| Job Description: |
The University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance seeks an established or emerging dance professional with primary expertise in contemporary African diaspora practices with a focus on street, hip hop, and/or rooted/vernacular jazz dance for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor.
The successful candidate will have expertise in street, hip hop, and/or jazz dance and a secondary expertise in one or more of the following: other contemporary dance practices stemming from African and African Diasporic experiences, Asian, Southeast Asian, Indigenous, or Latinx dance forms; improvisation; interdisciplinary approaches to teaching composition, technology, pedagogy, kinesiology, dance history/ theory/ cultural studies, and/or others. The candidate will maintain an active research profile, demonstrate a commitment to teaching excellence and creative collaboration, and show evidence of effective student guidance and mentoring.
We especially welcome candidates who, through teaching, creative research, and/or choreographic practice, explicitly recognize and develop the connections between African diaspora traditions and concert/commercial dance contexts, situating contemporary practices within their cultural and historical lineages.
This position calls for a teacher-artist whose creative research and choreographic practice informs their pedagogy and supports the School’s commitment to preparing students for wide-ranging professional trajectories in dance, performance, and creative practice.
The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be 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 position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for justice on local and global levels.
This position is covered by the United Faculty of Florida Contract. You can view this employment union contract here https://admin.hr.ufl.edu/compliance/employee-relations-and-ethics/union-negotiations/united-faculty-of-florida-contract/.
Responsibilities:
- Teach undergraduate curriculum in African diaspora dance practices, with a focus on street, hip hop, and jazz. Under the current curricula, typical teaching assignments for tenure/tenure-track positions in dance are 6-7 credits (typically 3 courses) each semester.
- Develop, revise, and deliver curriculum in Contemporary African Dance Practices.
- Maintain active national and international creative research profile in areas of specialization, consistent with expectations for tenure and promotion.
- Contribute to curricular efforts in other dance-related areas (could include choreography, improvisation, dance studies, cultural studies, dance pedagogy, somatics, dance and technology, digital media, and/or production, among others, including teaching and developing new Quest courses or existing General Education courses).
- Active participation in our learning community, finding innovative ways to connect the arts to critical discourses in other disciplines.
- Participate in the dance season, choreographing or providing artistic leadership for performances as assigned.
- Ability to situate African diaspora and concert/commercial dance practices within broader cultural and historical lineages.
- Maintain an active creative research agenda and/or choreographic practice that informs teaching.
- Commitment to preparing students for a wide range of professional trajectories in dance and performance.
- Advise BA and BFA senior projects.
- Participate in shared governance through service to School, College, and University committees
- Participate in effective student recruitment, guidance, and retention.
SCHOOL OF THEATRE + DANCE: The light-filled Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion is home to the School of Theatre + Dance (SoTD). The School’s international full-time faculty of 35 recognized artists and researchers, complemented by adjunct and guest faculty and staff, including full- and part-time professionals. The School offers MFA curricula in acting and in design, which includes scene design, lighting design and costume design; BFA programs in acting, musical theatre, and theatrical production with concentrations in costume, digital media, lighting, scenic, and sound; and a BA with concentrations in general theatre, stage management, and theatre management. The School features two degree programs in dance designed to develop the individual voice of the dance artist, a BFA and a BA. Approximately 200 students major in the artistically diverse curricula of the School of Theatre + Dance. Through its production program, outreach and innovative programming, the School of Theatre + Dance provides multiple cultural opportunities annually to thousands of members of the University and the greater community. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance and the National Association of Schools of Theatre. For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/theatreanddance.
THE 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 135 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. 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.
|