Endowed Bartlett Chair Professor/Associate Professor, Free Speech

Position description

Bentley University invites applications for the Bartlett Chair of Free Speech, an endowed position at the Associate or Full Professor level, to begin in Fall 2027.

Funded by a generous gift from Bruce and Patricia Bartlett, this professorship affirms Bentley's commitment to fostering free expression, intellectual pluralism, and the constructive exchange of ideas as central to a liberal education.

This position is part of a broader Bartlett Initiative that also includes a companion Chair of Free Enterprise. The two chairs will work together to develop programming, events, and curricular initiatives under the Bartlett banner that promote inquiry, debate, and engagement across disciplines.

The Bartlett Chair of Free Speech carries a 1-1 teaching load and receives substantial support for scholarship, professional engagement, and leadership of the Bartlett Initiative. This support includes summer salary, a chair stipend, and a generous research and travel account.

Qualifications

Candidates are expected to demonstrate a strong and sustained commitment to the value and principles of free speech in their academic work.

A successful candidate will demonstrate:

• A PhD in History, Philosophy, Political Science, Law, or a closely related field.
• A distinguished record of research, teaching, and public engagement appropriate to appointment at the Associate or Full Professor level.
• An active, high-quality research agenda with a direct and substantive connection to free speech, free expression, or closely related areas.
• Strength in interdisciplinary teaching and dialogue across fields.
• Evidence of active and visible engagement in their discipline and in broader scholarly, professional, civic, or public conversations related to free speech.

We especially welcome candidates whose work engages:

• Cultural history, intellectual history, or political thought.
• First Amendment law or theories of expression.
• Academic freedom, civil discourse, or democratic institutions.

Candidates with experience in public-facing scholarship, civic dialogue, media engagement, or leading campus and community conversations are particularly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

Teaching

• Teach one course per semester, reflecting a 1-1 teaching load.
• Offer undergraduate courses on freedom of speech and related topics.
• Develop a Free Speech Seminar within Bentley's Falcon Discovery Seminar first-year program.
• Foster rigorous, inclusive, and intellectually open classroom environments in which students can engage constructively with competing ideas and perspectives.

Scholarship and External Engagement

• Maintain an active and visible research agenda related to free speech, free expression, or closely connected areas of inquiry.
• Publish in scholarly journals and public-facing venues.
• Present research and ideas at national and international conferences, public forums, and professional gatherings.
• Contribute to public conversations about free expression, academic freedom, and civil discourse through writing, speaking, media engagement, or related activities.
• Develop and sustain relationships with relevant scholarly, professional, and civic organizations, which may include the Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the American Association of University Professors, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Campus Engagement and the Bartlett Initiative

• Collaborate closely with the Bartlett Chair of Free Enterprise on joint programming, including speaker series, public events, and curricular initiatives.
• Help shape and advance a compelling long-term vision for the Bartlett Initiative.
• Lead campus conversations on free expression, academic freedom, and civil discourse.
• Engage students and faculty in discussions about the role of free speech in higher education and democratic society.
• Serve as a resource to university leadership on issues of expression and academic freedom.
• Build connections between the Bartlett Initiative and relevant external scholars, organizations, and public conversations.

Working with the Dean of Arts & Sciences and the Dean of Business, the Bartlett Chairs will jointly shape a visible and intellectually vibrant set of initiatives that connect free speech and free enterprise as foundations of liberal education.

Bentley is committed to the teacher-scholar model, in which teaching, scholarship, service, and community engagement are valued. Bentley values intellectual diversity alongside diversity of background and experience and seeks faculty who can contribute to a culture of open inquiry, free expression, mutual respect, and constructive engagement across differences in viewpoint.

Bentley University, located in suburban Boston, is an AACSB and NECHE accredited institution that enrolls approximately 5,500 students at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Bentley is ranked at or near the top in several categories by US News & World Report, including Best Regional Universities North and Most Innovative Schools, with Bloomberg ranking Bentley in the top 20 undergraduate business programs. Bentley's high graduation and retention rates and top-ranked Pulsifer Career Center reflect a commitment to student success and inclusiveness. With a strong faculty of teacher-scholars, Bentley strives to be a "Force for Good" through the integration of business with the arts and sciences, and a strong emphasis on ethics and social responsibility. Providing a stimulating academic community for faculty, staff, and students, Bentley supports its faculty as they pursue cutting-edge research and bring their expertise and real world understanding into the classroom.

Application instructions

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