Rhode Island School of Design is hiring an Assistant or Associate Professor, Ceramics
Posted on November 3, 2023 – Apply here
The Department of Ceramics in the Division of Fine Arts at Rhode Island School of Design invites applications for a full-time faculty appointment at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, to commence fall 2024. Rank will be dependent on experience.
RISD recognizes principles of social equity, inclusion, and diversity as fundamental to its academic mission as an art and design school. We understand these principles to require ongoing attention to differential embodied experience and expansion of the forms of knowledge from which our curricula originate. RISD is engaged in the collective work of institutional transformation and would value applicants whose pedagogical and professional experiences have prepared them to foster equitable teaching and learning environments. We seek applicants whose teaching and professional work (creative practice and/or academic scholarship) attends to embodied difference as intersectional and centers on bodies of knowledge from historically underrepresented communities. We particularly encourage applicants who can help advance the institution’s social equity, inclusion, and diversity goals and those from groups whose underrepresentation in the American professoriate has been severe and long standing, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, veterans, people with disabilities, and first-generation college students.
The Department of Ceramics seeks applicants who demonstrate awareness of diverse traditions, histories, discourses, and practices in ceramics and the broader field of contemporary art, and who are able to incorporate this awareness into the inclusive pedagogies they employ and into the development of new curricula. In particular, applicants should have the capability to develop undergraduate and graduate curricula that helps to both steward and advance the department and the field.
Applicants should have a professional focus in wheel thrown and wheel based ceramic techniques as well as experience in atmospheric kiln firing theory and methodology. Additional experience and knowledge should include hand building and sculptural techniques, ceramic glaze chemistry and glaze and surface finishing.
Applicants with research interests in material studies and/or sustainability would be welcome, as would applicants who are interested in pursuing collaborative research and/or collaborative teaching opportunities with colleagues from across the institution.
Faculty in the Ceramics Department participate with staff in shared responsibilities for facilities, and in planning for how the development of those facilities aligns with the advancement of curriculum. Additionally, leadership responsibilities in the Ceramics Department, such as Department Head and Graduate Program Director roles, rotate.
Required Qualifications
• MFA in Ceramics, or MFA in another fine arts discipline and relevant ceramics experience
• Demonstrated expertise in wheel-thrown and wheel-based ceramic techniques
• Demonstrated expertise in ceramic hand-building/sculpture techniques
• Demonstrated expertise in ceramic firing equipment and technology, theory, and methodology
• Demonstrated ability to teach across a range of studio courses, from the sophomore level to the master’s level, in a way that fosters student development in critical thinking, critical making, and critique skills relevant to Ceramics
• Demonstrated ability to teach a diverse student body and employ inclusive pedagogies
• Demonstrated commitment to effectively mentor and advise students, including students from minoritized and marginalized social groups
• Substantial and active creative/professional practice as demonstrated by portfolio of work and CV, appropriate to the level of appointment
Preferred Qualifications
• Demonstrated knowledge of production processes such Mold Making, Slip Casting and Ram Pressing
• Demonstrated knowledge of 3D printing processes
• Research interests in material studies and/or sustainability.
• Experience in developing and shaping curricula through innovative teaching
• Demonstrated experience in curriculum development
• Demonstrated administrative experience
• Demonstrated experience with outreach and recruitment activity related to undergraduate and graduate education
RISD/ Department Description
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is an undergraduate and graduate college of art and design with approximately 2,500 graduate and undergraduate students. RISD has a critical review process, which is very similar to the tenure process. RISD supports faculty professional practice with sabbaticals, pre-critical review leave, conference funds, and professional development grants. For more information about RISD, please visit www.risd.edu.
The mission of RISD’s renowned Ceramics program is to instruct a highly diverse population of BFA and MFA students in the concepts, methods, and practices of ceramic art and design; to facilitate progressive creative explorations in the field; and through open critical process, support the growth of personal expression and artistic identity in the medium. The department is committed to providing equitable, accessible, inclusive, and expansive instruction. The curriculum stresses the importance of global cultures, concepts, materials, and processes from ancient to contemporary times.
In addition to the fully-equipped facilities on the RISD campus, which include electric and gas kilns, a glaze lab, 3D Potters, mold making and slip casting, and Ram Pressing, the department also has collaborative kilns at The Steel Yard, a non-profit industrial arts complex 1.5 miles from the school. This site houses a wood kiln, soda kiln, raku kiln, and an area for experimental firing processes.
Additional connections to the professional world are maintained through internships, seminars, speakers, and interactions with visiting artists and critics. Collaborative projects with artists and faculty from other RISD departments bring vibrancy to RISD’s small but vital ceramics community.
Faculty Responsibilities
The full-time faculty teaching load is six teaching units a year. In addition to teaching, full-time faculty are expected to maintain a dynamic professional practice, serve on college committees, advise students, participate in curriculum development and other departmental and/or divisional activities and projects, and contribute to the vibrancy of the intellectual life of the college.
Union: Yes
Salary Information
For information about base pay for this position, please refer to Article XII “Salaries” (p. 19-22) in the Faculty Association Collective Bargaining Contract 2022-2025. The contract indicates the minimum base salary for each rank.
Pre-employment Requirement
The successful candidate will be required to meet our pre-employment background screening requirements.
Special Instructions to Applicants
RISD Faculty Search Committees comprise colleagues from within and outside of the hiring Department.
Please attach the following to the appropriate links in the section labeled “Documents Needed to Apply”:
1.) Letter of intent that addresses the qualifications and responsibilities listed above
2.) Curriculum vitae
3.) A teaching philosophy that articulates your approach to inclusive pedagogy
4.) Two syllabi (in one PDF)
5.) Portfolio of images of recent professional work (20 images maximum, in one PDF, the images should be submitted in slideshow format and include an image description list or descriptive captions)
6.) Portfolio of images of student work (20 images maximum, in one PDF, images should be submitted in slideshow format and include an image description list and contextualizing captions)
Applications may not be edited once they are certified and submitted.
File size is limited to 10 MB per file.
Only materials that have been requested will be considered.
The only links that may be included are those that refer to work already contained in the portfolio of images of recent professional work and/or those that refer to work already contained in the portfolio of images of student work. Links to time-based work are permitted. Time-based samples of recent professional work should not exceed 15 minutes, in total. Time-based samples of student work should not exceed 10 minutes, in total.
Names and contact information for three references are requested as part of the application process. Requests for reference letters are sent directly to the reference providers when candidates become finalists.
Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Candidates who submit their materials by December 8, 2023 are assured full consideration.
EEO Statement
RISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.
