Faculty Member in Interdisciplinary Arts

Summary:

College of the Atlantic is conducting an open search for two full-time interdisciplinary artists. We welcome applicants working in and across a range of modalities including, but not limited to, Experimental and Documentary Arts, Time-Based Art Practice, Visual Communication Design, Emergent Media, Sound Art, Sculpture/Three-Dimensional Art, Socially Engaged Art/Art as Social Practice. We are especially interested in candidates who will model a research-informed creative practice for students, incorporate fieldwork, or draw on innovative interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary methods. Ideally, these future faculty members will engage with the variety of experimental work happening across campus as part of the broader curriculum in human ecology. 

We seek artists with a demonstrated record of teaching excellence who combine pedagogical techniques and introduce students to a range of materials and technologies. Candidates must be prepared to teach students at a variety of skill levels, at times within the same class. Faculty are expected to offer foundational skills-based courses as well as intermediate and advanced coursework.

College of the Atlantic considers equity and diversity essential to academic excellence. Candidates must have experience successfully engaging students across multiple categories of difference. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds, including racialization, disability, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, marital or family status, and/or age.

Responsibilities:

We encourage applicants with interests across the arts, sciences, and humanities who are comfortable working collaboratively at a college without a formal art program. Candidates should be prepared to design coursework with the Arts and Design faculty that contributes to the evolving interdisciplinary curriculum. Faculty at COA generally teach five classes per year (divided across three ten-week terms), mentor and advise students, supervise senior projects and independent studies, and contribute to college governance through committee work. Candidates for this position will also be expected to share in the management of studio facilities alongside colleagues and work-study students or teaching assistants.

We invite imaginative thinking about how candidates might use the college’s flexible curricular structure to offer co-taught, experimental, experiential, or travel courses. COA faculty have the opportunity to develop curricular and co-curricular projects connected to the resources available on campus and in the surrounding area, including its media labs, ceramics studio and darkroom, the Dorr Museum, the college waterfront, Great Duck Island, Mount Desert Rock, the school’s fleet of boats, Beech Hill and Peggy Rockefeller farms, North Woods Ways, the Cox Protectorate, and the college’s proximity to and relationship with Acadia National Park.

Qualifications:

MFA or other relevant terminal degree (completed by start date) or equivalent professional experience is required. We seek a teacher with a demonstrated track record of successful college teaching who is also a practicing artist with a developing body of work. Candidates must have knowledge and specific expertise in different areas of contemporary art and culture, as well as an effective understanding of art history, theory, and criticism. Candidates should be able to clearly articulate how their teaching practice addresses categories of difference in meaningful ways, including a working analysis of how structural barriers, inequities, and disparities play out in higher education.

How to apply:

Interested candidates should submit the following materials to SlideRoom via: https://coasearch.slideroom.com

• Letter of Application
• Curriculum Vitae including full names with complete contact information for three references (references will be contacted personally during the final stages of the process. Letters of recommendation will not be considered).
• Selected portfolio of work samples
• Selected portfolio of student work
• Teaching Statement that provides demonstrated methods and strategies and specifically articulates ways in which you effectively engage with difference (including racial, gender, economic, and disability differences) in your artistic practice and in the classroom.
• 5-7 short course proposals (brief descriptions, not syllabi). Please include at least one foundational course; and one advanced course incorporating your research/practice interests. Some proposals may be courses you have previously taught, but at least 2 should be courses you’d like to teach if given the opportunity.

Review of materials will begin on November 22, 2024, and continue until positions are filled. We anticipate holding the first round of online interviews in early January. The anticipated start date for this position is September 1, 2025. Questions about the search may be directed to search committee co-chairs Jodi Baker and Jonathan Henderson via the following email address: arts-faculty-search@coa.edu. Questions about SlideRoom and application support can be directed to Academic Services Administrator Lothar Holzke at lholzke@coa.edu.

About COA:

COA is an interdisciplinary college of approximately 350 students and 35 full-time faculty where critical theory is tied to practice. Faculty are not organized via departments, and all students design their own major in Human Ecology (BA, MPhil). The average class size is 13. Our educational approach integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and seeks to understand and improve the relationships between humans and their built, natural, and social-cultural environments. Twenty-four percent of our students are international. Of our US students, roughly one in six are first-generation college students, and about 40% are low-income (eligible for the Federal Pell Grant). To better understand the work of the college, please visit our website at www.COA.edu.

COA operates with an unranked faculty structure. There is no tenure, but there is a formal contract review process in the third, fifth, and eighth years. The advertised positions are for full-time faculty members. Based on experience, starting salaries range from $73,500 to $110,000.

College of the Atlantic (COA) is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to fostering learning and working environments free from discrimination. The college adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. In employment, admissions, and access to our educational programs, COA does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, sex or gender (including gender identity and expression), pregnancy, sexual orientation, religion, religious practices, mental or physical disability, genetic predisposition, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, veteran status, marital or partnership status, or any other legally protected status.