The deadline for nominations is March 1st, 2018.
The American Ethnologist (AE), now in its 44th volume year, is published quarterly. AE is a premier journal in sociocultural anthropology. It is highly selective, receives top submissions, and ranks among anthropology journals with the highest impact factors. The journal is one of the mostly widely read publications in the discipline, with burgeoning article downloads and a global readership. In recent years, the journal has published commentaries that engage with highly current events alongside cutting-edge research articles. AE accepts articles demonstrating theoretical originality, ethnographic specificity, and the relevance of the ethnographic imagination to the contemporary world.
Previous editorial experience is not required; however, the nomination letter should provide evidence of the nominee’s or nominees’ qualifications in several critical areas: (1) the new editor(s) must be prepared to maintain the journal’s high standards while also actively encouraging innovative scholarship in sociocultural anthropology; (2) the editor(s) must be willing to manage the smooth operation of processes related to manuscript submission, review, and publication – including use of relevant software; (3) the editor(s) must work with the AES board regarding the journal’s budget and longer term planning; (4) the editor(s) will coordinate with designated AES officers for the journal’s online presence (web, Facebook and Twitter); (5) the editor(s) will work with a small editorial staff (including a part-time editorial office manager and staff copy editors); and (6) the editor(s) must be able to work effectively with diverse constituencies, including authors and prospective authors, manuscript reviewers, the AAA Publications Office, the AES Board, and Wiley Blackwell staff. Given the demands of the editorship, we strongly encourage applications from teams of two or three candidates. We would normally expect editor(s) to hold tenured academic position(s).
The editor(s) will serve as an ex officio member of the AES Board and participates in its biannual meetings (at the annual meetings of the AAA and the Spring meeting of the AES).
The new editor(s) will be responsible for four volume years of the journal (twelve issues from mid-2019 to mid-2023). The successful candidate(s) will be selected by mid-2018 so that they may arrange to attend orientation sessions on publishing at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association and shadow the current editor for a period of time.
The successful candidate(s) will be expected to negotiate institutional support with his or her home institution – potentially including office space, course release, various forms of support in kind (telephone and internet access), and graduate student assistance. AES also provides (limited) support for these purposes, but the editorship itself is not a paid position. The selection of the editor(s) is not contingent on advance offers of institutional support, but the search committee encourages candidates – particularly at the finalist stage – to discuss the prospects concretely with their department chair and/or dean. The current editor, Niko Besnier (n.besnier@uva.nl), is available for questions from colleagues interested in the position.
Nominations, self-nominations, and inquiries related to the search should be sent to Marc Edelman, the incoming AES President (medelman@hunter.cuny.edu). The subject line of all emails must say “AE Editor nomination.” The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2018. The search committee will contact nominees to invite their applications. Those interested in the position should send a letter outlining their qualifications (as above) and editorial vision, along with a curriculum vitae, to the search committee via e-mail to Marc Edelman by March 1 (self-nominees may include this information with their initial expression of interest). The search committee will contact short-listed finalists during March 2018 to arrange interviews at the annual meeting of AES in Philadelphia (March 22-24). We welcome applications from anyone prepared to enjoy the work and meet the challenges of maintaining AE as a leading forum for creative ethnographic scholarship and debate.
Members of the search committee are Marc Edelman (chair), Angelique Haugerud, Ken Guest and Jacqueline Solway.
