Parsons School of Design, a division of The New School, seeks applicants for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of assistant professor within the School of Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT).

The ideal candidate will have expertise in innovative methodologies that engage with historical research periods centrally related to Latinx/Latin American and Caribbean design and material cultures. Candidates must demonstrate interdisciplinarity in their research and, in particular, we seek candidates whose research extends across historical periods and investigates design and material culture through transnational debates and global processes of migration, exchange, appropriation, hybridization, and indigeneity. We are open to a research focus on contemporary  and  historical dimensions of Latinx/Latin American or Caribbean design history and material culture, understanding of Caribbean diaspora, with particular interest in scholars who can teach in both areas. 

Faculty in ADHT are expected to teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as within Parsons’s First Year Program. Given ADHT’s position within an art and design school, we are also interested in candidates whose work bridges history and theory with design practice.

The faculty member will teach five courses or the equivalent per year at both undergraduate and graduate levels, to students from a variety of disciplines across Parsons and The New School. The faculty member will hold regular office hours for students and colleagues, and participate in other classroom and extracurricular activities on a regular basis. University citizenship includes service activities that may include program directorship (with course release), and rotating leadership roles on curriculum, search and promotion committees. Tenure-track faculty are expected to continue to participate actively and with distinction in creative or scholarly work. 

The position will be expected to provide support to the undergraduate core curriculum and the undergraduate minors within ADHT, and contribute to the connections among the school’s two graduate degree programs in Fashion Studies and in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies (in collaboration with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum).  The faculty member will  contribute to development of  cross-college curriculum between Parsons, the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, NSSR, the School of Public Engagement, and Parsons Paris. The faculty member will be expected to be an active part of a leadership team to implement curricular and academic policies, and must contribute to maintaining an educationally diverse and creative community in all its activities and programs. 

The work of this faculty member is divided between (1) teaching, (2) scholarship or professional/creative practice, and (3) university service. The standard teaching load is five courses––or the equivalent––per academic year. Within their field of expertise, the faculty member will be expected to teach undergraduate, including First Year, as well as graduate courses, to majors and non-majors. They will hold regular office hours, and participate in extracurricular teaching activities such as critiques, review panels, thesis supervision, independent study, and advising. University service includes program, Parsons, and New School assignments on committees and task forces, and as program directors or associate directors with a reduced teaching load in graduate and undergraduate programs, including the undergraduate First Year. All faculty are expected to be engaged with scholarship or professional/creative practice at a level commensurate with their faculty rank.

The New School is dedicated to creating and maintaining an environment committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all areas of employment and education, as well as access to its educational, artistic, or cultural programs and activities. The New School does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, creed, sex, or gender (including actual or perceived gender identity or expression or transgender status), sexual orientation, sexual and other reproductive health decisions, pregnancy, religion, religious practices, mental or physical disability, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, veteran status, marital or partnership status, or any other legally protected status.

Minimum Qualifications

The ideal candidate should have:

• A completed PhD in Art and Architectural History, American Studies, Design History, Design Studies, History, Hispanic Studies, Material Culture, Visual Studies, or related field.

   

• Minimum 3-5 years teaching experience at the university level with a commitment to undergraduate as well as graduate pedagogy. 

   

• Active and current experimental, creative and critical scholarship especially in the area of design practice.

   

• Demonstrated history of developing critical, historical and theoretical discussion around multidisciplinarity in the classroom as they relate to design and contemporary culture.

   

• Ability to develop and nurture individual student’s design thinking abilities and a strong commitment to progressive design pedagogies.

   

• Commitment to research and scholarship toward developing serious, critical and theoretical discourse.

   

• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with faculty and students.

   

• Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills.

   

• Good management skills, including the ability to meet deadlines, communicate and motivate effectively.

   

• Ability to adhere to University COVID-19 Policy.

   

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with / commitment to curricular and community-building work for first-year college students; capacity to lead in the context of a first-year studies program.

   

Work Modality

On-Campus Position: Faculty are expected to work on-campus due to the nature of the work in accordance with the University policies as set forth in the Full-Time Faculty Handbook.

Salary Range = $75,000 - $90,000 per annum

Special Instructions to Applicants

Applicants may be contacted at the discretion of the search committee for additional materials, such as digital portfolio/work samples.