Aug 21, 2018 Job: Visiting Assistant Professor, Design
Visiting Assistant Professor of Design
The Multi-disciplinary Design Program within The School of Architecture in combination with Digital Matters in the Marriot Library at the University of Utah are conducting a search for a two year Visiting Assistant Professor with an expected start date of January 1, 2019.
Position Description:
The Visiting Assistant Professor position will serve as a joint position lead by the Multi-Disciplinary Design Program and supported by Digital Matters within the Marriot Library. The faculty appointment will run for two years over four academic semesters as a nine-month full-time position. This collaboration will allow faculty to teach in the MDD program and work towards a defined academic project that will serve the mission of Digital Matters. Academic/professional work should demonstrate a strong understanding and experimentation in derivative digital processes and output in relation to spatial, physical and human-scaled experiences. Abstractions and explorations with literal tangents to expand boundaries of understanding and humanities are encouraged. We hope to connect the general public with the edges of academic exploration in the realm of design and humanities. Work presented and proposed should consider sustainable practices.
Position Duties:
• Teach one studio or course during each semester. Course type determined by the director of MDD based on the needs of the program.
• Serve as academic advisor to MDD and Digital Matters for future digital courses and engagement with students
• Programmatic responsibilities for Digital Matters. Serve on committees as determined by the Digital Matters director.
• Instruct one scheduled workshop per semester serving Digital Matters in the Marriot Library for faculty or students.
• End of contract submission of academic work as an exhibit with a visual narrative arranged between MDD and Digital Matters. Added funding is possible to support work once proposal is reviewed and accepted.
Program Descriptions:
Multi-disciplinary Design Program Statement (www.design.utah.edu): Design education is changing. The world of identified design disciplines and analog workflows has broken apart and shifted. A new digital language defines how we see while user experience has evolved from static behavior to the complete immersion of physical space, haptic interaction, and time. The edges have blurred.
There is a gap in the education of designers as process managers, leaders, and collaborators across design disciplines. New leaders acting as boundary spanners are needed.
Design at the University of Utah is a unified front of academics, professionals and students redefining the design language as it evolves beneath and beyond us. Students in the program move through a series of experiences exposing them to high craft, grounded research, ethics, leadership/collaboration skills and new technologies in the digital, physical and platform realms. The challenges are significant and the bar is high for outcomes with impact. Connecting our students to the needs of global culture beyond academics is paramount.