Seeking design professor

Welcome to Linnaeus University! We meet the societal challenges of today and tomorrow in a spirit of openness, curiosity and creativity. By creating arenas for exchange of knowledge from different subjects, fields and cultures, we open up for new ideas and create new opportunities for long-term sustainable societal development. Linnaeus University – where people grow.

The Department of Design is part of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, which is one of Linnaeus University’s five faculties. The faculty offers a dynamic, flexible, and international learning environment, comprising both academic and artistic work, in a wide range of fields. We build complete academic environments in which the interplay between education, research, and collaboration acts as a catalyst for quality improvements at the university and sustainable development in society at large.

Design is a powerful force for change and for the development towards a sustainable society. At the Department of Design, we offer programmes and courses that provide students with solid knowledge of design and a firm foundation in the field of sustainability. Teachers work in teams, where each teacher contributes with different practical, theoretical, and artistic perspectives, such as norm criticism, decolonization, feminism, queer theory, and theories on post growth. Our members of staff contribute individually and collectively to sustainable societal development, through the research carried out at the department.

Subject area for the position: Design specialising in visual communication.
Location until further notice: Växjö, with occasional travel to Kalmar.
Employment: The position is full time, for a fixed term of five years (see the Higher Education Ordinance, chapter four, section ten). Two consecutive fixed terms in total can be agreed upon at the end of the first term.
Starting date: As agreed upon; no earlier than spring 2023.

Job description
As a professor of design specialising in visual communication, you will provide academic leadership in the emerging field of visual communication + change. This means that you will be developing, leading, and conducting research and collaborations, in addition to developing and delivering education in line with the department’s educational framework. It also means that you will be expected to build and participate in critical and creative transdisciplinary networks aiming to increase understanding of how visual communication can promote change, and to work to ensure that departmental efforts in this field are as impactful as possible. You will furthermore be expected to publish in traditional as well as new media, and to take on academic duties such as that of internal and external examiner. You will be expected to participate actively in the department’s internal and external work, all in line with the department’s and university’s vision.

You should have a strong international network and reputation and have good experience of working with visual communication for change. “Change” refers to working with the complex interplay between social, cultural, economic, and ecological systems, with the aim of contributing to social justice and a healthy planet. In your professional practice, you should have demonstrated a well-developed ability to integrate artistic and scientific approaches to research.

Most of our work at the Department of Design is carried out in collaboration with different parties—we consider collaboration to be at the heart of creating a sustainable future. Therefore, you need to be able to manage and contribute to complex collaborations, and to communicate with different stakeholders. 

Qualifications
A person who has demonstrated both artistic and teaching expertise shall be qualified for employment as a professor (the Higher Education Ordinance, chapter four, section three).

The candidate should have successfully applied for external funding for research projects and have completed inter- and transdisciplinary projects in complex collaborations with different collaboration partners.

The candidate must have experience of leadership and of research development at the university. The candidate should furthermore demonstrate excellent teaching skills and solid experience of teaching at the bachelor’s and master’s levels.

Assessment criteria
The assessment criteria used in the appointment of a professor shall be the degree of the expertise required as a qualification for employment. As much attention shall be given to the assessment of teaching expertise as to the assessment of artistic expertise. Additional assessment criteria are as follows below.

Additional assessment criteria in order of priority
–The candidate must have a PhD in design or visual communication, or within a similar subject field.
–Artistic expertise demonstrated in independent projects or active research, or documented in publications, exhibitions, or other public contexts.
–Experience of research management.
–Collaboration skills in the form of an ability to promote and participate in complex, transdisciplinary, and concrete processes.
–Artistic expertise demonstrated in artistic work in the field of visual communication and sustainability.
–Ability to lead and manage pedagogical work.
–Teaching expertise that promotes an artistic approach to sustainability.

When the university appoints new teachers, the choice should fall on those candidates who, based on a qualitative holistic assessment of competence and expertise, are considered most likely to successfully perform and develop relevant tasks and contribute to successful development of the organisation.

Contact: Head of department Zeenath Hasan, zeenath.hasan [​at​] lnu.se. Subject coordinator Mathilda Tham, mathilda.tham [​at​] lnu.s.