Anthropology
According to the Faculty Handbook, a department’s evaluation of a candidate who is standing for reappointment, tenure or promotion is to be based upon the quality of the candidate’s teaching, scholarship and service. Each criterion figures in the evaluation, but teaching and scholarship outweigh the importance of service. Excellence in teaching and service, in the absence of a significant record of scholarship, is not a sufficient basis for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, or for promotion to Professor.
These tenure and promotion guidelines apply these general criteria in a manner consistent with the past practices and continuing expectations of the members of the Anthropology Department. We intend this document to provide guidance to (1) members who will stand for reappointment, tenure or promotion; (2) non-tenurable faculty such as those hired as lecturers; and (3) those faculty who will evaluate members who are standing for reappointment, tenure and promotion. The Anthropology Department expects candidates for reappointment to demonstrate that they are making progress towards the goals of tenure.
Criteria for Reappointment and Tenure
Teaching
For purposes of judging a member’s qualifications for reappointment, tenure, and promotion, the Faculty Handbook identifies three criteria. These are:
- Commitment to teaching
- Knowledge and mastery of the discipline
- The ability to communicate with, stimulate, and evaluate students
In the Anthropology Department, a member’s commitment to teaching, knowledge and mastery of the discipline, and the ability to communicate, stimulate, and evaluate students is exemplified by, but not limited to, the following:
- Departmental curricular participation and planning, as evidenced by:
Department responsibilities: Contributes to department discussions about pedagogical directions and the goals of anthropology; Develops and offers courses in line with those discussions.
Teaching responsibilities: Teaches at all levels of the curriculum (introductory courses and other courses required for the concentration, including the senior project); Incorporates and contextualizes any of the following themes into courses: human evolution, material culture, cognition, language, social and political systems, belief structures, creative worlds; When appropriate, contributing to interdisciplinary programs and cross-listing courses with other departments or programs.
- Using pedagogical approaches that engage and challenge students, as evidenced by:
Department Responsibilities: Participates in discussions about pedagogical approaches, course design, and assessment techniques.
Personal Statement: Includes reflections on pedagogy for particular classes in annual reports and personal statements.
Syllabi and assignments: Engages multiple learning types at appropriate levels: Introductory (100), Intermediate (200), and Advanced (300, 400, 500).
Peer Review: In pre- and post-observation meetings, discusses pedagogical approaches that are demonstrated in class.
Student evaluations and select/random student letters: Show evidence that students have found the learning environment engaging and challenging.
- Using inclusive and equitable pedagogy, as evidenced by:
Personal Statement: Explicitly addresses inclusive and equitable practices in annual reports and personal statements.
Syllabi and assignments: Attention to diversifying course content that undermines colonial legacies; ensuring a diverse set of authors is represented in course readings.
Peer Review: Evidence that the faculty member fosters an inclusive learning environment in which all students are given equal opportunity to participate in classroom discussions and activities; a discussion of inclusive pedagogical practices in the pre- and post- observation meetings.
- Developing courses that keep abreast of theory and method in anthropology, as evidenced by:
Personal Statement: Incorporates discussion of how topics of disciplinary significance are addressed in courses and course materials.
Syllabi and assignments: Course topics are effectively contextualized within the debates of the field and those of allied disciplines; When appropriate, update, revise, or create new courses; Articulate the course content responsibly and coherently in relation to the wider discipline; Courses include current developments in anthropology.
Peer Review: Syllabi reflect engagement with disciplinary discussions and emerging trends in anthropological scholarship.
- Demonstrating the ability to communicate with, stimulate, and evaluate students, as evidenced by:
Personal Statement: Explicitly addressing goals and expectations for communication with students.
Syllabi and assignments: Clearly articulates course and lecture/lab expectations; Clearly articulates grading criteria; Clearly articulates office hours and expectations for communication.
Peer Review: Clearly organizes and presents information and, if relevant, assignments and class labs or activities; Acknowledges student views on topics and is willing to engage in debate.
