Director of Public History and Engagement

amherst; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 95,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Amherst College invites applications for the Director of Public History and Engagement. This full-time, year-round role leads public storytelling, campus engagement, and community relations to illuminate Amherst's history, with emphasis on underrepresented communities.

Reporting to the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, you will guide curricular connections, public art, story-mapping, and digital storytelling while coordinating with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and external partners.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in History, Public History, African American Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, Indigenous Studies, Museum Studies, Digital Humanities, Higher Education Administration, Social Justice education, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and directly applicable knowledge and professional experience.
• Minimum of three years of historical research, public humanities, or community engagement.
• Minimum of three years of project management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multi-faceted teams towards decision-making.
• Excellent oral, written, and public communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex historical narratives for diverse audiences.
• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to balance high-level strategic planning with attention to detail and completion of projects.
• Proven ability to work independently and handle sensitive relationships and historical narratives with care.
• Successful completion of the required background and/or reference checks.

Responsibilities

• Lead relevant committees and working groups in order to advance the public art and story-mapping projects, including helping bring them to fruition, monitoring the conditions of the items, assessing their utilization, and planning changes and growth.
• Oversee the creation and presentation of relevant physical and digital materials to on-campus and possibly off-campus audiences.
• Advance learning opportunities (e.g. public art, story-mapping, oral histories) within the curricula and advance new curricular strategies to learn from Amherst's history.
• Identify and create new learning opportunities for Amherst's history beyond the existing projects.
• Advance dialogues and community-build opportunities around the history.
• Create learning spaces for faculty on the teaching and research of Amherst's history, including the development of new learning opportunities.
• Oversee and enhance dedicated digital platforms, websites, and multimedia storytelling tools.
• Oversee the growth of research into the histories primarily from those of underrepresented backgrounds, including but not limited to archival research, oral histories, and investigative projects.
• Aggregate and help guide student research projects within and outside of courses to identify both thematic intersections and gaps for future study.
• Sustain, repair, and cultivate meaningful relationships with regional and descendant communities relevant to Amherst's history, serving as an institutional point person and coordinator for community members, including organizing on-campus visits and visits to descendant communities.
• Learn from other campuses and share our work.

Skills

Leadership

Public communication

Project management

Research skills

Education

Master's degree in History or related field

Job description

Amherst has taken a leadership role among highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities in successfully diversifying the racial, socio-economic, and geographic profile of its student body. The College is similarly committed to enriching its educational experience and its culture through the diversity of its faculty, administration and staff.

Job Description:

Amherst College invites applications for the Director of Public History and Engagement position. The Director of Public History and Engagement is a full-time, year-round position. The expected salary range for this job opportunity is: $95,000-110,000/year.

The salary offered will vary based on a number of factors, including but not limited to relevant education, training, and experience, tenure status, and other nondiscriminatory business considerations.

Amherst College is pleased to provide a comprehensive, highly competitive benefits package that meets the needs of staff and faculty and their families.

The Director of Public History and Engagement provides strategic leadership and program management in uncovering, contextualizing, and learning from the complex history of Amherst College. Reporting directly to the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, the Director works collaboratively with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and external partners to advance institutional memory, with a particular focus on the history of underrepresented communities. The Director oversees a portfolio of existing historical recovery, public-facing initiatives, curricular connections, and thoughtful community relations while simultaneously helping design new, innovative learning and storytelling opportunities. The Director should be versed in university racial reconciliation and archival efforts, which will help them serve as a key facilitator in shaping how Amherst understands its past, engages its present, and considers its future.

Summary of Duties and Responsibilities

Public Storytelling and Campus Engagement

• Lead relevant committees and working groups in order to advance the public art and story-mapping projects, including helping bring them to fruition, monitoring the conditions of the items, assessing their utilization, and planning changes and growth.
• Oversee the creation and presentation of relevant physical and digital materials to on-campus and possibly off-campus audiences.
• Advance learning opportunities (e.g. public art, story-mapping, oral histories) within the curricula and advance new curricular strategies to learn from Amherst's history.
• Identify and create new learning opportunities for Amherst's history beyond the existing projects.
• Advance dialogues and community-build opportunities around the history.
• Create learning spaces for faculty on the teaching and research of Amherst's history, including the development of new learning opportunities.
• Oversee and enhance dedicated digital platforms, websites, and multimedia storytelling tools.

Historical Recovery and Relationship Building

• Oversee the growth of research into the histories primarily from those of underrepresented backgrounds, including but not limited to archival research, oral histories, and investigative projects.
• Aggregate and help guide student research projects within and outside of courses to identify both thematic intersections and gaps for future study.
• Sustain, repair, and cultivate meaningful relationships with regional and descendant communities relevant to Amherst's history, serving as an institutional point person and coordinator for community members, including organizing on-campus visits and visits to descendant communities.
• Learn from other campuses and share our work.

Qualifications

Required:

• Master's degree in History, Public History, African American Studies, American Studies, Ethnic Studies, Indigenous Studies, Museum Studies, Digital Humanities, Higher Education Administration, Social Justice education, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and directly applicable knowledge and professional experience.
• Minimum of three years of experience in historical research, public humanities, or community engagement.
• Minimum of three years of project management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead multi-faceted teams towards decision-making.
• Excellent oral, written, and public communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex historical narratives for diverse audiences.
• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to balance high-level strategic planning with attention to detail and completion of projects.
• Proven ability to work independently and handle sensitive relationships and historical narratives with care.
• Successful completion of the required background and/or reference checks.

Preferred:

• Prior experience with assessment and data management tools
• Prior experience working within a higher education environment, particularly a residential liberal arts setting.
• Deep conceptual understanding