Seeking Professor of Visual Culture and Artistic Practices

Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture invites Tenure track or Tenured position applications for Professor of Visual Culture and Artistic Practices

The call is open on all levels of the Aalto University tenure track system: Assistant, Associate and Full Professor. The position will begin October 1, 2018 or as agreed.

Job description
The professor of visual culture and artistic practices will work in the Department of Art which is globally recognized for its research excellence, groundbreaking art, pioneering education, and societal impact. Some areas of research and artistic activities include ecological issues, gender, equality, mobility, biological art, and cultural differences. In addition, the intersection of art, science, business, and technology is a developing area responding to the possibilities of transdisciplinary research done at Aalto University. The position strengthens the research and artistic culture in the department.

The professorship is located at the intersections of visual culture and contemporary art, and the person chosen for this position will be responsible for developing artistic thinking and practices, and their application to new areas, contexts, and non-art disciplines. The professorship strengthens transdisciplinary collaborations, as well as the integration and sharing of creative activities and thinking across different fields of the university.

The professor is directly responsible for developing teaching about substantive forms of visual culture and artistic activities. The professor is expected to increase the number of channels and venues for communication, storytelling and expression of the Department’s research and artistic activities on an international level, including reaching a wide audience, generating artistic and research outputs that have societal impact, and directly affecting the shape and scope of fields of visual culture and contemporary art practices. The professor will advise MA and DA students, and take part in the broader collaborative research and administration in the Department of Art. In addition, there is an expectation of establishing long-term partnerships with private and public institutions and engaging in numerous art and education research projects.

Requirements
The professorship requires experience, vision, and leadership in the fields of visual culture and contemporary artistic practices. This experience should include cultivating student praxis in the context of societal, cultural, and philosophical discourses related to visual culture and contemporary artistic practices. Excellent skills in English and a doctorate in a relevant field is required.

Applicants will be reviewed on the basis of the following areas: artistic/research merits, teaching, international, collaborative and transdisciplinary competencies, and activity and leadership in academic communities. When recruiting for first term assistant professor position, the evaluation is mainly based on the potential of the candidate in the evaluated dimensions. When recruiting for second term assistant professor position, the evaluation is based on both merits and potential. Candidates recruited to the level of associate or full professor must have high academic merits.

How to apply
Please submit your application with attachments (in PDF-format) through the eRecruitment system link (“Apply for this job”) no later than on July 31, 2018 (Finnish time UTC +3) on the Aalto University website.

Additional information
Enquiries about the post may be addressed to Professor Kevin Tavin and enquiries about the recruitment process to HR Coordinator Merja Seppanen. Emails: firstname.lastname [​at​] aalto.fi.

About Aalto University
Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with nearly 11,000 students and nearly 400 professors. Our campuses are located in Espoo and Helsinki, Finland.

The School of Arts, Design and Architecture (ARTS) is an institution of higher education for design, media, architecture, motion picture, art education and art. The current key areas of research are design, digital media, audiovisual representation, art, visual culture, welfare architecture and emerging technologies as well as urban planning and design. The school produces specialists and innovators of art, design and architecture with strong artistic and technical skills.