Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Foundations

The Department of Art & Design at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position in Foundations at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin September 1, 2023.

The Foundations curriculum in Art & Design introduces creative literacy, experimentation, and critical thinking to undergraduate students in Fine Arts, Design, and Digital Filmmaking. We seek to recruit a faculty member who will bring experience and vision to our Foundations program. The successful candidate will possess leadership capability, including the ability to mentor and support faculty, develop curricula, construct syllabi, and assess learning. They will bring experience with and a deep commitment to supporting the needs of a demographically diverse student body. Our program integrates physical and digital methods and materials; accordingly, we seek a candidate whose pedagogy is informed by digital literacy as well as fluency as a “maker.” We welcome applications from candidates whose research in any medium invites collaboration, cross-pollination, and interdisciplinary connections in our large, public research university.

Candidates should be active in their field, with a significant record of professional achievement, and at least three years of college-level or equivalent teaching experience. Primary teaching responsibilities include undergraduate courses in foundations as well as one annual graduate seminar in our interdisciplinary graduate program. All faculty are expected to assist in student recruitment, curriculum development, mentoring, overseeing graduate assistants, and serving on departmental and university committees.

Art & Design is committed to engendering and supporting inclusivity, difference, equity, and excellence in a vibrant pedagogical and artistic community situated in one of the country’s most diverse research universities. Art & Design encourages applications from underrepresented groups in academia and the arts, including but not limited to artists of color, individuals of diverse gender identities and expressions, first generation college and higher education students, artists with disabilities, and those with nontraditional and exceptional pathways to teaching and the arts. Like the state of New Jersey, students in Art & Design and across the University vibrantly reflect this diversity of backgrounds and identities. The successful candidate will demonstrate the cultural and critical competencies to support and engage this rich multiplicity of artistic research and student life, and will have interests that align with a commitment to public education and the arts.

Minimum education and experience
MFA or equivalent degree; at least three years of college-level or equivalent teaching experience; Experience with Foundations education; Technical and conceptual strength in several of the department’s Foundations curriculum priorities: drawing, color, sculpture/3D, photo/lens-based media, and time-based media.

Special instructions to applicants
To apply, candidates should submit the following: Cover letter; artist statement; teaching philosophy; A one-to two-page statement that speaks to the candidate’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and to the potential to mentor and empower historically underrepresented or marginalized students; Curriculum vitae; PDF with 20 images of artwork; three course syllabi; PDF with examples of student work; Contact information for three references; Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications by January 1, 2023. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Applications must be submitted via the Rutgers OnLine Recruitment Site. The job posting can be accessed here.

About Department of Art & Design
The Department of Art & Design, which offers BFA, BA, and MFA degrees, provides both focus and an environment for interdisciplinary exploration, as well as access to the rich intellectual resources of a major research institution. This breadth enables students to graduate with the skills and thinking necessary for careers in today’s diverse and changing world. Proximity to New York and Philadelphia gives students access to a faculty of renowned professional artists and designers, museums and galleries, and visiting artists and critics. Home to approximately 400 students, Art & Design offers BFA undergraduate concentrations in Sculpture, Printmaking, Painting, Drawing, Media, Design, Photography, and Interdisciplinary Practice. The department’s historical grounding in innovation, interdisciplinary inquiry, and critical reflection was shaped by its key involvement in the Fluxus movement, and later in the initiation of the first non-disciplinary MFA program in the country. The department recently launched an MFA in Design focused on interdisciplinary research, and the Rutgers Print Collaborative which brings renowned artists to campus to collaborate on editions with students.

Mason Gross School of the Arts is a vibrant community of artists and scholars committed to pursuing excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. Its mission is to create socially relevant art, foster diverse programming and curricula, cultivate community partnerships, and advance the arts through teaching, creative activity, advocacy, and research that contributes to the public good. Comprising 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students across programs in music, theater, dance, filmmaking, and art & design, Mason Gross is housed within Rutgers–New Brunswick, a premier Big Ten research university that serves some 50,000 students and is the flagship campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Mason Gross School of the Arts is deeply committed to the pursuit of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access and especially encourages applications from women, underrepresented minorities, and other individuals who belong to groups that have been historically underrepresented or marginalized within higher education and the arts. Also see the Rutgers Non-Discrimination Statement here.