Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair in Islamic Art

Posting Details

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Position Number F18250 Is this employee on a H1B Visa? Position Type Teaching and Research Faculty Rank Open Working Title Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair in Islamic Art School/Unit School of the Arts Department Art History Number of Months 9 Tenure Status Tenure Eligible Grant funded position? No
Mission or Goal of Unit

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCUarts), Department of Art History, invites applications from distinguished, highly collaborative, interdisciplinary scholars for the Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair in Islamic Art. The Endowed Chair position is a 9-month, tenure eligible position with an open-rank. Full consideration will be given to applicants at any stage of their scholarly career. Scholars in Islamic art from any time period or geographic area are invited to apply. Prominent scholars whose research focuses on contemporary Islamic art will be strongly considered. The Endowed Chair will be based on Virginia Commonwealth University’s community-oriented home campus located in Richmond, Virginia. The faculty member will be expected to reside in the Richmond area and contribute to the broader mission and initiatives of the department and School, while maintaining close association and collaboration with the Art History Program at VCUarts Qatar, with its distinctive focus on Islamic art in its global context. The Endowed Chair position includes generous support for research.

VCUarts:

VCUarts (https://arts.vcu.edu/) in Richmond, Virginia offers a variety of graduate and undergraduate degrees in design, fine and performing arts, art history, and art education, with a unique emphasis on creative immersion. Far more than receiving simply an education or preparation for a career; students leave VCUarts with the practical, professional and personal skills needed to make a life in the arts, no matter how they define it. That is why VCUarts’ programs emphasize both doing and knowing: why the majority of its faculty are working artists, designers, scholars, and performers and why they encourage students to take advantage of the many academic and intellectual opportunities that come with being part of a research university. Today, VCUarts graduates can be found throughout the academic and professional fields and have been recognized with everything from Emmys to MacArthur Fellowships.

VCUarts is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the National Association of Schools of Dance, the National Association of Schools of Music, the National Association of Schools of Theatre, the Virginia Department of Education, the Council for Interior Design Accreditation and the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education.

As the #1 ranked public university arts and design graduate school in the country by US News and World Report, VCUarts is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse and pluralistic faculty committed to teaching and working in a multicultural and inclusive environment and strongly encourages applications from all racial/ethnic, gender and social identities.

Department of Art History:

The VCUarts Department of Art History offers undergraduate and graduate programs with separate tracks from which students select their program of study. The undergraduate program, leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree, offers an Art Historical Studies track and has a current enrollment of 55 major and 75 minor students. The graduate program offers Art Historical Studies and Museum Studies tracks, with a current student enrollment of 14.

VCUarts Qatar:

VCUarts Qatar (www.qatar.vcu.edu), located in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, is the international branch campus of VCUarts. Established in 1998 through a partnership with the Qatar Foundation, VCUarts Qatar offers students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history; a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fashion design, graphic design, interior design and painting & printmaking; and a Master of Fine Arts degree in design. VCUarts Qatar is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art & Design, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. The current student body represents a diverse range of nationalities with students coming from 38 countries.

VCUarts Qatar is dedicated to global outreach and education and provides students with an environment for cross-cultural exchange that fosters inquiry, discovery and innovation. Examples of this mission are the two significant international conferences hosted by VCUarts Qatar— the biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art (www.islamicartdoha.org), and the biennial design conference, Tasmeem. VCUarts Qatar attracts globally recognized designers, artists and scholars while fostering partnerships within the region, and beyond, that enhance the educational, economic and cultural vitality of Qatar. Having established itself as a center of excellence for education and research, VCUarts Qatar has substantial involvement with the influential art and design world of the Middle East, and is a catalyst for the growth and development of these fields in the region.

VCUarts Qatar has 156 full-time faculty and staff and a student body of 325. VCUarts Qatar was the first campus established in Education City, a unique 2500-acre multiversity campus. VCUarts-Qatar was joined by Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Carnegie-Mellon University, Texas A&M University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Northwestern University, HEC Paris and University College of London.

Qatar, with English as the standard second language, is a progressive country in the Arabian Gulf and remains one of the healthiest economies in the Gulf region. Doha offers all the conveniences found in a contemporary and cosmopolitan city, while honoring a rich tradition that is evident in the old markets and the city’s Islamic Arab architecture. The Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I.M. Pei opened in November 2008 and the Arab Museum of Modern Art (Mathaf) opened in 2010. The U.S. Embassy considers Qatar among the safest countries in the world for Americans.

VCU Institute for Contemporary Art

Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Contemporary Art ( ICA ), designed by award-wining architect Steven Holl, is a non-collecting institution that showcases an ever-changing slate of exhibitions, performances, films, for the VCU community, the City of Richmond community and beyond. The ICA is an institution dedicated to being a showcase and a catalyst for conversation about the positive transformative potential of the arts in our society. The mission of the ICA is to present the art of our time and provide an open forum for dialogue and collaboration across the region and throughout the world.

