Job posting: Assistant Professor of Indigenous Media, Cultural Sovereignty and Decolonization – UC Santa Cruz

We seek to hire a colleague whose creative work and/or scholarship embodies or addresses emerging and/or historical Indigenous/Native media practices. Candidates might be a mediamaker and/or a theorist-practitioner. Mediamakers will be working with audiovisual systems of meaning that are centered in Indigenous/Native communities and expression. Theorist-practitioners might emphasize ethical, social and cultural considerations of Indigenous knowledge, sovereignty and decolonization theories, methods and practices. Ideal candidates will demonstrate a commitment to community involvement and an Indigenous lived experience including working with Native American, First Nations, Inuit or Métis communities and organizations in Turtle Island; or more broadly the Americas, the Pacific Rim, Borderlands or Circumpolar Indigenous Nations. We are interested in located knowledges and practices but also collaborative or comparative approaches across geographically diverse areas.

We welcome Indigenous/Native pedagogical and practical approaches to media production and theory as an opportunity to strengthen the breadth of both critical research and production methods and perspectives taught and supported in the department at the undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels. Such a position would be supported by our departmental commitment to an ongoing process of developing structures and practices for centering social justice in teaching and research, and would enrich ongoing collaborations with other programs such as: the new MFA in Environmental Art and Social Practice in the Art Department, the Digital Arts and New Media MFA Program, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Feminist Studies, History of Art and Visual Culture, Latin American and Latino Studies, Literature, Sociology, History of Consciousness, the Science and Justice Research Center, the Center for the Middle East and North Africa, Center for Creative Ecologies, Center for Documentary Arts and Research, and/or the Center for South Asian Studies.

Candidates should have either a terminal degree (PhD or MFA) or at least six years of demonstrated evidence of creative work and/or scholarship relevant to the areas described above. We welcome candidates whose experiences in Indigenous communities and/or community organizations inform their approach to teaching, research/creative production, and service. Strong consideration will be given, as appropriate, to creative work, research, teaching record and the willingness to participate in the ongoing curricular development, diversification and decolonization of our department’s program. We would expect candidates to prioritize their own creative and/or scholarly work, to pursue a program of research or creative production, and to contribute to our general curriculum. The campus operates on a schedule of three 11-week quarters per academic year. In accordance with the department’s workload policy, faculty members are required to offer the equivalent of 4 five-unit courses per year. Additional duties include advising and mentoring both undergraduate and graduate students, participating in faculty governance at the departmental and campus level, and actively undertaking 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.

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.

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 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.)

University of California Santa Cruz is located on the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of Indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma.

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. For new University of California employees, the applicable deadline is eight weeks after their first date of employment. (Capitalized terms in this paragraph are defined in the policy.)

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