Visiting Lectureship

In 2016, the Office of Global Engagement in collaboration with the East Asian Studies program created the Henry G. Schwarz Visiting Lectureship in Mongolian Studies. The temporary position is hired annually for one academic quarter and enables Western to expand its existing curricular offerings to a wide variety of academic disciplines.

Qualifications of the Visiting Lectureship 

Among other qualifications, applicants should have a Ph.D. (or ABD) with a focus on the study of Mongolia, evidence of effective teaching at a college or university, and experience living in Mongolia. A full list of required and preferred qualifications is included in the job advertisement. The call for applications occurs in September, and the deadline to apply is in early January. During the hiring period, a link to the job advertisement will appear on this page.

History of the Lectureship

The Lectureship honors Professor Emeritus Henry Schwarz, who joined the Western faculty in 1969. He founded the Center for East Asian Studies and served as its first director. Originally focused on China, Japan, and Korea, the Center’s teaching and research mission expanded in 1975 when Dr. Schwarz added Mongolia to the curriculum. Until his retirement in 1993, Dr. Schwarz taught a wide variety of courses and seminars, led a summer language program to Inner Mongolia, hosted conferences, launched a publication series, and authored books that included minority groups in northern China and a Uyghur-English dictionary. One of his most enduring accomplishments is his leadership in building the largest Mongolian Studies collection outside of Mongolia. Standing at over 22,000 titles, it is comprised of titles identified and acquired by Dr. Schwarz from publishers in the U.S. and abroad, large donations from his personal library and those of fellow Mongolists, and items purchased by the Western Libraries with funds from an endowment he established for that purpose. 

In recognition of Dr. Schwarz’s contributions to the field of Mongolian Studies, noted University of Wisconsin-Madison linguistics professor and expert on The Secret History of the Mongols John C. Street created an endowment to fund the visiting lectureship in his colleague’s honor.