Position: Full-time, 9-month, tenure-accruing faculty position

Date of Expected Hire: August 16, 2023

Salary range: $74,000. Commensurate with qualifications and experience. Eligible for a comprehensive and competitive benefits package.

The School of Art + Art History in the College of the Arts at the University of Florida invites applications for two tenure-accruing faculty positions in Graphic Design/Design & Visual Communications programs (Design) at the level of Assistant Professor. These two positions will contribute to a vibrant, growing program with a forward-looking curriculum at a top-5 public research university. They will join the program at an exciting moment of expansion and development that parallels the university’s increased cultivation of research and the student experience.

We seek visionary educators with the skills to advance our undergraduate and graduate design program through research, teaching, and service. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a conceptual, scholarly approach to design practice and research; an understanding of contemporary design practice, discourse, and technologies; and engagement with questions of culture, community, pluriversality, interculturality, and anti-racism. We welcome applicants who can contribute to a diverse and inclusive environment in all aspects of their work. In addition, successful candidates can expect to work with students, faculty, staff, and communities from a wide range of disciplines, and social and cultural backgrounds.

The University of Florida College of the Arts is 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:

Teaching

-Teach a 2-2 load of courses in graphic design/design & visual communications at the undergraduate and graduate levels

-Supervise graduate committees, internships, and independent study students

-Contribute to curriculum design, program development, and program outreach

-Actively participate in our learning community

Research

-Conduct a strong program of research appropriate to the discipline

Service

-Participate in shared governance through service to the School, College, and University

GRAPHIC DESIGN/DESIGN & VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM

We are a vibrant and dynamic design program fostering an understanding of cultures, contexts, and impact to be a catalyst for change through design. We encourage students to participate actively in their learning experiences, cultivate their backgrounds and interests, and bring these to bear within the learning community and in their work. We currently offer a BFA in Graphic Design and an MFA in Design & Visual Communications with a new BA degree moving towards approval. The BFA in Graphic Design is centered on a uniquely collaborative studio/classroom environment where students work together within a dynamic learning community. This structure is key to our curriculum, as it empowers and prepares students for life-long careers as design professionals. The graduate program attracts an international, interdisciplinary group of students interested in the study of design as a transformative social and educational practice. Our alumni work in various positions, including user experience design, design strategy, brand development, environmental and exhibition design, art direction, and numerous other specialties within and beyond communication design.

For more information, visit:

https://www.snapshot.ufdesigners.com (additional information for applicants)

https://www.arts.ufl.edu/design

SCHOOL OF ART + ART HISTORY

Organized within the College of the Arts, the School of Art + Art History nurtures a culture of critical inquiry in our scholarly and creative work. Our educational mission is to empower each student with knowledge, skills, and insight to engage thoughtfully with our changing world. The SA+AH believes that art, design, and scholarship are critical to our local, university, regional, national, and international communities. We pursue positive transformation and impact through socially engaged, local and global education, research, and creative works. Our community asks challenging questions, takes risks, and strives for excellence through an interdisciplinary, inclusive, and often collaborative practice. School of Art + Art History faculty publish, curate, and exhibit widely and internationally. They bring their scholarship and production into their teaching, offering innovative, engaged learning experiences to their students. We foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community through mutual respect and acceptance, assuming the best in others to enable a culture where everyone can flourish. Degree programs include the BA, BFA, MA, MFA, and PhD. Areas of study include art education, art history, design, museum studies, and studio art. The school has 400 undergraduate students enrolled in our majors and 190 graduate students in our residential programs and online art education MA. Also, a part of the School of Art + Art History are the 4Most Gallery and the University Galleries—Gary R. Libby University Gallery, Gary R. Libby Focus Gallery, and Constance and Linton Grinter Gallery of International Art — which provide exhibition space for contemporary art, including student work. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The art education program is accredited by NCATE. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/art.

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.   

THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation, ranked one of the top five best public universities in the nation in the 2021 U.S. News & World Report. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida, with outstanding resources such as the University of Florida Performing Arts (Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Squitieri Studio Theatre, the Baughman Center, University Auditorium), the Harn Museum of Art, the Florida Museum of Natural History and in the community, the Hippodrome State Theatre and Dance Alive National Ballet.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

-Terminal graduate degree (MFA, MDes, MGD, PhD) in graphic design, visual communication design, or closely related field

-Promise of excellence in research

-Experience teaching at the university level and ability to teach across the design program’s curriculum

-Knowledge of contemporary design practice, discourse, and technologies

-Evidence of success in promoting an environment that advances access, equity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications:

-Demonstrated commitment to pluriversal design approaches and concern for design impact

-Experience working collaboratively and across disciplines

-Record of excellence in research

-Record of excellence in graduate teaching

-Professional and/or research experience in one or more of the following areas:

—-UI/UX

—-social design

—-data visualization

—-motion design

—-design and ______; tell us what you bring with you