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.

Requirements

Required Qualifications: The successful candidate must meet all of the following

• Terminal degree (MFA, PhD, or PhD ABD) in Dance or related field.
• Potential for record of achievement in the field at a national or international level, in alignment with the unit’s tenure and promotion criteria.
• Evidence of successful collaboration and collegiality with faculty, students, and staff.
• Evidence of skill in designing and facilitating academic work that advances curiosity, respect, open intellectual discourse, and the welcome incorporation and well-being of all in an environment of complex differences.

Preferred Qualifications: The successful candidate will meet some of the following

• Teaching experience of 3 to 5 years beyond graduate assistantship at the university level
• Record of achievement in the field at a national or international level, in alignment with the unit’s tenure and promotion criteria.
• Evidence of a commitment to innovative and cross-disciplinary curricula
• Demonstrated aptitude for working toward structural and strategic change
• Demonstrated capacity for effective engagement in recruitment
• Evidence of success in negotiation and collaboration toward creative and administrative goals