Assistant Professorship in the History of Digital Media at UC Santa Cruz

The History of Art and Visual Culture Department (havc.ucsc.edu), at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professorship in the History of Digital Media. We seek a teacher and scholar with expertise in the history and theory of one or more of the following areas: Internet culture, video games, digital imaging and design, social media, and related applications. Priority will be placed on hiring an interdisciplinary scholar who attends to the visual culture of digital media and analytically examines the social and historical contexts of its emergence. We welcome applications from scholars who specialize in any national or geographic area. Applicants must be capable of teaching a wide range of courses (large lecture to seminar) at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The department faculty support the investigation of art and visual culture from a variety of theoretical perspectives in the cultures of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific Islands. The campus seeks candidates who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through their research, teaching, and service. The position comes with a competitive salary and generous start-up package to fund equipment and research expenses.

The History of Art and Visual Culture Department is in the Division of the Arts, which also includes Departments of Art, Film and Digital Media, Music, Theater Arts, and the M.F.A. Program in Digital Arts & New Media. There are opportunities for scholarly and teaching connections in these areas, as well as with colleagues and programs in the Humanities and Social Sciences divisions and the Baskin School of Engineering. The campus operates on a schedule of three 11-week quarters per academic year, and the successful candidate will be expected to teach five 5-unit courses per year, or their equivalent, in accordance with the department workload policy. All members of the department are expected to advise and mentor students, actively engage in research, and undertake administrative service for the department, affiliated college, and university. The ability to contribute significantly to graduate education and the mentoring of graduate students is highly desirable.

We have a strong undergraduate major and a young, dynamic Visual Studies Ph.D. program. Under the Dean’s leadership, our division is enjoying faculty growth, significant fundraising successes, new research centers, and is planning for a new Institute of the Arts and Sciences. The Arts Division supports faculty research through the Arts Research Institute http://artsresearch.ucsc.edu/ari/ and the Arts Dean’s Fund for Excellence http://arts.ucsc.edu/funding/arts-deans-fund-for-excellence; the campus supports research and teaching with grants awarded by the Committee on Research, the Committee on Teaching, and other groups.

RANK: Assistant Professor

SALARY: Commensurate with qualifications and experience; academic year (9-month) basis

UC Santa Cruz faculty make significant contributions to the body of research that has earned the University of California the ranking as the foremost public higher education institution in the world. In the process, our faculty demonstrate that cutting-edge research, excellent teaching and outstanding service are mutually supportive.

UC Santa Cruz was ranked 1st in the world for research influence in 2014-15 Times Higher Education rankings as measured by the number of times UCSC faculty’s published work is cited by scholars. It is also ranked among the world’s most beautiful college campuses by Forbes.