Assistant Professor of Dance, African and/or African Diasporic Dance and Culture
Position Overview
Organization: Dance
Title: Assistant Professor of Dance, African and/or African Diasporic Dance and Culture
Position Details
Position Description
The Department of Dance at the University of Washington in Seattle invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Dance to start in September 2022. This position has a nine-month service period.
The UW Department of Dance currently serves approximately 60 majors in our BA program, 80% of whom double major, 75 minors, and six graduate students earning MFAs. In addition, we serve hundreds of non-majors each year. Our students, staff, and faculty aspire to create a community built on respect, equity, collaboration, and empathy. We recognize that equity is essential to the existence and prolificacy of dance, and critical to the creation of a more just and inclusive dance field. By striving to promote an environment welcoming to people of all cultures, races, sexes, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities and/or expressions, ages, religions, and economic statuses, we believe creativity, critical thinking, and self-expression can thrive. To that end, we are launching a revised BA degree in 2022 that brings African and African Diasporic dance into more equal partnership with Western concert dance in our curriculum. In addition, we are continuing to re-envision our department through diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) work, including ongoing diversification of our curriculum, faculty expertise, and concert programming.
Job Duties: The selected candidate will teach dance and culture courses and at least one African and/or African Diasporic technique at all levels (for example: West African, street styles, Afro-Latinx dances, and/or social dance). This candidate will also teach one or more of the following: dance and culture courses related to race, colonization, and power; dance making; dance histories; or embodied rhythms. Candidates will have the opportunity to teach other courses of interest.
Additional responsibilities include student mentoring, department service, participation on MFA supervisory committees, and other duties as assigned. Opportunities may also include directing and/or choreographing for concerts featuring work by faculty and guests.
All University of Washington faculty engage in teaching, research, and service. As a Research I university (meaning the highest level of research activity), UW seeks to hire people with outstanding qualifications who are developing and/or maintaining an ongoing professional career at a national/international level. Faculty in the Department of Dance provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary education in dance to a highly diverse student population, on a campus with more than 60,000 students, including 31% first-generation college students, over 30% Pell Grant students, and over 31,000 faculty and staff from more than 70 countries. The candidate is also expected to actively contribute to the diversity, equity and inclusivity goals of the Department, as articulated above, and in the UW Diversity Blueprint (http://www.washington.edu/diversity/diversity-blueprint/). People who do not see themselves historically represented in academia are encouraged to apply.
Qualifications
Terminal degree, or foreign equivalent, in dance or a related field required by start of appointment. Candidates must demonstrate expertise in African and/or African Diasporic dances and their cultural histories, a record of creative and/or scholarly activities, and a minimum of one year prior experience (part-time acceptable) teaching dance at the college or university level. The successful candidate will have effective communication skills and be interested in collaboration and building sustained relationships within the department and across campus, including our student body. Successful candidates for our assistant professor position will demonstrate evidence of commitment to advancing the DEIA goals outlined above, including ongoing diversification of our curriculum, faculty expertise, and concert programming.
Instructions
Review of applications will begin October 15, 2021. To ensure full consideration all application documents must be submitted by October 15, 2021. Applications received after this date may be considered at the discretion of the committee. For questions concerning this position, please contact Jennifer Salk at jsalk@uw.edu.
Candidates should submit the following information:
· Comprehensive CV including brief descriptions of courses taught
· Cover letter
· A statement of no more than 500 words about your research interests
· A statement of no more than 500 words about your commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access as these relate to your research, teaching, service, and mentoring
· Four references (contact information – no formal letters)
All information should be submitted online via Interfolio.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, gender identity or expression, age, disability, or protected veteran status.
Benefits Information
A summary of benefits associated with this title/rank can be found at https://hr.uw.edu/benefits/benefits-orientation/benefit-summary-pdfs/. Appointees solely employed and paid directly by a non-UW entity are not UW employees and are not eligible for UW or Washington State employee benefits.
Commitment to Diversity
The University of Washington is committed to building diversity among its faculty, librarian, staff, and student communities, and articulates that commitment in the UW Diversity Blueprint (http://www.washington.edu/diversity/diversity-blueprint/). Additionally, the University’s Faculty Code recognizes faculty efforts in research, teaching and/or service that address diversity and equal opportunity as important contributions to a faculty member’s academic profile and responsibilities (https://www.washington.edu/admin/rules/policies/FCG/FCCH24.html#2432).
Privacy Notice
Review the University of Washington Privacy Notice for Demographic Data of Job Applicants and University Personnel to learn how your demographic data are protected, when the data may be used, and your rights.
Disability Services
To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu.
COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements and Information
Under University of Washington (UW) Policy, University-compensated personnel must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof thereof, or receive a UW-approved medical or religious exemption. This requirement will be a condition of any offer associated with this recruitment. For more information, please visit https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/vaccination-requirement/.