Career Center

Working/Functional Title

Ast/Asc Professor in Graphic Design-CRT

Position Summary

The Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University seeks a full-time, academic year tenure-system or tenured academic appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor of Graphic Design with a focus on Critical Race Studies to commence August 16, 2023.

We seek a designer who centers their practice in visual communication and/or graphic design, while demonstrating the capacity to critically engage issues of race and representation through creative activity. Of particular interest are designers with a record of work that engages with historical and systemic experiences of the racially marked body, that explores the structural inequalities of the present, or that engages at the intersection of race and gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity or religious identity. Applicants should engage contemporary design pedagogies grounded in equity, agency, and critical thinking. Area of design practice is open, but candidates should contribute to the further development of established practices of visual communication and/or extend or combine such practices to extend the field in new directions. Responsibilities include engagement in an active program of teaching (normally, two courses per semester including participation in the College of Arts & Letters’ general education program in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Humanities), research, and service, with outreach components.

This position will contribute to a thriving Graphic Design BFA degree program with students preparing for roles in the profession, as well as the College of Arts and Letters’ interdisciplinary Experience Architecture degree. MSU’s Graphic Design program is oriented by long-term faculty research/creative interests in social justice, environmental sustainability, and critical approaches to design and design technologies as well as deep commitments to the Graphic Design profession. The Graphic Design program is part of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design (AAHD), which also supports undergraduate programs in Apparel and Textile Design, Art Education, Art History and Visual Culture, and Studio Art and an MFA in Studio Art with an interdisciplinary focus. Its faculty are committed to integrating the history and practice of art and design into the MSU community through teaching, research, and public engagement. We further the mission of the arts to deepen understanding of the human condition. Design is embedded in curricular programs and research centers across MSU’s R1/research-intensive university campus, presenting many opportunities for collaboration among faculty with various interests and forms of expertise.

This position builds upon AAHD’s artist/designer residency in Critical Race Studies (2017-22), a visiting faculty program designed to enliven, deepen, and connect campus and community discussions of race through creative practice. Across an academic-year, residents built cross-disciplinary, cross-campus, and/or community-based curricular and creative projects that consistently demonstrated the extraordinary potential for creative practice to create new forms of knowledge about crucial issues of everyday life. The Critical Race Studies residency program is one of many initiatives within the College of Arts and Letters to reinvigorate studies of race and intersectionality, including major investments in the Department of African American and African Studies and continued support of programs in Asian-American Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Chicano/Latino Studies, and Gender and Women’s Studies. MSU has a longstanding commitment to international studies, as well, including centers and programs focused on African Studies, Asian Studies, and Muslim Studies. Applicants should articulate the ways that they could contribute to the broad institutional goals represented by these initiatives, including by working across disciplinary divides to collaborate with other faculty in AAHD, MSU’s College of Arts and Letters or other colleges, as well as a wide array of students.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Degree

Doctorate

Minimum Requirements

An MFA, MGD, MDes, PhD or equivalent terminal degree is required.

Desired Qualifications

Professional experience in the field of graphic design is desirable. 

Required Application Materials

Qualified applicants should submit:

1. a cover letter
2. current curriculum vitae
3. portfolio with up to 20 images of your work in a single PDF
4. a statement of teaching philosophy that highlights your alignment with some of our desired qualifications, including past course experience and a portfolio of 20 images of student work, in a single PDF
5. A 1-page summary of your philosophy of diversity, equity, and inclusion as it pertains their intellectual leadership in the areas of teaching/curriculum development, research/creative activities, service, outreach, advising, and/or administration. The statement should also include an explanation of related past or planned activities/endeavors as well as how the candidate will advance our goals of inclusive excellence.
6. the names and email addresses of 3 potential referees.

Together-we-will Statement

Special Instructions

Review of applications will begin January 16, 2023 and continue until the position is filled. Applications must be submitted electronically to the Michigan State University Human Resources website http://careers.msu.edu. Posting #819408. Note that the system will only support attachments of up to 5MB.

For inquiries contact Karin Zitzewitz, Chair, Search Committee (zitzewit@msu.edu). More information about the Graphic Design program and Department of Art, Art History, and Design is available at https://art.msu.edu.

Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation.

Review of Applications Begins On

01/16/2023

Website

art.msu.edu

Department Statement

The College of Arts & Letters recognizes that only an academic and organizational culture, which actively seeks out and strengthens diverse voices and perspectives among its members results in true excellence. We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The College of Arts & Letters is particularly interested in candidates of all backgrounds who are committed to the principle that intellectual leadership is achieved through open access and pro-active inclusion.

As a department within a land-grant institution, we work “to democratize higher education and expand its opportunities based on merit, not social class.” Our creative work and scholarship are sensitive to the intersections between diverse contemporary contexts and their histories. The department provides an empowering environment where the inherent worth and dignity of all people are respected and celebrated. We recognize the value of diversity, which includes differences of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexuality, age, religion, politics, and socio-economic status. We extend this social definition to include a diversity of aesthetics and modes of scholarship and creative practice.

MSU Statement

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 160 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery and forges enduring partnerships to solve the most pressing global challenges while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.

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About Michigan State University

Spartans work every day to advance the common good in uncommon ways.Together, we tackle some of the world?s toughest problems to find solutions that make life better?from alternative energy to better food safety to breakthrough medical and environmental applications achieved through rare isotope research.We teach. We explore and we discover. We collaborate and lead. We innovate, inspire, and empower. We achieve our potential and create circumstances that help our students and others achieve theirs.We're good at it, and we've been at it for more than 150 years.The nation?s pioneer land-grant university, MSU began as a bold experiment that democratized higher education and helped bring science and innovation into everyday life. The revolutionary concept became a model for the nation.Today, MSU is one of the top research universities in the world?on one of the biggest, greenest campuses in the nation. Home to nationally ranked and recognized academic, residential college, and service-learning programs, we?re a diverse community of dedicated students and scholars, athletes and artists, scientists and leaders.In ways both practical and profound, we work to create a stronger, more sustainable, and more hopeful future for all.

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