Curriculum Manager/Lead Instructor

Curriculum Manager/Lead Instructor

Introduction. Scribe Video Center is a media arts education center located in Philadelphia that provides instruction in video, film, audio and other forms of digital media production. Founded in 1982, Scribe works with emerging and mid-career artists, as well as with members of community organizations, who wish to make use of video as an artistic medium and as a tool for progressive social change. Though focused on a constituency in the Delaware Valley region, we collaborate with media arts centers and filmmakers nationally and internationally.  "Scribe" is a metaphor for the use of electronic media as the modern medium to record significant contemporary concerns and events.

The mission of Scribe is to be a knowledge resource and workspace for the use of time-based media as a creative tool for progressive social change. We support our educational program participants in developing a creative practice of media production with the goal of empowering individuals and strengthening communities that have been historically disadvantaged. In the Philadelphia area this includes the African-American, Latinx, Asian-American, and Indigenous communities; youth and seniors; women and non-binary individuals and communities; the LGBTQ community; the differently abled; poor and working class communities. Each year over 300 participants enroll in the multi-week media production workshops at Scribe.

Summary of Job Description: We are looking for a talented artist with a deep and demonstrated commitment to the mission and values of Scribe. The Curriculum Manager/Lead Instructor, a new position, will ideally have a strong background in teaching as well as in many aspects of digital media production:  The Curriculum Manager/Lead Instructor teaches and guides emerging and mid-level artists in a range of skills and technologies that are essential to the craft of digital media productions. This is a full time position with full-health care, vacation, holiday and retirement savings benefits.

The Curriculum Manager/Lead Instructor joins a cohort of 20 contract/non-staff instructors, who conduct workshops at Scribe. Instructional programs at Scribe include the Documentary History Project for Youth, an after-school and summer program for middle and high school students; the Precious Places Community History project, a 10 month training and production program; and the Film Scholars programs, a progressive sequence of production workshops for emerging digital media artists. Advising and developing the curricula for these and other programs, in collaboration with program staff and a consulting curriculum advisor, is an essential part of the work. The position requires approximately 6-8 hours of teaching hours and 30-32 hours of administrative time per week.

 The tasks of the Curriculum Manager/Lead Instructor includes:

• –  Review, revise and expand curricula for existing Scribe educational programs (including community production projects, programs for individual artists, and youth media programs); –  Supervise a faculty of contract instructors and facilitators who teach in Scribe educational programs –  Conduct at least 3 workshops per year including Scribe’s 6 and 14 week production workshops and one in various aspects of digital media production (e.g. production planning, audio, video, new media platforms, podcasts, AR, VR, and post-production softwares) –  Provide tutorials in technologies and software used for production and post- production –  Evaluate lesson plans of peer instructors –  Assist in identifying and recruiting contract instructors to work at Scribe –  Program the workshops for Scribe’s three seasons of offering –  Evaluate works produced in Scribe programs as research in shaping curricula

We are looking for candidates with the following experience:

• –  Three years experience teaching media production at a community media arts center, college or university, with a specific focus on the skills of documentary production; –  Demonstrated excellence as can be seen in the work of prior students –  Solid experience in multiple roles of documentary production –  Production experience with a variety of traditional and new platforms for digital media (e.g. audio, video, VR, AR, site specific installation) –  Knowledge of the independent media community in Philadelphia region –  Fluent in English. Highly desirable if fluent in Spanish or other languages of communities in the Philadelphia region –  MFA or equivalent experience.

Scribe Video Center serves a broad and diverse constituency. We strive for a staff that mirrors the diversity of our region.