Chief purpose of this position in support of above mission or goal

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts (VCUarts), Department of Art History, invites applications from distinguished, highly collaborative, interdisciplinary scholars for the Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair in Islamic Art. The Endowed Chair position is a 9-month, tenure eligible position with an open-rank. Full consideration will be given to applicants at any stage of their scholarly career. Scholars in Islamic art from any time period or geographic area are invited to apply. Prominent scholars whose research focuses on contemporary Islamic art will be strongly considered. The Endowed Chair will be based on Virginia Commonwealth University’s community-oriented home campus located in Richmond, Virginia. The faculty member will be expected to reside in the Richmond area and contribute to the broader mission and initiatives of the department and School, while maintaining close association and collaboration with the Art History Program at VCUarts Qatar, with its distinctive focus on Islamic art in its global context. The Endowed Chair position includes generous support for research.

Position Responsibilities

The Endowed Chair will be devoted primarily to teaching and researching Islamic art and will make significant scholarly contributions to the study and interpretation of Islamic art. Scholars whose research emphasizes methodological innovation, considers connections between Islamic and other traditions, or who have demonstrated experience in fostering cross-field collaborations within a school, university, or community, are especially encouraged to apply.

Teaching assignments will be at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the area of Islamic art, typically three to four courses per academic year taught on the VCUarts Richmond campus, with periodic opportunities to present lectures at the VCUarts Qatar campus. The Endowed Chair will mentor graduate students, foster innovative and collaborative curriculum in Islamic art across the arts and broader campus, and generate national and international academic and community partnerships.

The Endowed Chair will have demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment and will have experience in developing or the potential to develop initiatives and teaching that makes a meaningful scholarly education accessible to underrepresented or disadvantaged groups. Our colleague will demonstrate through research, teaching, and/or public engagement the richness of diversity in the learning experience and integrate multicultural approaches and perspectives into instructional methods and research tools.

In addition to research and teaching, the Endowed Chair will steer the Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium in Islamic Art, a leading international conference on Islamic art and architecture. This important symposium is co-sponsored by VCUarts, VCUarts Qatar, and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. The next Symposium will be hosted in Doha, Qatar in November 2019. Held biennially since 2004, it has resulted in major publications by Yale University Press with proceedings by leading scholars and curators of Islamic art and architecture and dynamic contemporary artists from around the world. In guiding these endeavors, the appointed faculty will work collaboratively with art history faculty members at both VCUarts campuses as well as with the symposium program manager.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in art history.
• The faculty member will have a well-developed scholarly/research portfolio with evidence of multi-disciplinary applications appropriate to complement and expand existing expertise in the department.
• University teaching experience.
• Ability to attract high-caliber graduate students.
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a faculty member at VCU .

Preferred Qualifications
Date Posted 10/07/2019 Open Until Filled Yes Application Deadline Date Proposed Hire Date 08/16/2020 Type of Search National Application Process/Additional Information

To apply, please submit application materials via VCU eJobs at www.vcujobs.com. Only electronic applications submitted via eJobs will be accepted.

Application materials should be to the attention of Dr. Lisa Freiman, Professor and Chair of the search committee. The following documents should be included:
• A Letter of Interest that conveys relevant academic and professional experience and describes experiences and/or professional service that inform worldviews and/or perspectives about minority group status, to include race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, and disability. Candidates should also articulate their experiences facilitating dialogue among students of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and identities.
• Teaching Philosophy
• Current CV
• A list of three current references including names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses (references will not be contacted prior to applicant’s approval).
• Portfolio of work, which could include examples of course syllabi, evidence of excellence in teaching, examples of published research, writing, etc.

The Letter of Interest + Teaching Philosophy should be submitted as one PDF in the “Cover Letter/Letter of Application” section in eJobs; the CV + list of references should be submitted as one PDF in the “Curriculum Vitae (CV)” section of eJobs; and, due to file size limitations, the portfolio of work should be submitted in the “Other Document” section of eJobs as an accessible link in a PDF that points to a website or cloud storage (with access instructions) to view work.

Review of applications begins December 16, 2019 and continues until the position is filled. For full consideration, applications are due by December 16, 2019.

To read more about VCUarts: http://arts.vcu.edu

Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to providing accessible and equitable living, learning and working environments free from discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex (including pregnancy), political affiliation, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or disability.

Posted Salary Quick Link https://www.vcujobs.com/postings/94191 Diversity Statement Information Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Applicant Documents
Required Documents

1. Cover Letter/Letter of Application
2. Other Document
3. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Optional Documents