Assistant Professor

The Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking to appoint a tenure-track Assistant Professor to serve as a core faculty member in our thriving Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program and to take a leading role in developing and expanding the PPE Program and the PPE Society.   The position will begin on July 1, 2025.  The successful candidate will likely have a primary appointment in the Philosophy Department, which houses the PPE Program and the PPE Society, although appointment in either Political Science or Public Policy is a possibility, depending on the candidate’s qualifications. We welcome applications from candidates whose work aligns with our departmental mission as outlined on our website.

Salary commensurate with qualifications. Normal responsibilities include a standard 2-2 teaching load, graduate student supervision, committee work, and active support and engagement with PPE-related extracurricular activities.

Applications received by October 15, 2024 will receive full consideration. We will try to give the same consideration for applications that are received after October 15, 2024, but we cannot guarantee it. We will continue our review of applications until the position is filled.

Your application should include:

• a cover letter that speaks explicitly and substantively to your interests in and ability to contribute to a Philosophy, Politics and Economics Program,
• a curriculum vitae,
• a writing sample,
• a description of your research,
• evidence of teaching quality, and
• the names, titles, affiliations, and email addresses of those who are writing letters of recommendation for you (three are required, five are permitted). Recommenders identified by the applicant will be contacted via email with instructions for uploading their letters of support. Alternatively, applicants may list Interfolio as a reference and the application system will solicit recommendations directly from Interfolio. Please see the Interfolio information about Online Application Delivery. Finally, applicants may also and instead list the email address of a Graduate Coordinator willing to upload their confidential references instead of the referring faculty. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Kori Hensell at [email protected].

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit:

UNC’s Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Program is committed to advancing our understanding of social and political institutions by combining the tools and methods developed and refined within philosophy, political science, and economics in ways that yield insights that relying on one or another of these disciplines alone leave undeveloped. The PPE Program is housed in the Philosophy Department which is committed to is committed to advancing and transmitting an understanding of fundamental questions of reality, knowledge, and value, and is an essential element of a liberal education. The Department of Philosophy looks at the history of struggles to answer these fundamental questions and develops analytical and critical resources for engaging these questions as they arise in individual and common experience. There is a permanent faculty of 19 and visiting faculty of 11 (depending on academic year and funding availability) who provide instruction on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The Department currently enrolls hundreds of students every fall, spring and summer and has 147 undergraduate majors, 36 minors, and over 500 PPE minors. There are 35 enrolled graduate student teaching assistants who also provide instruction to undergraduates throughout the academic year. Both the faculty and the graduate students are actively engaged in research in areas including ethics, political philosophy, ancient philosophy, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of language.  

Position Summary

The successful applicant will most likely hold a primary position in the Philosophy Department, but there is a possibility, depending on the candidate, for the position to be in the Political Science Department or the Public Policy Department. The applicant must have an active research agenda in PPE and will normally teach two courses per semester (graduate and/or undergraduate); will be involved in thesis supervision; and will have other standard non-teaching duties such as program administration, graduate and undergraduate mentorship. A central responsibility of the position is active support and engagement with the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Program’s courses and related extracurricular activities.