Assistant Professor – Interior Design
- Employer
- The University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Location
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Salary
- Will discuss with applicants
View more categoriesView less categories
- Faculty Jobs
- Arts & Humanities, Design
- Position Type
- Tenured & Tenure-Track
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Institution Type
- Four-Year Institution
Job Details
Assistant Professor – Interior Design
College of Architecture
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Architecture invites applications for a full-time, nine-month, tenure-track position in Interior Design at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning Fall 2027.
We seek a highly motivated scholar, educator, and designer whose work engages the histories, theories, and contemporary discourse of interior design and the built environment. The successful candidate will demonstrate a commitment to integrating historical and theoretical inquiry with design teaching and practice while developing a productive research and creative scholarship agenda that contributes to peer-reviewed scholarly outcomes.
The position offers opportunities to connect historical and theoretical inquiry with contemporary questions surrounding interiors, architecture, objects, material culture, adaptive reuse, sustainability, civic and public spaces, housing, cultural narratives, or emerging spatial practices.
The Interior Design faculty at UNL supports an intellectually ambitious undergraduate curriculum and contributes to the College of Architecture’s broader mission to be “united by the transformative power of design.” The primary academic home for this position will be the CIDA-accredited Interior Design Program, with opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching, research, and collaboration across the College’s programs in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Community and Regional Planning, and allied disciplines across campus.
Teaching Responsibilities
The position carries a teaching assignment that combines studio instruction with required history/theory courses serving Interior Design, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture undergraduate students. Additional teaching opportunities may include professional electives and advanced seminars at the undergraduate and graduate levels, aligned with candidate’s expertise and program needs.
Anticipated course assignments include:
· IDES 445: History of Interiors and Designed Objects, supporting required history/theory education for Interior Design major and minor seeking students.
· ARCH 241: Modern Architecture History or DSGN 140: Design History, supporting required history/theory education across the College’s undergraduate degree programs and associated minors (ARCH, IDES, LARC).
· Interior Design Studio within the second-, third-, or fourth-year curriculum.
· Opportunities to develop and offer advanced seminars or professional electives aligned with the candidate’s scholarly interests.
The successful candidate will be expected to connect historical and theoretical inquiry with contemporary design education and studio pedagogy, fostering critical thinking and interdisciplinary exchange.
Research and Creative Activity Expectations
The successful candidate will establish and sustain a progressive and productive research and/or creative scholarship agenda in design history, theory, criticism, or related areas of inquiry within the built environment.
Candidates should demonstrate an emerging or established trajectory of scholarly activity with the potential for peer-reviewed publications, books and book chapters, funded research, exhibitions, scholarly awards, or other recognized forms of disciplinary contribution. The College values research and creative scholarship that advances knowledge, informs design education and practice, and contributes to national and international disciplinary discourse.
The successful candidate will be expected to pursue scholarly outcomes consistent with the expectation of a tenure-track faculty appointment at a R1 institution.
Minimum Required Qualifications
· A professional degree in Interior Design, Interior Architecture, or Architecture and a graduate degree in a related discipline; OR
· A terminal professional degree in Interior Design, Interior Architecture, or Architecture (M.Arch, M.ID, MSID, D.Arch, or equivalent); OR
· A Ph.D. in Interior Design, Architecture, Architectural History, Design Studies, Cultural Studies, or a field related to design and the built environment, with undergraduate or graduate studio-based education in Interior Design, Interior Architecture, or Architecture.
Candidates must also demonstrate:
· Expertise in design history, theory, criticism, or related areas of scholarly inquiry.
· Evidence of an active or emerging research and/or creative scholarship trajectory with potential for peer-reviewed scholarly dissemination.
Preferred Qualifications
· Cross-disciplinary academic preparation, including at least one degree in Interior Design or Interior Architecture from a CIDA-accredited professional program.
· Experience teaching interior design or architectural design studios, demonstrated through examples of student work.
· Experience teaching design history/theory coursework in higher education.
· Experience integrating research interests with creative work or design studio teaching.
· NCIDQ certification or eligibility.
· Experience fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in design education, research, or professional practice.
Application Process
Review of applications will begin January 25, 2027, and will continue until the position is filled. To be considered for the position, go to https://employment.unl.edu, requisition F_260147. Click “Apply for this Job,” complete the Faculty/Academic Administrative form, and upload the following required documents.
1. A full curriculum vitae.
2. A single document containing brief statements that outline:
a. Teaching goals, including your approach to integrating research interests into design education and an outline of potential electives related to your scholarly expertise.
b. An agenda for research, scholarship, and/or creative activity.
3. Contact information for three professional references.
4. Portfolio (25 pages max), or a link to your online portfolio, containing:
a. Personal creative activity, scholarship, research, and/or professional work related to your area of focus.
b. Examples of student work and/or studio teaching, where applicable.
Direct interest and questions to:
Associate Professor Nate Bicak, search committee chair
232 Architecture Hall
Lincoln NE 68588-0107
tel: 402-472-9212 email: bicak@unl.edu
The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment. See: Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Organization
Working at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
For 150 Years, A Leader in Higher Education
Always a place of high ambition, University of Nebraska was one of the first institutions west of the Mississippi River to award doctoral degrees - the first was granted in 1896. The University of Nebraska established the world's first undergraduate psychology laboratory. The discipline of ecology was born here, and the campuses reflect that tradition, being recognized as botanical gardens and arboreta. An early institutional interest in literature and the arts provided the foundations for today's Prairie Schooner literary magazine, for the University of Nebraska Press, and for the Sheldon Museum of Art, which houses one of the world's most significant collections of 20th century American art.
Today, Nebraska is one of the nation's leading teaching institutions, and a research leader with a wide array of grant-funded projects aimed at broadening knowledge in the sciences and humanities. Nebraska is also a land-grant university and a member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Benefits
The University of Nebraska offers an extensive benefits package that includes health, life, disability and long term care insurance; retirement accounts; tuition reimbursement for employees and their spouses and dependent children; and reimbursement accounts for health care and dependent day care. Leave policies are designed to help employees deal with personal or family events or crises.
Diversity and Inclusion
In the spirit of the phrase "Every Interaction Matters", UNL has an enacted commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence for our faculty, staff, and students. On our campus, diversity and inclusion are important priorities. Examples include: Husker Dialogues, which is an event that helps first-year students focus on diversity and inclusion and practice handling difficult conversations around difference; three Chancellor's Diversity Commissions that are charged with informing and advising the Chancellor and addressing issues of constituent campus communities; and the establishment of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion whose leader operates at the Vice Chancellor level. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we strive for excellence in all that we do. True excellence requires that each individual be able to work and learn in an atmosphere of respect, dignity, and belonging. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion requires each of us to continuously ensure our interactions are respectful, protect free speech, and inspire academic freedom.
About Lincoln
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is located in an up-and-coming and safe city of 300,000 people that has many of the cultural and entertainment benefits of a much larger city, with the feel of a friendly Midwestern community. The Pinnacle Bank Arena, opened in 2013, routinely hosts major touring acts. A buzzing entertainment district, the Railyard, connects the arena area to the Historic Haymarket. Cuisines from all continents provide the entree to dynamic urban nightlife and a wide variety of ways to enjoy time with friends. Nebraska's City Campus is one with Lincoln's city center, as it has been since the university was founded.Lincoln has more parkland per capita than Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and all but a handful of U.S. cities. The well-manicured Pioneers Park, the native woods of Wilderness Park and the open grassland of Nine-Mile Prairie are each within a 10-minute trip from campus. Connecting many of these parks is an extensive trails network.
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