Assistant Professor – Indigenous Digital Arts and Performance – 1701385
Job Field: Tenure Stream
Faculty / Division: University of Toronto Mississauga
Department: University of Toronto Mississauga
Campus: Mississauga
Job Posting: Aug 10, 2017
Job Closing: Oct 9, 2017, 11.59pm EST
Description:
The Department of English and Drama and the Department of Visual Studies at the
University of Toronto, Mississauga campus invite applications for a jointly-appointed, full-
time, tenure-stream position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the field of Indigenous
Digital Arts and Performance. The start date for this position is July 1, 2018.
The Departments welcome applications from emerging researchers or artist-researchers
working in and across the fields of Indigenous digital arts and visual culture—including but
not limited to digital media art, video games, activism, and design—and digital performance,
including but not limited to digitally enhanced performance, virtual performance, and
performance inflected by, or engaging with, digital culture. The focus of applicants’ work
should be on the experiences of and engagement with Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Applicants must have earned a PhD in Art History, Performance Studies, Theatre Studies,
Visual Culture, or another relevant field by July 1, 2018 or shortly thereafter. Alternatively,
they must have earned an MFA or equivalent graduate degree and have a strong record of
creative professional practice. The successful applicant will have a demonstrated record of
excellence in teaching and in research and/or an active and recognised digital arts and
performance practice. The successful candidate’s record of research and/or practice,
teaching, and service should demonstrate an understanding of Indigenous knowledges,
methodologies, epistemologies, pedagogies, and community relations.
The successful candidate’s primary undergraduate Department will depend on their field of
expertise, but the candidate will play an important role in undergraduate teaching in both
Departments. The candidate will also hold an appointment at the most relevant graduate
unit at the University of Toronto, depending on the candidate’s specialisation. The candidate
will be expected to teach at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and to engage in
teaching practices informed by Indigenous pedagogies. Evidence of excellence in teaching
will be demonstrated through teaching accomplishments, letters of reference, and the
teaching dossier including a teaching statement and teaching evaluations submitted with
the application.
The candidate will also be expected to establish and maintain a strong research and/or
research-creation program/creative professional practice that engages with Indigenous
experience in Canada, drawing on decolonising and other indigenous perspectives and that
is informed by involvement with Indigenous communities, organisations, and institutions.
Excellence in research is demonstrated by the quality of the writing sample, publications in
top-ranked and field-relevant academic journals, presentations at major conferences,
awards and accolades, evidence of an innovative research program, and strong
endorsements by referees of high standing. Excellence in research-creation or creative
professional practice is demonstrated by the quality of the portfolio; record of exhibitions,
performances, and/or projects; awards and grants; evidence of an innovative program of
research; and strong endorsements by referees of high standing.
The Department of English and Drama and the Department of Visual Studies are both multi-
disciplinary units. The Department of English and Drama offers programs in English,
Theatre and Drama Studies, and Canadian Studies. The Department of Visual Studies
offers programs in Art History, Art and Art History, Visual Culture, Visual Culture and
Communication, and Cinema Studies, and a certificate in Curatorial Studies. The successful
candidate will bring a strong program of creative, interdisciplinary, digital media-based
research that enhances and builds on the strengths of the Departments in contemporary art,
visual culture, and theatre and performance studies. They will be able to draw on the
resources of UTM’s hub for the Jackman Humanities Institute’s Digital Humanities Network
and to participate in a cross disciplinary project to establish a Centre for Indigenous Studies
at UTM. At the graduate level, the candidate will have opportunities to work with students
and faculty from across the tri-campus university working in Indigenous Studies and Digital
Arts and Performance, e.g. in the Graduate Departments of Art and English; the Centre for
Drama, Theatre and Performance; and the Visual Studies graduate unit at the John H.
Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design.
This successful candidate may be nominated for a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair. For
information regarding eligibility criteria, please consult the CRC website: http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/program-programme/nomination- mise_en_candidature-eng.aspx#s2
Salary for this position will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
UTM is part of the tri-campus University of Toronto, a research-intensive institution with an
interdisciplinary commitment and a multicultural student body speaking a wide range of
languages. The sacred land on which the University of Toronto and UTM operate has been
a site of human activity for 15,000 years. It is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun
First Nations, the Seneca, and, most recently, the Mississaugas of the New Credit First
Nation. The territory was the subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant,
an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied
nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the
meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle
Island.
The University is committed to responding to—among other mandates—the Calls to Action
of the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Government of Ontario’s
Indigenous Education Strategy.
All qualified applicants are invited to apply online by clicking on the following link
https://utoronto.taleo.net/careersection/10050/jobdetail.ftl?job=1701385.
Applications should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, teaching dossier (including a
statement of teaching philosophy, sample syllabi, and teaching evaluations), a statement
outlining current and future research interests, and a substantial writing sample and/or
audiovisual documentation of recent work. Applicants should also ask three referees to
send letters directly to the departments via e-mail to edassist.utm@utoronto.ca by the
closing date, October 9, 2017. In addition to their reference letters, candidates may, if they
wish, include one or more letters from Indigenous elders, leaders, or organisations
describing their collaborative work or involvement with Indigenous communities. All
application materials should be submitted online. The UofT application system can
accommodate up to fifteen attachments (8.3 MB per attachment) per candidate profile;
please combine attachments into one or two PDF/MS Word format files. Submission
guidelines can be found at: http://uoft.me/how-to/apply. For submission of digital images,
video, and/or other files, please contact edassist.utm@utoronto.ca and instructions for
uploading of materials will be provided.
Materials must be received by October 9, 2017. If you have any questions about this
position, please contact Debra Burrowes at dvschair.utm@utoronto.ca or Merrylee Greenan
at edassist.utm@utoronto.ca.
For more information about the Department of Visual Studies, please
visit https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dvs/. For more information about the Department of
English, please visit http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/english-drama/home.
The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and
especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women,
Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons,
and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This
survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be
accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for
institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP.
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent
residents will be given priority.