New

Spanish & Portuguese Postdoctoral Fellow in Puerto Rican Studies

University of Wisconsin Madison
United States, Wisconsin, Madison
21 North Park Street (Show on map)
Nov 18, 2025
Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Jobs Hub to apply through the internal application process. Job Category:Employees in Training Employment Type:Terminal (Fixed Term) Job Profile:Postdoctoral Fellow Job Summary: The Puerto Rican Studies Hub (PRSH) is an initiative that seeks to foster collaborations between Puerto Rico and its diaspora. We understand our initiative as a hub because it seeks to catalyze and enable interactions, dialogues, and solidarities on multiple scales. It will bring a plethora of voices, intellectual ecosystems, and practices together to think of the ways that we can use our intellectual, cultural, artistic, and activist production in the service of our communities and beyond. We envision the PRSH as fertile ground for innovative partnerships, and as a site for emergent and groundbreaking modes of knowledge production that address the most pressing concerns of Puerto Ricans in the archipelago and diaspora. Attentive to the new patterns of migration that Puerto Ricans have charted in the last two decades, the Midwest is an ideal region to decenter traditional spaces of Puerto Rican Studies and to jumpstart the conversation on a regional, national, and transnational scale. We will do so while expanding the field of Puerto Rican Studies, in a variety of fields through fellowships, workshops, symposia, the arts, and lecture series. As a result, our communities will benefit through the PRSH across different institutions and communities in Puerto Rico and its diaspora. The PRSH seeks a postdoctoral fellow that will work on their scholarly projects with opportunities to participate in the vibrant intellectual communities at UW-Madison, fostering cross campus exchange. Fellows will be appointed for a fixed-term two-year (2) appointment and welcomes applicants eager to expand their scholarship and research on Puerto Rican Studies. We seek applicants with a PhD in the humanities received within the last 5 years who are actively working in Puerto Rican Studies and committed to a career producing scholarship in the field. The successful applicant will be required to teach one course during the second year of their fellowship. They will have access to UW-Madison's library and a dedicated office space. Fellows will be provided with health benefits. The fellowship year begins in August 2026 and ends July 2028. Responsibilities also include: Assisting with PRSH programming. As a residential Post-Doctoral Fellowship, fellows are required to attend the weekly Solidarity Eco-System meetings with all other fellows. Fellows will also be required to participate in biweekly one-on-one meetings with a faculty mentor to establish and assure their scholarly productivity during their fellowship tenure. Fellows will teach an undergraduate course in either literary or cultural studies at the 400-level (upper division) in Spanish, during the second year of their fellowship. Key Job Responsibilities: These criteria do not prevent the university of the extramural source of funds from receiving some benefit from the appointee's activities. Activities still may be of value to the extramural grantor, or may be useful internally to the university in satisfaction of other grant or contract requirements. The test is whether the work undertaken by the appointee is a necessary and relevant part of the appointee's learning program. However, the "primary benefit" test outlined above does forbid assigning tasks to the appointee which are unnecessary and irrelevant to the learning program or are repetitive beyond that which is necessary to achieve excellence in the activity, even if these tasks do not constitute the major portion of the appointee's activities. Except in rare cases, stipends paid to postdoctoral fellows or trainees are not excludable from gross income for purposes of income tax and thus are fully taxable. Since such stipends are not wages, however, the University will not withhold taxes from monthly stipend checks. Therefore, trainees and fellows may be required to pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis. Appointments as postdoctoral fellows and postdoctoral trainees should be made only if it can be demonstrated that the appointee's activities are primarily for the benefit of the appointee's own learning and research. Otherwise, it is more appropriate to use an employment title such as researcher or scientist. Employment titles apply whenever the duties assigned are under the direct supervision and control of the employer and are primarily for the benefit of the University or granting agency. The work of individuals appointed as postdoctoral fellows or postdoctoral trainees should be independent or self-directed, subject only to such supervision as might be given by a teacher to a student. Department: College of Letters & Science, History, Puerto Rican Studies Hub Compensation: Year 1: $80,000 Year 2: $82,400 Required Qualifications: Candidates must have earned a PhD in the humanities from an accredited PhD granting institution by the start of the fellowship. Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. How to Apply: Qualified applicants should submit: 1. Cover letter that includes Statement of Alignment and Interest that addresses how their research interests align with the Puerto Rican Studies Hub (2 pages maximum, single-spaced). 2. Writing sample (a publication or dissertation chapter) 3. Project description (3 pages maximum) 4. Curriculum Vitae 5. Course proposal focusing on Puerto Rican Studies (1-page description, including sample readings). Click the "Apply" button to start the application process. Please compile all materials into a single PDF and upload in the attachment field. Contact Information: Felix A. Rodriguez, Project Coordinator, prstudies.hub@wisc.edu. Institutional Statement on Diversity: Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website. To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you. Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7). The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.