Assistant Professor in Digital East Asian Studies

Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, seeks a visionary scholar to join our faculty as an Assistant Professor specializing in research methodology for digital scholarship in East Asian Studies. The successful candidate will develop and teach new methodology courses on advanced digital tools and methodologies for conducting research in archives and fieldwork settings, going beyond mere database creation and use. We particularly welcome applications from individuals with expertise in Pre-modern China Studies.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Teach undergraduate and graduate courses on digital scholarship methodologies, focusing on research design and execution with digital tools.
• Develop and lead workshops or seminars on emerging digital research tools and technologies.
• Mentor students and scholars in integrating digital methods into their research and teaching.
• Contribute to the university's interdisciplinary initiatives in digital scholarship.
• Maintain an active research agenda and publish in relevant fields.

Qualifications:

Required:

• PhD in a relevant field of East Asian Studies, with expertise in digital scholarship and research methodologies.
• Experience in designing and conducting research using digital tools and apps in archives, fieldwork, or other settings beyond databases.
• Demonstrated teaching effectiveness in higher education.

Preferred:

• PhD training with a focus on Premodern China Studies.
• Experience working with East Asian archives or conducting fieldwork in East Asia.
• Multilingual proficiency in relevant East Asian languages (e.g., Classical/Literary Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian, etc.).
• Proficiency with a range of digital tools and software applications used in research, such as (but not limited to):
  • AI-aided research methodologies for East Asian Studies (e.g. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), agentic AI, semantic or vector search)
  • Data visualization software (e.g., Tableau, Looker Studio).
  • Digital mapping tools (e.g., QGIS, Google Earth, ArcGIS).
  • Digital annotation and text analysis software (e.g., Voyant, MAXQDA, NVivo, or Python for text analysis).
  • Collaborative research platforms (e.g. Tropy, Omeka).
  • Network analysis (e.g. Gephi, Cytoscape)
  • Survey tools (e.g. Qualtrics or Redcap)
  • Version control and coding for research purposes (e.g., Git/GitHub, Python, or R)
• Publications or projects that demonstrate the integration of digital methods with research in the humanities or social sciences.
• Familiarity with ethical considerations and best practices in digital scholarship.

Position Information:

The position is a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor. The target start date is August 16, 2026. The budgeted salary range for the position is $79,000 to $85,000 at the Assistant Professor level, for a 9-month service basis. The pay offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors including (but not limited to) the experience and qualifications of the selected candidate, including equivalent years in rank, training, and field or discipline; internal equity; and external market pay for comparable jobs. It is not typical for a beginning Assistant Professor to be offered a salary at or near the top of the full range for the position.

Application Instructions:
To apply, create your candidate profile through https://jobs.illinois.edu and submit application materials by October 1, 2025. Interested candidates must submit the following:

• A cover letter outlining their teaching philosophy, research agenda, and alignment with the position.
• Curriculum vitae.
• Evidence of scholarly publications.
• Evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g., course evaluations, sample syllabi).
• Examples of digital scholarship projects or related work.
• Contact information for three professional references.

We ask that all documents be uploaded in a single .pdf file as an upload in the “Resume/CV” section.

Questions about the position may be directed to danshao@illinois.edu.

For inquiries about application materials, email: lascollegehiring@illinois.edu.

For questions regarding the application portal, please contact 217-333-2137 or jobs@illinois.edu.

We have an active and successful dual-career partner placement program and a strong commitment to work-life balance and family-friendly programs for faculty and staff (http://provost.illinois.edu/faculty-affairs/work-life-balance/). To find out more about the resources available at the university and Urbana-Champaign community please visit these sites:

• Dual Career Program
• Benefits
• Living in Champaign-Urbana

The University of Illinois must also comply with applicable federal export control laws and regulations and, as such, reserves the right to employ restricted party screening procedures for applicants.