The Department of Media and Cinema Studies in the College of Media at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign invites applicants for a full-time (100% FTE) tenure-track assistant professor position. We seek a scholar whose research examines sports, media, technology and culture in a rapidly evolving media landscape. The expected start date is August 16, 2027. This search is part of a cluster hiring initiative in the College of Media, with each of its academic department- Advertising, Journalism, and Media Cinemas Studies- conducting an independent search for an assistant professor whose scholarship and teaching align with the priorities of their respective departments. Ideal candidates for the Media and Cinema Studies position will possess the potential for high-quality research, publication, and teaching in the field of sports and media in US and/or global perspective. We are particularly interested in candidates who draw on interdisciplinary bodies of media theory, demonstrate methodological rigor and intellectual creativity, and may engage qualitative, quantitative, historical, interpretive, computational, or mixed-methods approaches. Applicants should demonstrate a capacity for original and forward-thinking research in areas including, but not limited to: Critical approaches to sports and media. Media industries, governance, and political economy of sports and media. Sports and digital platforms, social media, streaming, and interactive media. Video games, esports, fantasy sports, and gambling. Fans, audiences, activism, and participatory cultures of sports and media. Sports, media infrastructures, and spatial formations, including stadiums, venues, and urban development. Sports media and race/class/gender/sexuality/citizenship. Documentary, nonfiction, and storytelling practices of sports. Histories and genealogies of sports media. Production cultures and labor in sports media. Datafication, AI, VR/AR, and emerging technologies of sports and its media.