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julesroe

Cover Letter for Lecturer Position at R1: Research v. Teaching

Humanities

Greetings! I hope this subreddit doesn't mind the odd job market materials question. I'm a postdoc in Europe currently applying for a lecturer position in the United States. The position is a 3-year lecturer job at a top R1, and the job listing makes no mention of research whatsoever. The other application documents include teaching materials, but no research statement.

This is a top research school, but should my cover letter focus on teaching because the job is teaching-centric? My CV is pretty balanced between research and teaching at the moment (R1 PhD, first book done, some articles published, lots of fellowships, research postdoc, 9 semesters as a TA, teaching certificate, one course as instructor of record), so I tend to flip the emphasis in my application docs depending what the job asks for. I have a few versions of all of my materials but I'm pretty stumped with this application.

Right now, my letter is laid out like: 1) specific teaching history that relates to this job 2) specific skills and classroom approaches 3) demonstrated outcomes of successful teaching 4) research paragraph, connected to departmental fit for teaching needs. But should research be moved up? All feedback is highly appreciated!

Posted Mar 10, 2026, 11:41 AM UTC

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