Student evaluations and select/random student letters: Showing evidence of clear communication of goals and expectations for student work as well as course material.
As noted above, the department will look for evidence of the mastery of the aforementioned criteria of effective teaching in materials generated at the behest of the Dean of Faculty including select and random student letters solicited in conjunction with the reappointment, promotion, or tenure process. Candidates are encouraged to assess feedback from student evaluations and include a discussion of that assessment in their personal statement in ways that engage these criteria.
Peer Review Procedures for class and lab visitations:
- A pre-class-visit meeting will occur in which goals, pedagogical approaches, and assignments for the period in question will be discussed.
- Course materials will be reviewed prior to the pre-class-visit discussion.
- The observer will visit one meeting of the course, take notes, and complete the department approved Classroom Observation Report.
- A post-observation meeting will occur.
- After the post-observation meeting, the observer will finalize the observation report with details about items 1-4 and a review of the session, outlining how it addresses the criteria of effective teaching: commitment to teaching; knowledge and mastery of the discipline; and the ability to communicate with, stimulate, and evaluate students. The observer will share the written report with the instructor and the chair of the department before the beginning of the following semester.
The department will discuss arrangements for peer teaching observations at the first department meeting of each semester and the observers will contact instructors to arrange class visits based on the instructor’s preferences.
Each pre-tenure faculty member will be observed once per semester; Associate Professors will be observed once per year. Professors are encouraged to invite department members to observe their classes.
All voting members will have first-hand knowledge of teaching by class visitation by the time of the candidate’s reappointment, tenure, or promotion.
At the time of reappointment, tenure, and promotion, the department will submit all peer observation reports for the candidate.
Visiting faculty will be observed once per semester for review, as will lecturers and senior lecturers.
Scholarship
The Faculty Handbook acknowledges the importance of the advancement of knowledge, and the salutary influence of research and scholarship on teaching. The Handbook identifies both original research and dissemination of a field’s content to a general audience as appropriate forms of scholarship. It further states that a scholar's work must be made available to review by peers.
Members of the Anthropology Department are expected to participate in significant and continuing programs of research, to be engaged in the professional discourse of their research specialties within anthropology, and to be committed scholars. Thus, each member is expected to share the results of their research with colleagues regularly in the form of peer-reviewed publications.
Peer-Reviewed Scholarship
Anthropologists typically prepare several kinds of scholarly work. From most to least significant for purposes of evaluation, these include:
- research monographs and/or books,
- journal articles,
- book chapters, and
- peer-reviewed short contributions (e.g., reviews and notes)
We must keep in mind that each anthropological subfield (archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology) differs with respect to publishing practices.
We value the content and impact of colleagues’ research in their respective subfields, and look for evidence of their ongoing and productive engagement with the central concerns of those disciplines. This is not readily measured in numbers of publications; however, a general guideline is a completed and vetted book-length manuscript or 4-5 articles and/or book chapters in various tiered peer-reviewed publications that are accepted for publication. Progress toward this goal will be noted in annual reports. Books and/or research monographs in particular, given the exigencies of anthropological fieldwork, require a long-term investment of research time and energy, and their publication should be regarded as indicating a significant achievement. Publication of articles in top-tier journals also is important evidence of that engagement and is regarded as a high achievement. We note also that while anthropology journals differ in quality, they are also often targeted at different audiences, e.g., specialists in topical or geographic areas. Thus a publication in a regional or area studies journal, for example, cannot be assumed to be less significant than one in a journal with a larger or more general readership.
Other kinds of scholarship, such as progress reports (e.g., to agency sponsors, grant reports), papers and multimedia presentations delivered at professional conferences, grant and research proposals, invited lectures, or papers circulated among colleagues for informal review, indicate progress in a member’s research program. They are expected to form part of a member's scholarly portfolio, but in the absence of peer-reviewed publications do not constitute an adequate record of scholarly activity. Grants, fellowships, or prizes won for books, articles, films, fieldwork, or public scholarship should also be noted and details of the granting organization specified. At the time of review for tenure, a member should have a clearly articulated program of research and peer-reviewed publications that demonstrate the intellectual coherence and validity of this line of inquiry.
