OSU Seeks Assistant Professor, Digital Cultures and Ethnography

The Department of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University (OSU) invites applications for a position in Digital Cultures and Ethnography at the rank of tenure-track assistant professor.

The field of specialization for the position is open. The department seeks a scholar whose work reflects its commitment to critical, interdisciplinary approaches to culture and society broadly conceived. Potential disciplinary backgrounds include, but are not limited to, Folklore Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Science and Technology Studies, Information Science, and Media Studies. The department especially seeks candidates with expertise in current debates concerning digital cultures, ethnography, and artificial intelligence.

The scholar’s research may engage with topics such as: online groups and communities, genres, and contexts; the politics of information and misinformation; social media and online mythmaking; new global forms of folklore and performance; worldmaking projects in and beyond virtual spaces; social, political, and environmental implications of digital technologies and data cultures; and other key issues concerning contemporary life. The department is particularly interested in candidates trained and actively engaged in digital ethnography, although we welcome applicants whose work also incorporates other methods.

The candidate will be able to offer introductory courses in OSU’s General Education program, as well as upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in the department. The department highly values evidence of candidates’ experience with program development, securing external resources, and building interdisciplinary connections and research initiatives. 

The Department of Comparative Studies is a highly interdisciplinary space. The successful candidate’s work will be in conversation with one or more of the fields represented in the Comparative Studies program: Folklore Studies, Cultural Studies, Indigenous Studies, Race, Gender, and Ethnic Studies, Literary Studies, Religious Studies, and Science and Technology Studies.  

Applications are due November 10, 2025.