Assistant or Associate Professor, Photography + Expanded Media (Schiller Family Professorship in

Posting Details

Position Information

Title
Assistant or Associate Professor, Photography + Expanded Media (Schiller Family Professorship in Race in Art & Design)

Department
Photography

Division
Fine Arts

Employment Type
Full-Time

Critical Review Track (similar to tenure track)
Yes

Position Description

Rhode Island School of Design ( RISD ) invites applications for a critical-review track Assistant or Associate Professor position in Photography. This search is part of RISD’s “Race in Art & Design” cluster hire initiative, and the successful candidate will carry the title of ‘Schiller Family Professorship in Race in Art & Design’, with an appointment to begin in the fall of 2025. Rank will be dependent on professional status and teaching experience.

RISD recognizes principles of social equity, inclusion, and diversity as fundamental to its academic mission as an art and design school. We understand these principles to require ongoing attention to difference and expansion of the forms of knowledge from which our curricula originate. RISD is engaged in the collective work of institutional transformation and would value applicants whose pedagogical and professional experiences have prepared them to foster equitable teaching and learning environments. We encourage applicants whose teaching and professional work (creative practice and/or academic scholarship) centers on bodies of knowledge from historically underrepresented communities. We are eager to welcome applicants who can help advance the institution’s social equity, inclusion, and diversity goals and those from groups whose underrepresentation in the American professoriate has been severe and long standing, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, veterans, people with disabilities, and first-generation college students.

Central to the implementation of our evolving social equity and inclusion initiatives, this hire aims to grow our cross-institutional expertise in discourses tied to questions of race, colonization, decolonization, post-coloniality, and cultural representation, as well as in material practices of resistance.
As part of this intentional hiring, we seek faculty whose expertise in research, creative practice, or scholarship demonstrates a commitment to works and bodies of knowledge from historically underrepresented communities. Preferably, the applicant’s pedagogical approach is centered on the photographic image and interdisciplinary practice, such as expertise in performance, installation, and moving image (among other forms). Candidates should be prepared to develop syllabi that speak to varied cultural fluencies for studio and seminar courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and to lead classes and critiques that model constructive, inclusive discussions and encourage students to grow creatively and intellectually.

Required Qualifications

• MFA or equivalent degree.
• A demonstrated commitment to research, teaching, and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of intersecting social groups.
• Experience developing curriculum and pedagogies that expand the possibilities of the medium of photography, challenge exclusionary historical canons, and discuss the means in which the photograph has been central to contemporary issues around race, equity, and difference.
• A comprehensive knowledge of teaching interdisciplinary courses that include photography, installation, moving image, performance, and other content that encompass technical, conceptual, experimental, historical, and social practices from introductory to graduate level.
• Someone with a commitment to collective collaboration, team building, and shared efforts to shape the role of the Photography department and contribute to its success both within the college and outside it.
• Ability to engage various constituencies and communities in dialogue and initiatives related to race in art and design.

Preferred Qualifications

RISD/ Department Description

Rhode Island School of Design ( RISD ) is an undergraduate and graduate college of art and design with approximately 2,500 graduate and undergraduate students. RISD has a critical review process, which is very similar to the tenure process. RISD supports faculty professional practice with sabbaticals, pre-critical review leave, conference funds, and professional development grants. For more information about RISD, please visit www.risd.edu .

The Department of Photography is composed of artists working in a variety of approaches, and social practices. We have a low faculty-to-student ratio and seek applicants who highly value their role as mentors and teachers. We share a commitment to help students define the scope of their ambitions and then provide the means to achieve them by developing long-term critical practices, photographic literacies, and engaged research. The successful candidate will be an important voice in shaping pedagogy within the department and throughout the larger RISD community. They will also be called upon to serve in administrative positions such as Department Head and Graduate Director within the department as needed.

Faculty Responsibilities

The full-time faculty teaching load is five teaching units a year. In addition to teaching, full-time faculty are expected to maintain a dynamic professional practice, serve on college committees, advise students, participate in curriculum development and other departmental and/or divisional activities and projects, and contribute to the vibrancy of the intellectual life of the college.

Union
Yes

Salary Information

For information about base pay for this position, please refer to Article XII “Salaries” (p. 19-22) in the Faculty Association Collective Bargaining Contract 2022-2025 . The contract indicates the minimum base salary for each rank.

Pre-employment Requirement

The successful candidate will be required to meet our pre-employment background screening requirements.

Special Instructions to Applicants

RISD Faculty Search Committees comprise colleagues from within and outside of the hiring Department.

Please attach the following to the appropriate links in the section labeled “Documents Needed to Apply”:

1.) Letter of intent that addresses the qualifications and responsibilities listed above
2.) Curriculum vitae
3.) A teaching philosophy that articulates your approach to inclusive pedagogy
4.) Recent Syllabi from studio courses and/or seminars that would reflect your own interest in theory, research, and/or studio practice in PDF form (25 pages max).
5.) Examples of creative work and support materials in PDF form (25 pages max).
6.) Examples of student work and support materials in PDF form (25 pages max).

Applications may not be edited once they are certified and submitted.

File size is limited to 10 MB per file.

Only materials that have been requested will be considered.

Names and contact information for three references are requested as part of the application process at the finalist stage.

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Candidates who submit their materials by January 6, 2025 are assured full consideration.

EEO Statement

RISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.

Posting Detail Information

Posting Number
F00117P

Open Date

Close Date

Open Until Filled
Yes
Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

Documents Needed To Apply
Required Documents

1. Cover Letter
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. Portfolio of Professional Work
4. Portfolio of Student Work
5. Teaching Philosophy
6. Sample Syllabi

Optional Documents