The Position

The Department of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel invites applications for a full-time, [nine-month, tenure-track] Assistant Professor with expertise in irregular warfare, beginning August 2027. We seek a colleague who will bring original scholarship and imaginative teaching to a department helping students understand the exercise of power and prepare for the responsibilities of national security work.

Irregular warfare places difficult questions of intelligence, influence, and legitimacy at the center of the study of conflict. It demands attention to how states and nonstate actors mobilize populations, exploit uncertainty, and pursue political objectives through indirect means. This appointment offers the opportunity to advance scholarship on those questions while helping future practitioners develop the judgment to confront them.

The Department and The Citadel

Our department connects the intellectual breadth of the humanities and social sciences with the practical demands of intelligence. Its undergraduate and graduate degrees are certified by the International Association for Intelligence Education. Faculty combine active scholarship with professional experience, and the annual Day of Intrigue exercise brings students and intelligence practitioners together to work through complex national security scenarios.

A new $250,000 federal award is supporting the Intelligence Futures and Judgment Lab and a deeper integration of wargaming into the curriculum. Students must weigh incomplete evidence, respond to competing interests, and take responsibility for their decisions. The successful candidate will have an opportunity to help shape this work, connecting research on irregular warfare with the development of students’ analytical judgment.

The Citadel gives this work a distinctive home. A public senior military college in Charleston, it has ranked first among Regional Universities in the South in U.S. News & World Report for three consecutive years. Faculty teach cadets preparing to commission as military officers, as well as students pursuing civilian careers in intelligence and national security. These students may soon be responsible for leading others and making consequential assessments. Teaching here offers the opportunity to develop the intellectual discipline and ethical judgment they will bring to those responsibilities.

Research and Teaching

We welcome specializations in insurgency and counterinsurgency, resistance and unconventional warfare, political warfare, proxy conflict, special operations, terrorism and counterterrorism, or information operations and influence. Regional and methodological approaches are open. Candidates should connect their expertise to broader questions in intelligence and security studies.

• Teach undergraduate and graduate courses in irregular warfare and broader intelligence and security studies, in person and online as assigned.
• Sustain an active research agenda and produce peer-reviewed scholarship appropriate to the rank of Assistant Professor.
• Develop applied learning experiences that challenge students to test assumptions, assess evidence, and defend their judgments.
• Mentor students, supervise research and applied projects, and contribute to curriculum development and assessment.
• Participate in departmental and college service and build appropriate connections with scholarly and practitioner communities.

Required Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in intelligence studies, security studies, political science, international relations, history, public policy, or a closely related field. ABD candidates will be considered if the degree is completed prior to the beginning of the fall 2027 semester.
• Demonstrated expertise in irregular warfare, evidenced through research, teaching, or relevant professional work, and a clear agenda for continued scholarship.
• Evidence of, or strong potential for, effective college teaching and the ability to contribute to both undergraduate and graduate education.
• A commitment to close student mentorship, rigorous inquiry, constructive academic collaboration, and The Citadel’s mission of developing principled leaders.

Preferred Qualifications

Candidates may demonstrate strength in one or more of the following areas:

• Experience designing or facilitating wargames, simulations, or other forms of experiential learning.
• Research or professional experience connecting irregular warfare with intelligence analysis, intelligence operations, or national security policy.
• Regional expertise, relevant language skills, fieldwork, or research on the role of emerging technologies in irregular conflict.
• Experience teaching online, mentoring student research, or developing collaborative projects with government, military, academic, or private-sector partners.

Appointment and Compensation

The standard teaching load is four courses per semester (4/4). The Citadel offers state employee benefits.

Application Instructions

In addition to your online application, please submit the following materials:

1. A cover letter describing the candidate’s qualifications and intended contribution to the department.
2. A curriculum vitae.
3. A research statement describing current work and future plans, up to two pages.
4. A teaching statement addressing relevant courses, student learning, and approaches to applied instruction, up to two pages. Evidence of teaching effectiveness may be included if available.
5. One scholarly writing sample.
6. Names and contact information for three references. Letters may be requested later in the search.

Review of applications will begin December 2026 and continue until the position is filled. Applications received by that date will receive full consideration.

Questions about the position may be directed to Dr. Melissa Graves, Chair of the Department of Intelligence and Security Studies, at mgraves2@citadel.edu.

Located on the Charleston peninsula along the Ashley River, The Citadel offers an academic community within a city known for its history and cultural life.