Open-Rank Professor of Games (Tenure-Track/Tenured) Apply now to Open-Rank Professor of Games (Tenure-Track/Tenured)

Job #JPF09663

• Dept Of Design I Media Arts / School Of Arts And Architectur / UCLA

  Position overview Position title: Tenure-track Assistant or Associate/Full Professor – Games

  Salary range: The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at

  appointment. See Table(s) [1]. The salary range for this position is $78,200-$205,400“Off-scale” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions. The level of appointment will be determined by the candidate’s qualifications and professional experience.

  Application Window

  Open date: August 12, 2024

  Next review date: Saturday, Oct 5, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

  Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

  Final date: Saturday, Oct 5, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

  Applications will continue to be accepted until this date.

  Position description

The Department of Design Media Arts (DMA) within the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture invites applications for an Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor position in the area of Games.

Who should apply?

We seek applications from artists, scholars, designers, and developers whose practice engages deeply with critical and experimental approaches to games. The Department of Design Media Arts is situated within the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture and offers BA and MFA degrees; applicants should have experience working with artists and designers in academic, studio, or professional contexts. Applicants should demonstrate expertise, community engagement, and international recognition for one or many critical game-related practices.

The search committee will review applications as they arrive via RECRUIT. Applications will be reviewed for completeness and candidates will be informed if their applications are incomplete and given a reasonable amount of time to provide missing material. To ensure full consideration, candidates should apply by October 5, 2024.

Example areas of focus might include:

-experimental game art

-critical theory and method in game studies

-game programming and technical development

-game production and publishing

-game writing and emerging genres

-game curation and community organizing

-games in relation to race, gender, sexuality, disability, and class

Ideal candidates will contribute to further developing the vision of the Design Media Arts Department and the UCLA Game Lab and will have a leadership role in advancing our goals of merging artistic practice, social responsibility, and cultural inquiry around gaming and related fields. Applicants should familiarize themselves with the work we do in the Game Lab https://games.ucla.edu/ and in the department of Design Media Arts https://dma.ucla.edu/

Working in the Department of Design Media Arts (DMA)

DMA is looking for a colleague with a commitment to working in social, critical, and cultural spaces, who believes in building nourishing and supportive communities. We prioritize diversity, accessibility, and accountability. We expect that this position will attract applicants who value excellence in teaching, academic service and leadership, and collaboration, who have deep commitments to social issues, and who manifest their passions and craft within the area of games and media arts.

This position offers an opportunity to collaborate on the creation of a Games Major, expanding our degree offerings in the department of Design Media Arts at UCLA.

Responsibilities

The position involves teaching three undergraduate studio courses and two graduate seminars each academic year, contributing service to the department and the University, advancing the goals of the UCLA Game Lab, and developing independent research and creative activity appropriate for advancement within the University of California. Teaching at UCLA is on a quarterly schedule; the teaching load is 2,2,1. Service includes chairing or serving on two or three departmental or University-wide committees, involvement in departmental admissions, mentoring junior faculty, and advising graduate students.

Basic Qualifications

Terminal degree (MFA or PhD in a related field) or equivalent professional experience of 5 years or more

About UCLA, The Department of Design Media Arts, and the UCLA Game Lab

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is located in the neighborhood of Westwood in Los Angeles. UCLA is an R1 research institution and part of the University of California (UC) system and has been ranked as the No. 1 public university by the U.S. News & World Report for six consecutive years.

Situated in the School of Arts and Architecture, the department of Design Media Arts (DMA) has a population of 24 graduate students in its 3-year MFA program and approximately 200 undergraduate students in its 4-year BA program. DMA houses 12 full-time senate faculty, approximately 15 lecturers, and a range of faculty directed research centers and initiatives, which include the UCLA Game Lab, Counterforce Lab, UCLA Social Software, Media Arts Research Space (MARS), Art|Sci Center, FLAT Journal, and the Conditional Studio. DMA offers a technologically innovative and intellectually rigorous curriculum anchored around media arts, design, and games, providing a multidisciplinary education to foster critical thinking and encourage experimentation, creative exploration, and research.

The UCLA Game Lab fosters the production of experimental games and game-related research within an art and design context. We emphasize conceptual risk-taking and the development of new modes of expression, form, and critical inquiry through gaming. In addition to producing games and research, the UCLA Game Lab also functions as a center that develops public programming around critical issues in gaming, including lectures, workshops, exhibitions, a visiting artist program, a summer program, and a public game festival at the Hammer Museum, among other events.

Salary

The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See Table(s) [1]. The salary range for this position is $78,200-$205,400. "Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.

The level of appointment will be determined by the candidate’s qualifications and professional experience.

The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community dedicated to the advancement, application, and transmission of knowledge and creative endeavors through academic excellence, where all individuals who participate in University programs and activities can work and learn together in a safe and secure environment, free of violence, harassment, bullying and other demeaning behavior, discrimination, exploitation, or intimidation. With this commitment as well as a commitment to addressing all forms of academic misconduct, UCLA conducts targeted employment reference checks for finalists to whom departments or other hiring units would like to extend formal offers of appointment into Academic Senate faculty positions. The targeted employment reference checks involve contacting the finalists’ current and prior places of employment to ask whether there have been substantiated findings of misconduct that would violate the University’s Faculty Code of Conduct. To implement this process, UCLA requires all applicants for Academic Senate faculty positions to complete, sign, and upload the form entitled “Authorization to Release Information” into RECRUIT as part of their application. If the applicant does not include the signed authorization to release information with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete. As with any incomplete application, the application will not receive further consideration. Although all applicants for faculty recruitments must complete the entire application, only finalists (i.e., those to whom the department or other hiring unit would like to extend a formal offer) considered for Academic Senate faculty positions will be subject to targeted employment reference checks.

Department: http://dma.ucla.edu/

Qualifications

Basic qualifications

Terminal degree (MFA or PhD in a related field) or equivalent professional experience of 5 years or more

Additional qualifications

-Distinction in the field of Games.

-Ability to teach both Undergraduate and Graduate studio and/or seminar courses.

Preferred qualifications

-Experience working with artists and designers in academic, studio, or professional contexts, preferred but not required.

-Proof of leadership and/or community-building practice, preferred but not required.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Cover Letter - One-page cover letter with a description of creative research and teaching experience.

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

• Portfolio - A portfolio that is specifically curated for the search committee, prioritized with your most accomplished work, and includes, as appropriate, documentation of your artwork, your own writings or statements and notable reviews or articles discussing your work. This can be an online link to a website or PDF format file.

• Statement of Teaching - Evidence of teaching effectiveness. As applicable, please include evaluations, syllabi, and examples of student work.

• Statement on Contributions to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion - A statement with a description of past or potential contributions to equity, diversity, and inclusion.Contributions to diversity might include teaching, mentoring, research, or service towards building an equitable and diverse scholarship environment and/or increasing access or participation of individuals from historically underrepresented groups.

• Reference check authorization release form - Complete and upload the reference check authorization release form

• Personal Statement - Personal statement that discusses the applicant's artistic and educational philosophy and approach to teaching.

Reference requirements

• 3 required (contact information only)

Names and contact information (mailing address, email address, and phone number) of three professional references. (Letters of recommendation are not requested at this time).

Apply link: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09663

Help contact: games_search@arts.ucla.edu

About UCLA

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status.

For the University of California’s Affirmative Action Policy, please visit https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/apm/apm-035.pdf.

For the University of California’s Anti-Discrimination Policy, please visit https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/1001004/Anti-Discrimination.

Job location

Los Angeles, CA