Job Description

Position Overview Position Title

Assistant Professor [tenure-track]

Salary range: Commensurate with qualifications and experience; academic year (nine-month basis). UC salary scales are publicly available. For more information, see: https://apo.ucsc.edu/compensation/salary-scales/index.html

Anticipated start: July 1, 2022, with the academic year beginning in September 2022

Application Window

Open date: August 16th, 2021

Most recent review date: Friday, Oct 15, 2021 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled.

Final date: Thursday, Jun 30, 2022 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position Description

The Department of Performance, Play & Design (PPD) (formerly Theater Arts Department) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Directing. Previously a Theater Arts department (Design, Acting, Directing, Dance, Playwriting, History/Theory/Dramaturgy), we have recently merged with the Art & Design: Games and Playable Media program. The Department, comprising 15 nationally and internationally recognized faculty members, is positioned at the intersection of storytelling, worldbuilding, and cross-platform, interdisciplinary collaborations. Our curriculum centers anti-racist, intersectional feminist, and decolonial approaches. We offer two BA degrees and a MA degree that emphasize creative collaboration, risk-taking/experimentation, critical/systemic thinking, rigor, agency, embodiment, and practice-as-research proficiencies. The Department also intersects with the MFA Digital Arts and New Media program through the Future Stages research group, headed by director Marianne Weems. The successful candidate will teach courses in our directing sequence and specialized courses in any of the following: devised theater, digital media, resident/regional theater, and/or performance as social practice. The successful candidate will also direct for our mainstage season. For more on our department and social justice statement, please visit: https://theater.ucsc.edu/programs/about-department

The successful candidate must be able to work with students, faculty, and staff from a wide range of social, cultural, and class backgrounds. We have a strong preference for candidates with expertise in devising antiracist and decolonial performance practice, and an interest in working across both digital and live platforms. Possible related areas of research and teaching might include ensemble work, site-specific performance, consent-based performance/theatrical intimacy practices, performance as community-led social change, disrupting capitalist practices in media and performance ‘industries,’ new play development, and/or digital performance (VR, AR, MR, XR, interactive, motion capture). Because we are committed to equitable casting and production practices with regards to race, class, gender, sexuality, neurodiversity, ability, and religion, we are particularly interested in scholar-practitioners who have demonstrated potential to lead the field in these areas.

The chosen candidate will be expected to sign a statement representing that they are not the subject of any ongoing investigation or disciplinary proceeding at their current academic institution or place of employment, nor have they in the past 10 (ten) years been formally disciplined at any academic institution/place of employment. In the event the candidate cannot make this representation, they will be expected to disclose in writing to the hiring Dean the circumstances surrounding any formal discipline that they have received, as well as any current or ongoing investigation or disciplinary process of which they are the subject. (Note that discipline includes a negotiated settlement agreement to resolve a matter related to substantiated misconduct.)

Responsibilities

• Teach four courses total per academic year (including directing one departmental production). An Academic year consists of three quarters.
• Mentor and advise undergraduate and graduate students, including overseeing independent projects/research
• Maintain a professional practice as research. UC Santa Cruz is a Research 1 University and a nationally recognized profile of creative research is required for tenure and promotion. Academic publication is not standard for promotion in the department, but many faculty produce both creative and scholarly research nationally and internationally.
• Contribute service to the department, Arts Division, and university at large
  

Given our department’s focus on decolonial approaches to teaching, research, and service, our first round of review will be solely based on (1) the statement of creative practice and research and (2) the statement of contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion. We welcome candidates who understand the barriers facing historically oppressed groups in higher education, and who have engaged in teaching, research, professional and/or public service contributions that promote equity, justice, and antiracist, decolonial practice. We are looking for candidates that demonstrate effective strategies that support the recruitment and success of underrepresented scholars and students, which may take a variety of forms. The rubric that we will use to evaluate the statement of contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion is available here: https://apo.ucsc.edu/policy/communications/docs/ucsc-rubrics-c2deistatements.pdf

Department: https://theater.ucsc.edu/

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Demonstrated record of research as evidenced by directing devised theater, digital media projects, opera, film, dance, commercial theater, and/or resident/regional theater; and a demonstrated record of teaching in higher education as evidenced by teaching assistant, lecturer/adjunct work, and/or classroom experience

Document Requirements

Application Requirements

• Cover Letter - Letter of application that briefly summarizes your qualifications and interest in the position
• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.
• Statement of Creative Practice and Research - Statement of Creative Practice and Research - 1-2 pages outlining significant projects as evidence for your vision, process, aesthetics, methodologies, and values. Please include links to websites and/or other media to capture your work.**
• Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - Statement addressing your understanding of the barriers facing traditionally underrepresented groups and your past and/or future contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion through teaching and professional or public service with regards to race, gender, sexuality, neurodiversity, ability, class, and religion. Candidates are urged to review guidelines on statements (see https://apo.ucsc.edu/diversity.html ) before preparing their application.**
• The first round of review will be solely based on (1) the statement of creative practice and research and (2) the statement of contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion

• Statement of Teaching - 1 page, describing your teaching philosophy emphasizing how it is enacted in your pedagogy. Examples of equitable and accessible practices or approaches to teaching are welcome
• Syllabi for 3 proposed courses - Please provide all 3 in one PDF document.
  

Reference Requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)
  

To acknowledge and reduce the labor involved in acquiring letters of recommendation, we are not requiring them at this first stage of the application process. Applicants are advised to speak to potential recommenders in anticipation of a future letter submission request should they advance to the next round of this search. Applicants must provide the names and contact information of three (3) references. The hiring unit will request confidential letters* from the references of those applicants who are under serious consideration. Please note that your references, or dossier service, will submit their confidential letters directly to the UC Recruit System.

• All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. For any reference letter provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service, career center), direct the author to UCSC’s confidentiality statement at http://apo.ucsc.edu/confstm.htm .
  

Apply link: https://recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF01129

Help contact: dlglover@ucsc.edu

Campus Information

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. UC Santa Cruz is committed to excellence through diversity and strives to establish a climate that welcomes, celebrates, and promotes respect for the contributions of all students and employees. Inquiries regarding the University’s equal employment opportunity policies may be directed to the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 or by phone at (831) 459-2686.

Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UCSC positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check (see https://www.uscis.gov/e-verify ). The university sponsors employment-based visas for nonresidents who are offered academic appointments at UC Santa Cruz (see https://apo.ucsc.edu/policy/capm/102.530.html ).

UCSC is a smoke & tobacco-free campus.

If you need accommodation due to a disability, please contact Disability Management Services at roberts@ucsc.edu (831) 459-4602.

UCSC is committed to addressing the spousal and partner employment needs of our candidates and employees. As part of this commitment, our institution is a member of the Northern California Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (NorCal HERC). Visit the NorCal HERC website at https://www.hercjobs.org/regions/higher-ed-careers-northern-california/ to search for open positions within a commutable distance of our institution.

The University of California offers a competitive benefits package and a number of programs to support employee work/life balance. For information about employee benefits please visit https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Vaccination Program Policy .All Covered Individuals under the policy must provide proof of Full Vaccination or, if applicable, submit a request for Exception (based on Medical Exemption, Disability, and/or Religious Objection) or Deferral (based on pregnancy) no later than the applicable deadline. New University of California employees should refer to Appendix F, Section II.C. of the policy for applicable deadlines. (Capitalized terms in this paragraph are defined in the policy.) Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements. Additional information and resources for compliance are located on the campus COVID-19 Vaccines webpage .

VISIT THE UCSC WEB SITE AT https://www.ucsc.edu

Job location

Santa Cruz, California