Assistant Professor and Director of Storytelling, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA. Deadline: 5 December 2025.
The Department of Communication Studies and Storytelling at East Tennessee State University seeks an Assistant Professor and Director of Storytelling. This position carries full-time, tenure-track status beginning August 15, 2026, as an academic year appointment pending continued availability of funds.
They seek an energetic and inspiring faculty member with a demonstrated emphasis in Storytelling who will grow undergraduate programs in Storytelling and a master’s program in Communication and Storytelling Studies through teaching and alliance building with campus and community partners, such as the International Storytelling Center, National Storytelling Network, Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, and Story Collab). The new colleague should be able to help students understand storytelling not only as folk and traditional art but also as contemporary practice with socially transformative potential and workplace applications.
They are especially interested in candidates who have or are willing to develop an expertise in digital storytelling. The successful candidate must have a demonstrated ability as a performance storyteller and possess strong academic credentials and experience in two or more of the following areas: performance studies; performance ethnography; narrative; oral history, applied storytelling; social justice; street, forum, or interactive theatre; arts-based research methods; storytelling for career preparation (e.g., interpretive biology, public history, environmental or natural resource interpretation, cultural heritage interpretation).
He teaches courses in multimedia production, media management, branding, and public relations. He also coordinates the department’s Adobe Certified Associate program. Chase has 10+ years of experience in strategic communication and higher education, and has lived and worked in the U.K., Southeast Asia, and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in Technical Communication & Rhetoric from Texas Tech University, where his dissertation explored the International Coffee Organization’s rhetoric of economic sustainability. Chase’s research interests include brand and media strategy, technical communication, and metaphor.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 