Job description

Department: Col of Humanities and Soc Science

Classification: 9-month Instructional Faculty

Job Category: Instructional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: On Site Required

Sponsorship Eligibility: Eligible for visa sponsorship

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

Mason’s Communication Department has a diverse and collegial faculty committed to excellence, innovation, community and public service, inclusion, and social equity. All department faculty participate in the life of our campus community, including career fairs, faculty functions, recruiting sessions and other events. Located just 15 miles from Washington, D.C., we offer a broad undergraduate program with more than 300 majors; six minor programs; a vibrant MA program including strategic communication; health communication; science, environment, and risk communication; and media and culture specialties; and a highly ranked PhD program emphasizing health; strategic; and science, environment, and risk communication. The department also offers a graduate certificate in science communication. We serve a diverse population of undergraduate and graduate students who bring a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds to our classrooms. Additionally, the department supports several co-curricular activities, including debate, forensics, Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and a comprehensive student media program.

The research life of the department includes both undergraduate and graduate research and is reflected in the activities and outreach of its faculty, including those of the Center for Climate Change Communication (4C); the Communication, Health, and Relational Media (CHARM) research lab; the Center for Health and Risk Communication (CHRC); the Pop Culture lab; and the Character Assassination and Reputation Politics (CARP) research lab, in addition to several university-wide research centers and institutes including the Institute for Digital Innovation.

For more information on the Department of Communication at George Mason University, visit communication.gmu.edu.

About the Position:

The Department of Communication in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University seeks a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Communication, with a specialty in new/emerging communication technology and innovative research methods.

Applicants should have a PhD in Communication or a closely related field. We welcome candidates from any communication subfield. We are especially interested in those whose work engages one or more of our core areas: strategic communication and public relations; health communication; science, environment, and risk communication; media studies; journalism; or advocacy and political communication. The successful candidate will demonstrate an active research agenda focused on new/emerging communication technologies with innovative research methods, a record of competitive conference papers and/or scholarly publications commensurate with experience, an ongoing research agenda, a commitment to excellence in teaching and mentoring a diverse student body, and a willingness to contribute to departmental and university service. We welcome all methodological approaches and specifically seek a candidate who pursues innovative methods to examine and/or utilize new and emerging technology. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to teach graduate and undergraduate courses in a variety of areas, as listed above. Overall, teaching experience at the university level is preferred. Finally, an interest in developing curriculum and courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels is also preferred.

Responsibilities:

• Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in communication, including courses related to new and emerging technologies;
• Mentor and advise students;
• Develop and maintain an active research agenda focused on new and emerging communication technologies using innovative research methods; and
• Contribute to departmental, college, university, and professional service through committee participation, faculty governance, program and curriculum activities, and service to the discipline.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in communication, or related field, completed prior to appointment;
• Active research agenda grounded in the study of new/emergent media, with a record of competitive conference papers and/or published research commensurate with experience;
• Demonstration of quantitative or qualitative innovative research methods, such as advanced natural language processing (NLP) and text mining (AI content analysis), digital ethnography, online social network analysis, AI content generation, social media analytics and big data analysis, agent-based modeling, or other innovative technological approaches to research;
• Ability to teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels that contribute to our subareas as listed above;
• Ability to teach theory courses in new media and technology and within the candidate’s particular subfield of communication;
• Commitment to teaching and mentoring a diverse student community; and
• Commitment to service for the department, university, and discipline.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD in communication (rather than a PhD in a related field);
• A record of relevant published research commensurate with experience;
• Relevant teaching experience at the college or university level;
• Experience with or interest in developing courses and curriculum at undergraduate and graduate levels; and
• Experience with or interest in undergraduate student mentoring and graduate student advising.

In a continuing effort to enrich GMU’s academic environment and provide equal educational and employment opportunities, we actively encourage applications from all job seekers.

How to apply

For full consideration, applicants must apply at https://jobs.gmu.edu/; complete and submit the online application; and upload a CV, a cover letter describing their qualifications for the position, and a list of three professional references with contact information. For full consideration, please submit the above materials to GMU’s jobs portal (https://jobs.gmu.edu/) by November 30, 2026. The jobs portal will remain open until the position is filled.

For Full Consideration, Apply by: November 30, 2026

Open Until Filled: Yes

George Mason University is an equal opportunity employer encouraging diversity.