Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Material Futures (Concordia University, Montreal)

(French version: https://www.concordia.ca/finearts/about/jobs/matieres-davenir.html)

The Department of Design and Computation Arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Concordia University invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position in Material Futures to begin August 1, 2019.

Position Description

We are seeking applicants with a focus on socio-cultural and environmentally sustainable textiles and fabrics, including bio or bio-inspired textiles, second skin and softwear, responsive garments, soft surfaces, and slow fashion. The ideal candidate will complement and extend existing faculty expertise in responsive wearables and alternative garment production and have a research-creation or practice-based focus in one or more of the following areas:

Biomaterials, biomimetic fashion, bio-inspired generative or regrowth textiles.
New methods, machines, and technical considerations utilizing seam or seamless technologies, fabric printing, no waste patterning, 3D printing.
Materials for interaction, interface, and interplay in wearables; interlocking fibres, mesh, membrane, or curative skins in areas of health and wellness.
Slow fashion, low footprint production, life cycle assessment in sustainable garments.
Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be expected to teach courses in the unit’s Design program at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as supervise students and directed study courses in the Master of Design and both the Individualized and Humanities doctoral programs. The discourse and practice of critical materiality is embedded within the department’s teaching, programs, and research-creation. The successful candidate will benefit from current research capacity in Design and Computation Arts, and will be expected to contribute to the Textiles and Materiality Cluster at the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, as well as to the Hexagram network for research-creation in Media Arts, Design, Technology and Digital Culture. Other responsibilities include serving on graduate committees and performing suitable administrative duties. Over time, the selected candidate will actively embrace program stewardship and engage in committee work at the department and Faculty levels.

Qualifications

Applicants for this position must hold a PhD or terminal degree in a relevant discipline. The ability to attract and mentor high performing graduate students is considered essential. Prior experience of service and commitment to diversity and inclusivity will stand as a high priority. Although classes are taught in English, a foundation in French would be considered a strong asset.

About the Faculty and Department

With over 4,000 students, faculty, and staff, the Faculty of Fine Arts is the largest comprehensive arts, design, and performance schools in North America. Montreal, our home, is exceptional. With 170,000 university students, a vibrant cultural scene, and the most affordable tuition in Canada, we are the country’s top choice for tertiary education in the arts. While supporting a significant Anglophone population, Montreal is the second largest French-speaking city after Paris. As North America’s number one choice for international events and festivals, Montreal was also the first metropolis to be designated a UNESCO City of Design by the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity. Nestled in the heart of this pulsing city, embraced by a dynamic research university, the Faculty of Fine Arts benefits from extraordinary access to brilliant practitioners, thriving venues, cross-cultural perspectives, and an extensive network of outstanding facilities for research and production.

Taking advantage of our place within the rich fabric of a research university and our long history as one of the premiere sites in Canada for the study and creation of the arts and arts-based scholarship, the Faculty of Fine Arts is currently engaged in a transformative moment in which pedagogical, conceptual, theoretical, and material practices find resonance with a significant diversity of approaches. In our university community, we value equally those practices that embrace aesthetic activism, live performance historical scholarship, technical experimentation, skills-based production, community fieldwork, as well as traditional and digital fabrication. In addition to curricular experimentation, the formation of significant research centres and external partnerships in Fine Arts have enriched opportunities for faculty and students.

The Department of Design and Computation Arts offers a BFA Major in Design and a Master of/Magisteriate in Design (MDes), both of which emphasize the areas of visual communication, the built environment, design studies, and interaction design, within the overarching principles of socio-cultural environmental sustainability and critical engagement. Catalyzed significantly by the increasing role that digital technology has played in design in every aspect of daily life, teaching and research within the department address design as an experimental and collaborative discipline, exploring the complementarity of research and practice (www.concordia.ca/mdes). While the department is expanding its research capacity around “Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities”, Design faculty are already working with several transdisciplinary and inter-university groups that focus on sustainability and the built environment. There is a strong desire to further strengthen collaborations with the Institute for Urban Futures, Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, Centre for Sensory Studies, Centre for Zero Energy Building Studies, Concordia Institute for Water, Energy and Sustainable Systems, and others.

How to Apply

Applications should be submitted electronically to [email protected] and consist of: a cover letter, curriculum vitae, copies of recent publications, a statement of research achievements including funding and research supervision, a statement of teaching philosophy and interests, evidence of teaching effectiveness and supervision, a portfolio of works (.pdf or website) and the names and contact information of three referees. Short-listed candidates will be required to provide an attestation of terminal degree. Digital applications (.pdf and web formats) should reach the department on or before November 15, 2018.

All inquiries regarding this position should be directed to:

pk langshaw
Professor and Chair
Department of Design and Computation Arts
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 514-848-2424 ext. 4789

More information and links are available here: http://www.concordia.ca/finearts/about/jobs/material-futures.html

Subject to budgetary approval, we anticipate filling this position, normally at the rank of Assistant Professor, for August 1, 2019. Appointments at a more senior level will also be considered. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.