Department: School of Music and Dance
Rank: Assistant Professor
Annual Basis: 9 Month
Application Deadline
Review begins November 8, 2023; position open until filled
Required Application Materials
To ensure consideration, please apply online and upload the following with your online application by the review date:
• A current curriculum vitae.
• A letter of interest highlighting how your knowledge, skills, and experience in teaching and research qualify you for the position.
• A statement describing actions you have taken to support and advance a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community through your teaching, research, and service or through national or off-campus organizations (upload as “additional document 1”).
• A teaching philosophy statement (upload as “additional document 2”)
• One work sample representing scholarly research; one additional work sample representing scholarly or creative research (upload as “additional document 3”)
As part of the online application, you will be asked to provide names and contact information for three professional references. Applicants will be consulted before references are contacted.
Position Announcement
The School of Music and Dance is seeking highly qualified applicants for an Assistant Professor of Dance Studies, Theory, and History position to begin September 16, 2024.
As an Assistant Professor, our new colleague will engage in a robust research profile through scholarly publications, conference presentations, symposia, and cross-disciplinary activities. Teaching responsibilities will center on upper-division undergraduate theory courses Dance and Power and Contemporary Issues in Dance with the potential to teach university core education satisfying courses Looking at Dance and African Dance Aesthetics. Depending on a candidate’s secondary emphasis, potential teaching may include courses or student mentorships in areas of pedagogy, creative processes, movement practices, or somatics. We also invite new course designs in Dance Studies that support the program. The ideal candidate will demonstrate an ongoing commitment to equitable, inclusive, anti-colonial, and antiracist pedagogies, a commitment to serving diverse student populations, and a student-centered approach to teaching and recruitment. Our new colleague will be expected to engage in service to the School of Music and Dance by participating in faculty governance and, as appropriate, committee membership. We are eager for a colleague who will participate in ongoing curriculum revisions, bridge our theory and practice courses, position dance within global citizenry, and further develop our program’s ties within our School, across the arts and humanities, in our community, and internationally. We are excited by the prospect of our new faculty member engaging undergraduate students in their scholarly and creative endeavors.
Department or Program Summary
The Department of Dance enriches the lives of students and the Oregon community with diverse dance experiences. Dance is explored as an art form and as one of the humanities in a liberal arts education. Studying dance as an academic discipline integrates inquiry and theory to develop skills in performance, creative practice, observation, critical thinking, problem-solving, and evaluation. In addition to the academic components, dance students experience the rigorous professional discipline inherent in-studio classes. The department explores diverse idioms in dance including African dance and drumming, contemporary and modern, hip-hop, jazz, contact improvisation, ballet, partnering, and Salsa.
Our program offers frequent opportunities for students to perform in works by faculty, guest artists, and students. Performances are produced throughout the year by companies such as the Dema African Dance Ensemble, and the UO (University of Oregon) Student Dance Collective. These student companies tour Oregon and the Northwest presenting live concerts as well as lecture demonstrations and master classes for public schools, colleges, universities, civic organizations, and community concert series. Collaborations with local dance groups, the Department of Theater Arts, and groups within the School of Music and Dance provide multidisciplinary performance opportunities.
The Department of Dance has four large-capacity dance studios with sprung floors and vaulted ceilings for classes and activities in dance. In addition to serving as classrooms and rehearsal spaces, two studios in Gerlinger Annex are designed to create the M. Frances Dougherty Dance Theatre, which seats 200 people.
Dance is a department within the School of Music and Dance (SOMD), which has over 800 music and dance majors and minors, a faculty and staff of 85, and about 70 graduate employees. The SOMD offers a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs, from the baccalaureate through the doctorate, including studies in dance, music performance, collaborative piano, music education, composition, theory, musicology, jazz studies, piano and string pedagogy, conducting, music technology, and music with a liberal arts emphasis. The school is known for being the only comprehensive school of music and dance in Oregon. It is also home to the internationally recognized Oregon Bach Festival and ChamberMusic@Beall performance series.
Minimum Requirements
• Terminal degree in dance or related field
• Emerging scholarship in Dance Studies
• Evidence of a teaching accomplishment
• Demonstrated ability to contribute effectively to an inclusive working and learning environment
• Evidence of a commitment to advancing equity in dance and dance education and to promoting diverse points of view through a global perspective
Preferred Qualifications
• PhD in Dance Studies or related field of study
• 1-3 years university teaching experience
• Evidence of cross-disciplinary exchange or collaboration
• A demonstrated secondary area in teaching courses in movement practices, creative processes, pedagogy, or somatics
About the University
The UO enrolls more than 20,000 undergraduate and 3,600 graduate students representing all 50 states and nearly 100 countries. The campus features state-of-the-art facilities in a beautiful, arboretum-like setting. The UO is in Eugene, a vibrant city and part of a metropolitan area that is home to a growing population of over 250,000, a pleasant climate, and a community that features resident symphony and chamber orchestras, as well as ballet, modern dance, and opera companies, community theatre groups, art galleries, museums, and craft associations. The award-winning Hult Center for the Performing Arts attracts many guest performers to the city each year.
Eugene is approximately two hours south of Portland, at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. The Pacific Coast is just over an hour to the west and the Cascade Mountains with fishing, camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, and skiing or snowboarding a little more than an hour to the east.
The University of Oregon is proud to offer a robust benefits package to eligible employees, including health insurance, retirement plans and paid time off. For more information about benefits, visit http://hr.uoregon.edu/careers/about-benefits.
The University of Oregon is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the ADA. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status. The University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. To request an accommodation in connection with the application process, please contact us at uocareers@uoregon.edu or 541-346-5112.
UO prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in all programs activities and employment practices as required by Title IX, other applicable laws, and policies. Retaliation is prohibited UO policy. Questions may be referred to the Title IX Coordinator, Office of Civil Rights Compliance, or to the Office for Civil Rights. Contact information, related policies, and complaint procedures are listed on the statement of non-discrimination.
In compliance with federal law, the University of Oregon prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and services. The Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://clery.uoregon.edu/annual-campus-security-and-fire-safety-report.
