Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Anti-Racism By Design

STAMPS SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN

TENURE-TRACK FACULTY POSITION

Application Deadline: August 15, 2021

Start Date: September 1, 2022

Type: Tenured Faculty Position in Anti-Racism By Design

Rank: Associate Professor, with tenure / Professor, with tenure

Salary and Benefits: Highly competitive and commensurate with experience.

Context

The University of Michigan is one of the world’s foremost public research universities. The Stamps School of Art & Design, as one of the 19 schools and colleges at the UM’s Ann Arbor, Michigan campus, offers a rich interdisciplinary environment for the development of creative practitioners. Undergraduate programs include BFA and BA degrees in art and design, a BFA in Interarts Performance, and a number of dual degree options with other UM schools and colleges. At the graduate level, students pursue one of two tracks of study – an MFA in Art and an MDes in Integrative Design.

This position is part of a new U-M faculty cluster focused on Racial Justice & Technology, and will include three faculty from the Ford School of Public Policy, the School of Information, and the Stamps School of Art and Design, with additional support for cross-school collaborations within the cluster. The three-faculty cluster coalesces an emerging interdisciplinary field of research that centers structural racism produced and reproduced by information technology, design, and technology policies.

The cluster is part of a university-wide faculty hiring initiative in anti-racism. Over the next three years, the university will hire at least 20 faculty members with scholarly expertise in racial inequality and structural racism.

Description

The school seeks qualified candidates to broaden existing faculty work within Stamps and the broader U-M community by advancing a scholarly and pedagogic agenda specifically focused on anti-racism. Candidates will show a deep understanding of racial formations as they relate to design practices. Their work may include anti-racism in analytic frameworks, design methods, fabrication techniques, human-technology interactions, and other creative research and teaching that positively impacts racial justice. The qualified candidate will have evidence of scholarly expertise on bias and power within society, both perpetuated through art and design and addressed by positive alternatives, such that it that deepens the Stamps school's expertise in teaching anti-racism and racial justice, both within its undergraduate curriculum in art and design and its graduate program in Integrative Design. 

The successful candidate will teach and contribute to a range of undergraduate courses and graduate studios and seminars in a highly interdisciplinary curriculum. Candidates should have a proven track record of excellence in undergraduate teaching, and preference will be given to candidates with the ability to contribute significantly to graduate level research and teaching. The selected candidate will have an opportunity to design and lead a two-year graduate student cohort project that positions anti-racism as the design theme.

An MDes or equivalent terminal degree is required, with a PhD preferred. A record of leadership, teaching, and service commensurate with a senior faculty appointment at the rank of associate professor with tenure or professor with tenure at a research-intensive university is expected.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online via the Stamps School’s employment page

The following materials, combined as a SINGLE PDF FILE (500K maximum size), are required for each application submitted.

1) A letter of application that addresses:

• Your qualifications and experiences relevant to the position;
• How you see yourself contributing to the programs and mission of the Stamps School;
• Your past experience and activities, and your future plans, to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion and to meet the educational needs and interests of a diverse community.

2) Documentation of qualifications.  A link to an online portfolio that contains the following elements is required. 

• A detailed CV.
• A statement of creative work and/or research.
• A statement of teaching interests/philosophy.
• Up to 10 examples of creative work/research/scholarship, including images and/or published
• work/research (as applicable) and brief project descriptions.
• Documentation of teaching experience to include up to 10 examples of student work (images and brief descriptions) and samples or links to course syllabi. The names and contact information for at least three professional references.

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks. Background checks will be performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The University of Michigan is committed to fostering and maintaining a diverse work culture that respects the rights and dignity of each individual, without regard to race, color, national origin, ancestry, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, gender expression, height, weight, marital status, disability, medical condition, age, or veteran status.