Job Posting: tenure-track Assistant Professor – Visual Culture (700-1750), University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Description

The School of Art, Art History & Design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor – Visual Culture specializing in any area or region of art and visual culture between c. 700 and 1750, to begin on August 18, 2025. The ideal candidate will be an innovative teacher-scholar with expertise in the global dimensions of this era – including, but not limited to, the global Middle Ages, global early modernities, and histories of colonial encounters – and will join an innovative academic unit of thinkers and makers, including art, design, and emerging media arts practitioners. We welcome candidates who take transnational, cross-cultural, and/or interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching and who bring novel and inclusive perspectives to their work. This tenure-track position carries a 2/2 teaching load, and the University and College offer competitive grant opportunities for faculty research projects.

The selection committee will consider specialists in the art, design, performance, media, visual culture, or material culture in any region of the world. Since the candidate will play a role in initiating a new major in Visual Cultures & Public Practices, an interest in teaching a liberal-arts-based public practice course, whether in digital humanities, public humanities, cultural heritage, site-specific arts research, community arts programming, or other areas is desirable. In conjunction with helping to envision, co-create, and steward a program based in the liberal arts tradition that provides students with practical experience, the candidate will have the option to develop experiential learning opportunities, including study away or abroad.

The ideal candidate will have strategies to bring their knowledge and research interests alive for our 380+ art, design, and art history majors as well as for minors and non-majors. This position will teach courses to the whole of campus, including in our ACE (general education) sequence, and to STEM learners and all students across the Hixson-Lied College of Fine & Performing Arts. An interest in histories of ceramics, design, and in bridging disciplines through visual communication, is particularly attractive for our expanding programs in these areas.

About the School

The School of Art, Art History & Design is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) with highly regarded and nationally ranked undergraduate and graduate fine arts programs. Being part of a leading land-grant research university offers our students learning opportunities across the humanities and sciences. The diversity of our educational programs, with their international activities, provides extraordinary historical and cultural engagement. Our students work closely with nationally and internationally recognized faculty to advance knowledge and culture.

The School of Art, Art History & Design is part of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts that, through its endowment, funds a visiting artists and scholars lecture series, scholarships, student and faculty travel, and research/creative activity.

Lincoln, Nebraska is more than a quintessential college community. The University is situated in a dynamic downtown area that includes the state capital and a growing tech industry as well as restaurants, coffee houses, movie theaters, clubs, bike trails, and urban residences. Lincoln has notably excellent public schools, a low cost of living, and has been nationally recognized for its high quality of life. It is a friendly, creative, intellectual, and vibrant community that loves the arts and is home to the Lied Center for Performing Arts, the Sheldon Museum of Art, the International Quilt Museum, the Nebraska State Museum with collections including anthropology, botany, and zoology, and the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, an art house cinema that is part of the College, as well as numerous alternative spaces and venues for visual art and music.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Teach surveys, intermediate courses, and advanced seminars in Art History and Visual Studies in their field of study, which will occupy a specified period from c.700 to 1750.
• Develop curriculum and programs in collaboration with School faculty and interdisciplinary approaches.
• Develop and maintain a teaching, research, and service practice consistent with the position. Standard faculty apportionment in the School of Art, Art History & Design is 45% teaching, 45% research/creative activity, and 10% service.
• Serve on graduate committees, including MFA committees in fine arts.
• Serve on faculty committees for the department, college, and university.

Minimum Qualifications

• Qualified applicants must hold a Ph.D. in art history, visual studies, performance studies, or a related field by the start of the position and have experience teaching at the college level.
• Knowledge of global, transnational, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching and inclusive perspectives to the study of art and visual culture from c. 700 to 1750.
• Interest in program and curriculum development.
• Excellent writing and communication skills.

Preferred qualifications

• Three (3) years of successful university-level teaching experience beyond the graduate teaching assistantship.
• A nationally established and active record of professional research in art and visual culture from c. 700 to 1750.
• Experience teaching and developing interdisciplinary courses.
• Experience with online course development and digital pedagogy.
• Experience in a field such as digital humanities, public humanities, cultural heritage, community arts programming, or site-specific arts research.

Application Process

The search committee will begin formal review of applications on January 2, 2025 and will continue until an appointment is made. To be considered for this position, please go to https://employment.unl.edu/postings/94213 and click “Apply for this Job.” Complete the faculty information form and attach the following required documents:

1. Cover letter addressing your qualifications.
2. Curriculum vitae.
3. The names and contact information of three (3) professional references.
4. Both a research statement and a teaching statement that are each 1-2 pages in length. Combine into a single document for upload.

 

As an EO/AA employer, the University of Nebraska considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See https://equity.unl.edu/notice-nondiscrimination/.