The posting
Job Description
The Helmerich Center for American Research at Gilcrease Museum and the University of Tulsa seeks applications for its Duane H. King Postdoctoral Fellowship. The Helmerich Center houses the Gilcrease Library and Archive containing over 500 years of history across the Western Hemisphere. Manuscripts, rare books, photographs, maps, broadsides, and audiovisual materials connect you to past people and events that shape the world today. Core subject areas include the Indigenous history of the Americas, especially the Removal and Reservation Eras (1820–1887), European colonization of the Americas, early national history of the United States, the American West, colonial Latin America and the Mexican Inquisition, maps, atlases, and cartographies, the history of print and print cultures, Indian Territory, and oral histories related to North Tulsa and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
Materials housed at the University of Tulsa’s McFarlin Library Special Collections on the UTulsa campus complement many of the Center’s strengths but offers unique research opportunities in English and American literature. The McFarlin Library Special Collections holds one of the five largest collections in the world on the celebrated Irish writer James Joyce and the life archive of Nobel Laureate Sir V.S. Naipaul. Other significant collections include a wide variety of British, Irish, and American modernist literature, a large and varied collection of materials on World War I, Native American history and culture, and Tulsa race relations.
Applicants must clearly demonstrate in their application a knowledge of and compelling need to conduct research within specific collections housed at HCAR.
Please Note: Scholars working on topics related to affiliated Indigenous communities are expected to involve and collaborate with relevant tribal nations for their projects. For use of and access to some Gilcrease collections, some projects may require support letters from relevant tribal nations. Our institution is committed to supporting researchers who need assistance with this.
Position Summary:
The Duane H. King Postdoctoral Fellowship is a 22-month appointment (August 1, 2027-May 31, 2029). The King Postdoctoral Fellow will receive a salary of $40,000, office spaces, and employee benefits through the University of Tulsa. They will teach an undergraduate course each semester and can propose a summer course, student research project, or public-history project for an additional summer stipend. Fellows present research at one works-in-progress seminar, shape and plan symposia and other public programs, regularly conduct research at the Helmerich Center for American Research and McFarlin Library Special Collections (if applicable), and participate in the work of Gilcrease and the intellectual community of the University. Applicants must have earned their Ph.D. by the time of appointment and no earlier than 2025. The position begins on August 1, 2027.
Characteristic Duties:
Conduct research in the Center’s library and archive and wider Gilcrease collections, as well as McFarlin Library’s Special Collections when applicable.
Teach one course in the fall semester and one in the spring in the fellow’s academic field/department.
Conduct an undergraduate course, research project (in collaboration with the Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge – TURC), or public-facing project or event for Summer 2028.
Present research at one of the Center's Works-in-Progress Seminars during the academic year and attend all other scheduled seminars.
Occasionally give talks on campus and in our community related to the fellow’s area of research specialty.
Support the ongoing work of the museum and the Center with interpretive planning, collections development, occasional writing on museum collections, presentations, and other projects as assigned.
Participate in the intellectual community of the university.
Required Qualifications
Knowledge/Skill/Ability
- Excellent project management skills
- Outstanding interpersonal and collaborative skills
- Exemplary research skills and experience working in archives and libraries
- Proficient with Microsoft Excel and familiar with Access, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders
- PhD in a humanities, social science, or other field related to the Gilcrease Museum collections
- Must have 1-3 years of experience teaching undergraduates at a college or university
Special Job Dimensions
Work on the evenings or weekends may be required for special events
Occasional travel to represent the Center, Gilcrease, and UTulsa at academic and professional conferences may be assigned
To apply, these materials are required:
Required Letter of Application
Curriculum Vitae
Writing Sample (No more than 10 pages. Excerpts are sufficient.)
Two letters of recommendation
Deadline: January 15, 2027 for priority review; applications will continue to be reviewed through January 31, 2027.
Submit questions to: [email protected]. Please include “Postdoctoral Fellowship” in the subject line of your email.
About Us
The University of Tulsa is a student-centered research university that cultivates interconnected learning experiences to explore complex ideas and create new knowledge in a spirit of free inquiry. Guided by our commitment to service and inclusion, we prepare individuals to make meaningful contributions to our campus, our community, and our world.
The University endeavors to create and nurture an informed and inclusive environment in its workplace and educational programs. Affirmative action and equal employment opportunity are integral parts of the University not just because they are legally mandated, but because we recognize that the present and future strength of the university is based primarily on people and their skills, experience, and potential. The University does not discriminate in access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national or ethnic origin, veteran status, disability, genetic information, ancestry, or marital status. The University seeks to recruit, select, and promote students, faculty, and all other employees on the basis of individual merit.
