POSITION TITLE: Assistant Professor, Photography and Filmmaking, Non-Tenure Track
DIVISION: Academic Affairs
DEPARTMENT: Photography and Filmmaking
REPORTS TO: Department Chair
PAY TYPE: Exempt
WORKER TYPE: Full-Time
UPDATED: December 2024
PAY: $52, 283.90 - $55,492.23 (commensurate on experience)
The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), a national leader in visual arts and design education, is seeking applications for the full-time position of Assistant Professor to teach in the Department of Photography and Filmmaking. This is a non-tenure track position with the possibility for conversion to tenure-track after a proven record of excellence in teaching, outstanding professional achievement, and service to the institution over several years.
KCAI’s Sound minor, housed within the Photography & Filmmaking department, is interdisciplinary in nature and draws from the rich interactions between sound and the visual arts. Courses that support the Photography & Filmmaking core curriculum include Audio-Vision: Sound for the Screen & Space, The Soundscape, and Sound Scoring for Animation, Film and Installation.
Our mission as a department is to engage students in the expansive and thought-provoking aspects of these fields, while grounding them in technical expertise, so that they are in service to the collective future of their chosen practice. While understanding their historical fore-bearers, we guide students to be self-aware of their own creative voice and vision. While being versed in the career ready skills, we mentor students to discover their own personal notions of success to launch them into their professional practice.
The anticipated start date is August 18, 2025.
Essential Functional Responsibilities:
Candidates must have a professional artistic pursuit with a primary use of lens-based media and teaching experience with a strong commitment to college level visual arts education. The philosophy of the major area of study is committed to prepare students with technical expertise, an investigation of the medium, and its history and relationship to culture- all instruction and critical feedback are delivered to these ends.
The ideal candidate would be able to teach critical concepts of both still and moving image work, while embodying an expertise in filmmaking production in addition to multidisciplinary and expanded approaches to the moving image. Also, candidates must be well versed in historical and contemporary aspects of art, theory, and research, be able to address diverse perspectives of contemporary image making and demonstrate competency in analog and digital image making technologies.
Candidates should demonstrate a sound knowledge of filmmaking processes and the ability to instruct courses that encompass cinematography and post production skills in addition to expanded notions of narrative, non-fiction, experimental and multidisciplinary concepts and approaches of the discipline. The successful applicant is capable of inspiring a critical, inventive and inclusive environment in both the classroom and within the departmental community. The position requires the capacity to develop curriculum and the implementation of elective offerings serving both Photography and Filmmaking majors and majors campus wide.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities:
- Teaching 2 major studios (6 credit hours per semester) and 2 electives (3 credit hours) per academic year.
- Maintaining a high level of expertise of the developments within the disciplines of Photography & Filmmaking
- Continuing professional growth as an actively engaged still and moving image-based artist manifested by exhibits, publications, grants, research, presentation of research findings at professional meetings and/or public forums, etc.
- Participating in service to our institution both inside and outside one’s departmental responsibilities, including service on Faculty Assembly committees.
- Other duties as assigned.
Supervises the following:
Required Qualifications:
- MFA
- A minimum of 2 years of teaching experience at the college level.
- Record of professional achievement in creative practice.
- Demonstrates mastery in cinematography and post-production.
- Demonstrates expertise in expanded notions of narrative, non-fiction and or experimental multidisciplinary approaches to lens-based artistic works.
- Demonstrates an understanding of critical concepts within filmmaking.
- Demonstrates a sound knowledge of historical and contemporary artworks with filmmaking.
- Must possess and project integrity and the highest standards of professional conduct.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Competency in analog and digital photography technologies.
- Demonstrates an understanding of critical concepts within fine art photography.
- Demonstrates a sound knowledge of historical and contemporary artworks with photography.
- Competency in multi-channel moving image works.
Submissions of Credentials (PDF format only):
For full consideration, interested individuals are encouraged to submit all of their credentials to www.kcai.edu/employment as soon as possible, before the February 14, 2025 deadline. Applications with all required documents should be submitted electronically and includes the following:
- Cover Letter
- Current curriculum vitae
- Online Portfolio of Work (demonstrating a significant body of work & expertise that includes moving image samples)
- Online Portfolio of Supervised Student Projects (including brief assignment descriptions)
- Statement of Teaching Philosophy that cites your teaching experience within the classroom
- Statement of Diversity Contribution
- Contact information for three professional references (titles, telephone numbers, email addresses, city/state)