Candidates under review for reappointment or promotion who undertake collaborative peer-reviewed scholarship should describe their contribution to each published work in their personal statement.
At the time of promotion to Professor, a member’s contributions should be recognized by others of their cohort as a significant contribution to the scholarly discourse in that research specialty.
Public Scholarship
The American Anthropological Association acknowledges that faculty disseminate their scholarly work in different forms, often to multiple public communities including the ones in which they conduct fieldwork. Scholarship intended for public audiences may take a variety of digital and print forms and be representative of a wide range of time and effort. When a candidate standing for reappointment, tenure and/or promotion is engaged in disseminating their scholarly work in non-traditional forms to public audiences, the Department expects the candidate to discuss in their personal statement (1) the ways in which the scholarship is reaching the intended audience(s) and any outcomes, (2) how the scholarship is being used and evaluated by peers and colleagues, and (3) the relative time and effort of the candidate in the creation and maintenance of the scholarship.
The Anthropology Department recognizes the importance of public scholarship; however, public scholarship in the absence of traditional peer-reviewed publications is not sufficient for tenure or promotion to Professor.
Professional Service
Service takes several forms, including contributions to the Department, to the College, to the community, and to one’s profession. We expect that during a member’s first several years at Hamilton (prior to first reappointment) most of their efforts will be devoted to course development, refining teaching skills, research and scholarship. During this time we encourage service on the departmental level (and to an interdisciplinary program, if appropriate), and, following the first year of appointment, participation as an academic advisor.
We encourage, but do not require, that a member stand for election to a college committee and we also encourage them to express interest in service roles that they might want to engage in following their first reappointment (after year 3). Contributions to the Department or interdisciplinary programs, such as serving on a hiring committee, may constitute significant service.
A member should assume service responsibilities expected of all continuing faculty members following tenure. That is, they should expect on average to make one significant service commitment on an annual basis, such as participation on (1) a standing committee, (2) an ad hoc curricular committee, (3) a college-wide search committee, or (4) as department chair.
A candidate standing for reappointment, tenure and promotion should make explicit the details of community or professional service and describe associated duties and obligations.
To summarize, the criteria for reappointment and tenure are as follows.
Teaching
Effective teaching is a critical dimension of a member’s contribution to the Anthropology Department and must be demonstrated according to the criteria outlined above if a candidate is to receive a positive evaluation for tenure.
Research
At the time of review for tenure, a member should have a clearly articulated program of research and peer-reviewed publications that demonstrate the intellectual coherence and validity of this line of inquiry.
Service
For tenure, we prioritize department and interdisciplinary program service over college committees. Department and interdisciplinary program service includes general advising, teaching of required courses, course development, supervision of student projects including independent studies, senior projects, senior fellowships, serving on hiring committees.
At the time of reappointment, the Anthropology Department expects candidates to demonstrate progress towards the above described goals of tenure.
Promotion to Professor
Teaching
A candidate for promotion to Professor must show continued success in their teaching according to the criteria outlined above, including continued participation in course development, teaching required courses, advising, student project supervision, and department curricular planning. Course innovation includes changes in course readings, themes, and/or assignments and/or new courses.
Research
Scholarly success takes a more important place in the evaluation of the candidate for promotion to Professor. At this time, a member’s contributions should be recognized by others of their disciplinary cohort as a significant contribution to the scholarly discourse in that research specialty. Public scholarship is encouraged.
Service
For promotion to Professor, we expect candidates to make, on average, one significant service commitment on an annual basis, such as participation on (1) a standing committee, (2) an ad hoc curricular committee, (3) a college-wide search committee, or (4) serving as department chair.
Finally, we note that members should be mindful of the significant commitment of energy and time that service often requires. As much as the Department and College need the dedicated service of its faculty, a member's contribution to service, no matter how substantial, will not substitute for continuing achievement in teaching and scholarship.
Approved by COA 2/20/26
