Botstiber Visiting Professorship

The Austrian Studies Program at the UC Berkeley Institute of European Studies is pleased to welcome faculty applications for the position of Visiting Professor, to teach the newly created Botstiber Compact Seminar in Austrian Studies, established with the generous support of The Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies (BIAAS). 

The next Botstiber Compact Seminar in Austrian Studies at UC Berkeley will be offered at the beginning of the Spring 2026 semester (5 weeks, starting January 13, 2026, ending February 17, 2026).

We invite seminar topics related to Austrian literature, history, or culture, in the broadest sense. Interdisciplinary approaches and themes are encouraged.

Eligibility: Any associate or full professor with a permanent teaching position in the Humanities or Social Sciences and with expertise in Austrian Studies. The Visiting Professorship is also open to professors from universities outside of Austria.

Details: The compact seminar is an official UC Berkeley course, offered for credit (2 units) through the UC Berkeley Department of German, to advanced undergraduates from all UC Berkeley departments. The course will be taught in English, with all reading materials in English, and will take place over 5 weeks, with three hours of instruction per week, plus office hours for meeting with students. All classes are in person. Selected professors are expected to remain in Berkeley for the entire 5 week teaching period. 

UC Berkeley is a premier university, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Visiting Professor is required to be physically present in the Berkeley area for the duration of the course and may be asked to teach the compact seminar in the German language. The Visiting Professor will receive a salary of $12,000 to cover teaching, travel, and accommodation costs.  The salary will be subject to both California state and United States federal taxes, in accordance with the UC Berkeley employment and payroll practices. Visiting professors must organize their own travel, accommodation, and health insurance coverage during their stay at Berkeley. The visa application and hiring process will be coordinated by the UC Berkeley Department of German, where the visiting professor will be based.

During their stay, the selected Visiting Professor will also give a public lecture—the “Botstiber Lecture”—at the Institute of European Studies. In accordance with the mission of The Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies (BIAAS), the public lecture should refer to the historic relationship between the United States and Austria, including lands of the former Habsburg Empire.

Application Instructions: Applicants must submit the following materials (in English):

• a CV (max 2 pages)
• a course description and syllabus with weekly course content and bibliography (max 2 pages)
• a brief description of up to three possible topics for the Botstiber Lecture (max 1 page)

Please submit application materials as a single PDF file to the Austrian Studies Program Director Jeroen Dewulf: jdewulf@berkeley.edu

Deadline: May 31, 2025

Proposals will be evaluated by a board composed of UC Berkeley faculty that will announce the selected candidate by June 30, 2025. The board will include a representative of The Botstiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies (BIAAS) in the discussion on the topic to be chosen for the Botstiber lecture.

For further information, please contact Jeroen Dewulf at jdewulf@berkeley.edu