CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Cornel West, the fiery African-American scholar who broke with Harvard University 14 years ago and whose searing critiques of President Obama earned him the enmity of many on the left, has been invited back to the university to teach.

He is to hold a joint appointment at the Harvard Divinity School and the department of African and African-American studies as a professor of the practice of public philosophy, a title reserved for those who have made outstanding contributions in their professional fields.

“Our friend is coming back in this distinguished posture to resume an appointment like the one he had when he departed,” said Lawrence D. Bobo, the chairman of the department.

Dr. Bobo said the position is for “someone who is recognized not simply as a scholar or teacher or significant voice, but who is on a bigger stage, who is speaking to a broader public” about “the important questions of the day.”