Visiting AssistantAssociate Professor of Comparative Politics (Nine Month Appointment)

Western Washington University with over 15000 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 90000 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 masters-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. Westerns 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 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 Political Science departments core mission is to help students understand and act more effectively in the world as engaged citizens. We contribute to the college university region and state by examining critical questions about power and public life from local national transnational global and comparative perspectives. The Department of Political Science offers three Bachelor of Arts degrees: a BA in Political Science a BA in Political Science/Social Studies and BA in Economics/Political Science. We offer courses across the four main fields --Comparative Politics International Relations Political Theory and American Politicsas well as interdisciplinary and subfield options in areas such as Public Policy.

The department has 14 full time tenured/tenure track faculty members and several senior lecturers and affiliate scholarship and teaching we examine politics at all levels: small groups social and political organizations towns and cities economic systems countries nations transnational flows and the global system. We embrace a variety of approaches in our research and teaching qualitative quantitative historical institutional theoretical sociological economic and legal and seek to combine conceptual and theoretical analyses with policy and practical orientations.

The Department of Political Science invites applications for a one-year Visiting Assistant/Associate Professor position in Comparative Politics beginning September 16th 2026. We seek candidates who can contribute to our course offerings in any of the following regions: East Asia Europe/EU and/or the Middle welcome applicants who combine a regional focus with comparative or international relations topics such as security conflict nationalism and party systems to name a candidate will be expected to teach two classes per quarter for three quarters; service and research are not required. Across the three quarters we envision that candidates will offer one or two courses on regionally specific topics as well as four broader or more general topics that cross the field of comparative politics (and/or international relations).

The Department the College and the University value teaching and we expect you to be an effective teacher; to be current in your discipline; to engage students actively in their own learning including discussion writing and analysis; and to maintain high standards regarding course content. We expect you to provide students with feedback on their course work and examinations and to be available to students through regularly scheduled office hours. You will be expected to have your students evaluate your courses using the standard University evaluation forms and to make those evaluations available to the department chair and faculty for review.

• PhD in Political Science or ABD in Political Science.
• Demonstrated interest and engagement with the field of Comparative Politics ability to teach in one of the regions specified above and an ability to teach general topics that cross the field of comparative politics (and/or international relations).
• Demonstrated commitment to cultivating learning environments that are equitable and inclusive of students with diverse social identities and backgrounds
• Demonstrated successful experience teaching at the college or university level
• For appointment at the Visiting Associate Professor level (Visiting non-tenure track) a research record and demonstrated evidence of successful teaching commensurate with standards for promotion to Associate Professor in the department.

Salary

$1214 to $1471 per credit commensurate with experience and qualifications. We expect to offer a 2-2-2 teaching schedule of 4-5 credit courses. Additional courses may become available throughout the year. (Notethis is a teaching position with no service requirements).

Bargaining Unit

United Faculty of Western Washington

Application Instructions

Please submit the following materials to be considered for this position:

A cover letter addressing your experience related to the position and the required and preferred qualifications. Cover letters should engage teaching strategies explicitly. Cover letters should demonstrate your commitment to cultivating learning environments that are equitable and inclusive of students with diverse social identities and backgrounds.

A curriculum vitae

Brief descriptions of courses you might offer and two sample syllabi. We encourage applicants to look at our regular course offerings and comment on possible courses they could offer.

Two sets of evaluations of your teaching from students in college or university courses.

Contact information for three of recommendation will be required; please do not submit these. The Western PageUp application system will automatically send out the requests for these letters to your references.

Applications at the Visiting Associate Professor level should include evidence of an established research record and demonstrate successful teaching commensurate with standards for promotion to Associate Professor.

For priority consideration applications are appreciated by April 13 2026; applications will no longer be accepted after May 1 2026.

Western Washington University (WWU) is an equal opportunity 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 WWUs Policies onProhibiting 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);

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