Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The Department of Anthropology invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Archaeology, to begin in September 2026. The ideal candidate will have a Ph.D. or ABD at the time of application and will have a strong foundation in the archaeology of western North America, with a preference for Pacific Northwest (including the Salish Sea, Northwest Coast, and/or the Columbia and Fraser Plateau regions). The methodological specialty within archaeology is open. The Department is committed to maintaining a strong four fields approach to teaching and scholarship.

The ideal candidate is an Archaeologist whose research builds upon the department’s existing strengths in collaborative and inclusive archaeology, research that focuses on community engagement with implications for education, heritage management, and repatriation. We are especially interested in candidates with a track record in developing programs in partnership with descendant communities and that implement archaeological methods to address issues that are relevant to those outside the field. The Department of Anthropology is dedicated to the implementation of archaeology to address issues affecting local communities and populations, incorporating experiential learning, collaborative research, and local/regional partnerships. The successful candidate will contribute to these areas and demonstrate how their active field or laboratory research program in archaeology could involve both undergraduate and graduate students. Teaching responsibilities include Introduction to Archaeology, Archaeological Methods and Theory, Cultural Resource Management, Lab Methods in Archaeology, and courses developed in their own specialty.

The Department of Anthropology is committed to advancing diversity in all areas of faculty effort, including scholarship, instruction, and engagement. The successful candidate will be expected to fulfill teaching and mentoring responsibilities that provide equitable and inclusive learning environments for all students. Candidates should address at least one of the topical areas outlined above in their cover letter, indicating how their past experiences, current interests and activities, and/or future goals would promote a learning environment that values and supports inclusion.

The successful candidate will build and maintain a research program involving both undergraduate and graduate students and will collaborate with researchers in and beyond the department and program.

Required qualifications:

• Ph.D. or ABD at time of application in Anthropological Archaeology or related field. If ABD, all degree requirements must be completed by June 15^th of the first year of employment (e.g., June 15, 2027).
• Evidence of the ability to develop and sustain an externally funded research program
• Teaching experience with a demonstrated ability to create an active and effective learning environment in university-level courses in Archaeology/Anthropology
• Demonstrated ability and commitment to cultivating learning environments that are equitable and inclusive of students with diverse social identities and backgrounds

• Experience in, and commitment to, community-based and collaborative archaeological practice, including work conducted in partnership with descendant communities
• Archaeological research experience in the Pacific Northwest, including the Northwest Coast, Salish Sea, and/or the Columbia and Fraser Plateau regions
• Expertise in lithics, zooarchaeology, ethnobotany, geophysics, or geoarchaeology, with the ability to set up and manage labs/comparative collections
• Interest and expertise in archaeological ethics, repatriation, and cultural Patrimony
• Interest and ability to mentor and support the success of graduate students
• Post-doctoral research or relevant professional experience

Salary

Bargaining Unit

 United Faculty of Western Washington

Application Instructions

A cover letter and curriculum vitae are required and should address your experience related to the position responsibilities and the required and preferred qualifications.

You will be asked to provide contact information of three references.  Please do not provide letters of recommendation; these will only be needed for semi-finalists, and will be automatically requested from the references via the PageUp system.

Also required is a separate statement, addressing how you would fulfill teaching and mentoring responsibilities that provide equitable and inclusive learning environments for all students. You may draw upon your personal as well as professional experience in developing this statement.  For more information about Western’s commitment to and work on equity, inclusion, and diversity, please see Western President’s page on Advancing Inclusion and Diversity. 

Application review begins March 15, 2026; position is open until filled.

Western Washington University (WWU) is an equal opportunity employer. In compliance with applicable laws, WWU does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, citizenship or immigration status, pregnancy, use of protective leave, genetic status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, creed, religion, veteran or military status, disability or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal (including a service animal in training) by a person with a disability, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law, in its programs or activities, including employment, admissions, and educational programs. See WWU’s Policies on Prohibiting Discrimination Based on A Protected Class and Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Sex. Inquiries may be directed to the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, Title IX and ADA Coordinator, Western Washington University, Old Main 126 (MS 9021), 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225; 360.650.3307 (voice) or 711 (Washington Relay); crtc@wwu.edu

WWU is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. To request this document in an alternate format or to request an accommodation, please contact Human Resources Disability Services, 360.650.3751 or 711 (Washington Relay).

Annual Security and Fire Safety Report: This report is provided pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ("The Clery Act"). It includes statistics for the previous three calendar years concerning reported crimes that occurred on Western's campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Western; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from, the campus. The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. You can obtain a copy of this report in printed or alternate formats by contacting the Office of Student Life at student.life@wwu.edu. The report can be found at: Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

All new employees must comply with the immunization policy and show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service before beginning work at WWU. A thorough background check will be conducted on all new hires and rehires, which includes a sexual misconduct background check.