What is a one-year position?
In the humanities, I have seen the following kinds of one-year positions offered for new or recent PhDs:
Postdocs
A one-year postdoctoral position may be a fellowship to write (rare), or it may be a grant-funded position with some kind of labor component. Some common labor-driven postdocs include digital humanities positions (like this one at Middlebury) and Sawyer seminars (like this one at Tufts).
In general, for these positions you will spend some percentage of time working towards an institutional goal, with the remaining time spent on independent research. Institutional support for these positions vary wildly, and can include everything from extensive faculty mentorship, training, and job preparation, to total independence.
One thing to be aware of is that the labor component for positions like these may not be recognizable from the outside (at least on the academic market). Reviewers of your materials, in other words, might be expecting you to be doing research full time and may place little or no value on your other accomplishments. This is different from VAPs.
Some one-year postdocs are renewable, but this varies widely by institution and is not guaranteed. Factors involved include whether the funds come from a grant (in which case they may all be used up in a single year), and whether the institution plans to continue hosting postdocs in the future. Note that even if the position is renewed, you may not find out about it until late spring or summer.
Visiting Assistant Professorships
VAPs are generally positions designed to fill in for faculty who are on leave. VAPs generally teach the same load as the faculty member they are replacing (i.e. 2/2 (two courses per semester), 3/3, 4/4, etc.), and some of the course will be pre-determined, though there may be some room to introduce your own material and you often are responsible for designing your own syllabi.
Though the labor for a VAP is much higher than a postdoc, these are more familiar to people on highering committees. VAPs directly prepare you to be an assistant professor by giving you the opportunity to design and test (prep) courses in your field, meaning you will come to your next position prepared to teach multiple courses. This is a major asset for hiring committees.
Things to consider when applying for one-year positions
- Even when the position comes with moving expenses, you will likely end up paying out of pocket for some parts of your move. You may need to buy new furniture. To restock your kitchen. To pay double rent for a month between leases, or live in an airbnb for a few weeks.
- You will be applying for new jobs as soon as you begin. As you know, this will take up a lot of time - time you might otherwise have spent on research.
- You will need to invest time in building relationships: both in making friends / building a support network / maintaining old relationships, and in finding institutional allies who can support you and you work.
- You may need to move again the next year.