent to downtown Spokane, WA, along the Spokane River in the Inland Northwest’s most metropolitan region. We exist on the traditional homelands of the Spokane people, one of the Interior Salish speaking tribes of the region. Spokane is Washington’s second largest city and boasts a vibrant restaurant, entertainment, and arts community; it is also home to a diverse array of neighborhoods and popular outdoor recreational areas.

Successful applicants will have read the mission statement and engaged with it in their application materials. In alignment with Gonzaga University’s mission, we expect applicants to demonstrate commitment to issues of social justice, diversity, global engagement, and care for/solidarity with vulnerable and marginalized communities. We welcome applicants who can contribute to the departmental ethos and campus climate of inclusivity. Applicants are encouraged to describe their experiences with diverse populations and/or underrepresented and minoritized students.

For more information on our mission, please visit: https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values/mission-statement

Essential Functions:

• The teaching responsibilities for the tenure-track position include the equivalent of an 18-credit annual course load. All tenure-track faculty share responsibility for teaching the following:
  • COMM100: Communication and Speech, our first-year, core curriculum course. This course emphasizes communication as symbolic action and foregrounds civic engagement, a theme that continues throughout all our courses.
  • Our introductory theory courses (media, rhetorical, and cultural studies theories related to meaning making, identity, and power).
  • Our introductory methodology courses (textual analysis and ethnographic methods).
  • Our upper-level courses for majors and minors that deepen themes from our introductory courses. - (Essential)
• All tenure-track faculty are expected to establish and maintain an active and well-defined research agenda. - (Essential)
• All members of the department contribute to and participate in student advising, reflective and effective teaching that includes equity and diversity-minded teaching practices, department assessment and evaluation, academic service, program development and recruiting. (Essential)

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Communications with concentrations in rhetoric, media, and/or cultural studies.
  • ABDs considered with the expectation of degree completion by July 15, 2026.
• Evidence of effective and reflective college-level teaching.
• Evidence of inclusive, equity-minded teaching practices.
• Evidence of an active research program (particularly at the intersections of rhetoric, media, culture studies and the relationships to power, social identity, and social/environmental justice).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to communicate disciplinary ways of thinking within a liberal arts curriculum.
• Collaborative approach to teaching and institutional service.
• Demonstrated abilities, or strategic for, mentoring and advising traditionally underrepresented identity groups.

Educational Requirement:

Terminal Degree

Physical & On-Campus Requirements:

In-Office Presence - Ability to work on-site in typical office setting and participate in in-person meetings with colleagues: 5 days/week

Standing/Sitting - Ability to remain in a stationary position for a prolonged period: Often (50%-75% of time)

Walking - Ability to move about on foot to accomplish tasks: Often (50%-75% of time)

Lifting/Carrying - Ability to move or transport objects up to a specified weight: Rarely (1%-49% of time)

Attention to Detail - Ability to focus on detailed tasks for extended periods: Daily (>75% of time)

Problem-Solving - Ability to identify and resolve issues effectively: Daily (>75% of time)

Required Application Materials: To apply, please visit our website at www.gonzaga.edu/jobs. All application materials should address the candidate's alignment with Gonzaga's Jesuit, Catholic, and humanist mission (see: https://www.gonzaga.edu/about/our-mission-jesuit-values ) We also encourage applicants to review the Communication Studies department mission and courses (see: https://www.gonzaga.edu/college-of-arts-sciences/departments/communication-studies ). Applicants must complete an online application and submit the following materials:

1. Cover letter that addresses the applicant's alignment with Gonzaga's Jesuit, Catholic, and humanistic mission.
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Statement of teaching philosophy that includes reflection on: a) your role and methods as a teacher, b) your goals for student learning and your approach to assessing that learning, and c) your ongoing growth as a teacher.
4. Statement of inclusive, equity-minded teaching that includes reflection on a) how you create an environment in which all your students can learn, b) your strategies for including a diversity of perspectives, voices, and lived experiences in the learning process, c) your experience supporting traditionally underrepresented students in higher education (e.g. race, ability, gender identity, sexuality, first-gen, etc.)
5. Copies of graduate school transcripts

Names and contact information for at least three (3) professional references will be collected from advancing candidates during the interview process. References will be sent a link to upload a confidential letter of recommendation.

Please direct questions about this position to Melissa Click, Search Committee Chair, Communication Studies, click@gonzaga.edu. This position remains open until filled; to ensure consideration, please submit by 10/10/2025. For assistance with your online application, please call the Human Resources department at 509.313.5996.