Assistant Professor in Art and Design: UI/UX or Data Visualization (66221)

Position: Full-time, 9 month, tenure accruing faculty position
Date of Expected Hire: August 16, 2021
Salary: Competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The University of Florida School of Art + Art History, College of the Arts, invites applications for the position Assistant Professor in Art and Design specializing in UI/UX and/or Data Visualization. The faculty member will pursue an active program of research; teach a 2-2 load of courses at the undergraduate and graduate level; supervise MFA students in Art and Design; and contribute service to the university, the community, and the profession.

We are seeking a creative practitioner whose research and teaching specialization is focused on user interface and experience design and/or data visualization in the context of a hybrid art and design practice. We are searching for a candidate with an established studio art practice that can contribute to, or lead, a digital product design team. UF has recently committed to a university-wide artificial intelligence initiative along with a major super-computing collaboration with NVidia. AI experience would be considered favorably. Candidates should be active researchers in their field(s) as evidenced by some combination of a national exhibition record, publications, and/or professional consultation. Candidates should be able to demonstrate a promising research trajectory as well as articulate the potential for their contribution toward productive cross-disciplinary research taking place on the UF campus. The successful candidate must be able to contribute substantially to our graduate and undergraduate art and design programs. Candidates should be able to develop and teach curriculum that works distinctly within the parameters of visual art and design, bridging experimental and practical methodologies. UF is a Tier-1 research institution and tenure track faculty are expected to be actively engaged in the history, theory, and methodologies pertaining to their field, and to conditions of production that contextualize work as an artist and designer in a contemporary paradigm. We welcome applicants who can contribute to a diverse and inclusive environment through their scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and professional service. The successful candidate can expect to work with students, faculty, and staff from a range of disciplines, and social and cultural backgrounds.

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. As artists and scholars, we embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our students and faculty to shape that experience fearlessly through critical study, creative practice, and provocation. We seek a colleague who identifies as a change-maker. We seek a colleague who will prepare students to access and unsettle centers of power in a radically changing world. We seek a colleague who will position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for equity on local and global levels.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty, seeking faculty of all races, ethnicities, genders, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

Responsibilities: Teach two courses per semester (fall and spring) at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels; maintain an active program of research; service to the program, school, college, and university; participate in curriculum and program development and outreach.

STUDIO ART PROGRAM The Studio Art Program is driven by the knowledge that visual and scholarly research enhances our lives. The program is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary art program with faculty expertise in a wide range of practices that emanate from an interest in ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and technology. Studio Art faculty recognize that technology and mediated information are transforming the world in which we live, producing shifts in social interaction, perception, and our relationship to the environment. The faculty recognize the potential for art and artists to respond to these changes by engaging the material and ideological infrastructure of electronic media. We seek to prepare students to become artists by facilitating the conceptual, technical, and creative development of a socially aware art practice.

GRAPHIC DESIGN/DESIGN & VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS For over 50 years we have graduated students to be design professionals. Our alumni work in a range of positions including design education, art direction, user experience design, design strategy, brand development, environmental and exhibition design, and numerous other specialties within design and beyond. At the undergraduate level, we offer a BFA and Certificate in Graphic Design. The final two years of study in the major are centered on a uniquely collaborative studio/classroom environment where students work together within a vibrant learning community. This structure is key to our curriculum as it empowers and prepares students for life-long careers as design professionals. At the graduate level, we are launching a new MFA in Design & Visual Communications in fall 2019 that builds on the strengths of our MFA in Art/Graphic Design emphasis. This new program—the MXD—focuses on Florida as our laboratory where we work collaboratively and interdisciplinarily to explore pressing problems of our time. The graduate program attracts an international, interdisciplinary group of students interested in the study of design beyond the professional practice. We encourage applicants to review our programs here: The MXD—Master’s in Design & Visual Communications (arts.ufl.edu/design) and the BFA in Graphic Design (arts.ufl.edu/graphic-design).

SCHOOL OF ART + ART HISTORY The mission of the School of Art and Art History (SA+AH) is to nurture a culture of critical inquiry in scholarly and creative pursuits. The faculty within the SA+AH seeks to empower each individual student with knowledge, skills, and insight to respond thoughtfully to our changing world. The SA+AH is driven by the knowledge that visual and scholarly research is vital to the work of the larger university and that this research enhances the lives of its regional, national, and international communities. The school has more than 370 undergraduate and 120 graduate students studying art history, art education, museum studies, visual and design communication, and studio art (art + technology, ceramics, creative photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, and sculpture). Degrees awarded include the BA, BFA, MA, MFA, and PhD. Through the Harn Eminent Scholar Chair in Art History (HESCAH) endowment and the Visiting Artist lecture series, the SA+AH sponsors a robust program of public talks, symposia, and class visits by leading scholars and artists. Also a part of the School of Art + Art History is the University Galleries—University Gallery, Gary R. Libby Gallery, Grinter Gallery. Together with student-run 4Most Gallery, they offer a diverse program of critically engaged exhibitions of professional and student artwork. The Workshop for Art Research and Practice (WARP)—the school’s studio art foundations program— is housed in a dedicated 6000 sq. ft. WARPhaus near a fabrication lab and design studio at Infinity Hall, a living community for entrepreneurial-minded students. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAS). The art education program is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/art .

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS The mission of the College of the Arts is to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. We achieve the university’s mission by training professionals and educating students as artists and scholars, while developing their capacities for critical study, creative practice, and provocation. The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,700 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 130 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music and the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute and the Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Terminal degree (PhD, DDes, MFA, MDes, MGD) in art, graphic design, or related field by August 16, 2021;
• Relevant teaching or instructional experience beyond graduate teaching;
• Ability to teach courses in art and design;
• Research specialization in UI/UX and/or Data Visualization;
• Evidence of success in promoting an environment that advances diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications : The successful candidate will bring to the position:

• Graduate level teaching;
• An art and design practice grounded in history and theory;
• Evidence of a strong conceptual approach to art and design;
• Experience working in a collaborative, interdisciplinary manner;
• Demonstrable interest in developing productive connections across disciplines at a research university

Application Deadline: Review of applications will begin December 18, 2020 and continue until an applicant pool is established. To ensure full consideration, all application documents must be submitted by January 16, 2021. Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the committee and/or hiring authority.

Application Process: Applications must be submitted via the University of Florida’s online application system. Online applications must include the following: (1) a detailed letter of application that explains how you match the particular qualifications of this position and how your work and perspective will contribute to and enhance our transformative community; (2) a curriculum vitae; (3) research and teaching statements; (4) writing sample – PDF or URL; and (5) names and contact information of three professional references. The Search Committee may request additional materials at a later time, including letters of reference.

Nominations and Inquiries may be sent to:
Jack Stenner – Chair, Art and Design Search
Associate Professor of Art + Technology
Email: stenner@ufl.edu

Final candidate will be required to provide official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), which can be found at http://www.naces.org/ .

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff.

The University of Florida is An Equal Employment Opportunity Institution. If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 352/392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800/955-8771 (TDD). Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law.

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