Lecturer, Department of Art

Overview

How does photography imagine the world? Lens-based visuality is the new literacy of the 21st century. The Department of Art in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) invites applications for a nine-month Lecturer term position to teach coursework in Photography. The expected start date for this full-time position is January 1, 2025. The duration of this renewable appointment will be for at least one, and likely two years.

Department Details

The Department of Art, part of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, offers a B.F.A., an M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts, and an M.F.A. in Image Text. The department enjoys a close relationship with diverse academic units across the university including in the humanities, sciences, and technology. Art faculty and students have access to extensive traditional and digital production facilities in the college as well as to the resources of a major research university. The department also offers a semester-long undergraduate studio program in Rome, Italy.

About the College

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) is home to nearly 1000 students, 120 faculty, and 65 staff members who come together from around the world to take up some of today's most urgent challenges and advance research, inquiry, and design to build a more just and sustainable future.

A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP bridges fields and faculty with five departments, 20 degree programs, 18 faculty-led labs, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities, a platform for building partnerships that make a positive impact in our cities and communities nationally and internationally.

Cornell AAP's departments include Architecture, Art, and Planning, as well as the new multicollege Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, jointly led by the S.C. Johnson College of Business, and the multicollege Department of Design Tech, administered by Cornell AAP in partnership with Cornell Bowers CIS, Cornell Engineering, the Cornell Human Ecology, and Cornell Tech. The college is housed across three locations (Ithaca, New York; New York City; and Rome, Italy), each offering world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to building a caring, inclusive, and rigorous community around our shared priorities — Creative + Critical Practices, Sustainability + Social Impact, Design + Emerging Technologies, and the Future of Cities + Development — that enable us to reimagine and reshape the world in radically new ways, every day.

Qualifications

Applicants for the Lecturer position should possess a graduate degree in art, evidence of relevant research and professional work, a commitment to teaching, and expertise in a range of contemporary, traditional, and experimental media. Given that the department emphasizes cross-disciplinary practices, preference will be given to candidates who have experience critiquing and can address work in all media–from beginners to advanced levels.

Applicants should have a demonstrated familiarity with the broad range of current practices and must be able to teach from knowledge of a wide range of historical and contemporary practices. We seek applicants who will lead investigations of visual perception and photography as an expressive recording medium. Cornell AAP’s B.F.A. is oriented toward the interrelationship and integration of interdisciplinary studio practice with content from across the university: the candidate should therefore be able to address art practice in a broad cultural, socio/political, technical, and conceptual context within an atmosphere of close faculty/student involvement and mentoring.

While the department holds an expansive definition of photography and lens-based media, the expectation is that the Lecturer will be able to teach introductory and advanced courses in both analog and digital photography. Our facilities include a well-equipped Photo Lab which can allow for darkroom, digital, and alternative processes. There is a staff lab manager, a lighting studio, and a variety of equipment available for loan. In addition, there is the possibility of teaching cross-disciplinary seminars. Responsibilities include teaching two classes on these topics each semester, and some participation in related departmental services such as admissions and portfolio review, curriculum development, and undergraduate and graduate student advising, as determined by the department chair.

Required Application Materials

• Letter of application
• Statement of teaching philosophy
• Curriculum vitae
• Work samples (links or other appropriate documentation) and work list
• Examples of course syllabi and representative samples of student work
• List of three references with telephone numbers as well as mail and email addresses; these references will be contacted only at a later stage of the search, and with the applicant's permission.
• We ask applicants for all faculty positions to share their experiences and/or approaches (past, current, or future) to fostering learning, research service, and/or outreach in a diverse community. Applicants may choose to submit a stand-alone statement or embed the information in other parts of their application materials.
• All applicants should submit their materials using the university's online application tool. Please note that any hardcopy materials sent in will not be returned.

Deadlines

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Appointment is expected to begin January 1, 2025.

Benefits

• Pay Range $54,000–$60,000
• The hiring rate of pay for the successful candidate will be determined considering the following criteria:
  • Prior relevant work or industry experience.
  • Education level to the extent education is relevant to the position.
  • Academic Discipline (faculty pay ranges reflects 9-month annual salary)
  • Unique applicable skills.
• A generous benefit package includes, educational benefits, access to wellness programs, employee discounts, health care options, generous paid leave provisions and excellent retirement contributions. Cornell has been nationally recognized as an award-winning workplace for health, wellbeing, sustainability, and diversity initiatives.

Questions and Additional Information

Department Chair
Department of Art
art_chair@cornell.edu