Assistant or Associate Professor of Contemporary U.S. Art History, Occidental College
The Art and Art History department is searching for a tenure track Assistant or Associate Professor appointment in contemporary U.S. art history (1960 to the present) within a global framework. Our ideal candidate will have research emphasis on race, ethnicity, gender, class, Indigeneity, postcolonial studies, and/or diaspora studies. We seek a scholar whose research and teaching agenda is grounded in a critical, socially engaged approach to contemporary art and visual culture.
Occidental faculty are committed teacher-scholars who bring research and creative production to life for students in classrooms, studios, galleries, and mentored projects. They teach broadly in the curricula of their departments, advise students, carry out research and creative work, and provide departmental, college-wide, and external service.
You will be responsible for producing scholarship or creative work commensurate with the requirements for promotion to tenure or full professor, and will be expected to develop a program of research that engages undergraduate students. You will also be expected to contribute to the life and development of the department, advise students, serve on committees, and participate in the broader college and disciplinary communities.
You will teach several core courses, including “Global Modernism” (ARTH180), “Modern and Contemporary Art” (ARTH290), and “Photography, History and Power” (ARTH287), and we welcome your individuated design of these courses. You will also have the opportunity to develop thematically oriented courses informed by your research interests. You will also contribute to the College’s First Year Seminar program, teaching small art history and visual culture themed writing-intensive and/or community-engaged seminars. The department seeks an innovative instructor, scholar, mentor, and colleague who is committed to undergraduate teaching in the liberal arts context.
The contemporary U.S. art history curriculum—critically framed in a global context—is the keystone of our dual concentration department, where studio art and art history students share coursework and requirements across the department. Candidates should demonstrate their commitment to a dynamic pedagogy and curricular innovation that embraces engagement with students and faculty in both studio practices and art history. The successful candidate will be dedicated to supporting students with diverse backgrounds, and to creating immersive or experiential learning opportunities within Occidental’s urban location in the diverse, international city of Los Angeles.
We seek applicants who can facilitate students’ engagement with artists, arts organizations, galleries, and museums in Los Angeles, and cultivate sustained community-based learning opportunities. We especially welcome candidates who will engage with and contribute to the esteemed Wanlass artist-in-residence program and Oxy Arts, an innovative public space committed to connecting the Occidental campus to the Northeast Los Angeles community, as well as artists in LA and Southern California, in socially conscious art and exhibition practices.
Further, the successful candidate will demonstrate the potential to build upon established departmental successes in faculty-led research opportunities for students; we seek a candidate who will expand the scope of this experiential form of art historical and studio art research practice. Ultimately, the selected candidate will diversify the Art and Art History curriculum and expand its thematic, methodological, and geographical range. We value candidates who may also contribute to the College’s Black Studies department, Latino/a and Latin American Studies program, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies program, Asian Studies department, and/or American Studies department.