Assistant Professor of the History of Architecture and the Designed Environment - Design Justice Cluster-Hire Initiative - Military Veterans

About the Design Justice Cluster-Hire Initiative

Design Justice is an initiative within the College of Design, seeking to create space, policy, and practices that support the inclusion and retention of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) as well as other communities who have been historically underinvested. Design Justice is supported by a group of individuals across design disciplines, known as the Collective, who are committed to anti-racism, decolonized pedagogy, and the liberation of communities who have been underinvested historically, in both design academia and the design industry. Areas of scholarship, teaching, and/or service will involve: anti-racism, racial justice, racial disparities, and/or racial discrimination; equity, power/privilege, and/or bias; benefits to the BIPOC, immigrant, and refugee populations; environmental and social justice; and/or other forms of studying and countering systemic oppression. Successful candidates for all positions will have the clear potential, demonstrated ability, and/or related scholarship to support our BIPOC and other marginalized communities.

Position Details

The University of Minnesota's College of Design invites applications for a tenure-track position in the Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design (ALI), with a focus on the history of architecture and the designed environment. We are seeking tenure-track candidates who are committed to advancing a scholarly, pedagogic, and/or service agenda specifically focused on design justice either through the history of architecture and the designed environment teaching, and/or in research, practice, or service to the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture or interior design.

This is a 100%-time academic year (9-month) position at the level of assistant professor. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience, and will be supplemented by a start-up package to support advancement of scholarship and teaching. The priority application deadline is November 15, 2024. However, applications will continue to be reviewed until the position is filled. Anticipated start date is August 2025.

We seek applicants whose work focuses on architecture and design from the mid-twentieth century onward; but other areas of expertise will also be considered. Preference will be given to those whose interests, especially in teaching, engage with each of the ALI disciplines. The successful candidate will also have a strong commitment to design justice, and eventually, the opportunity to participate in the College of Design's Design Justice Collective. Regardless of the start date, selected candidates will receive the cluster experience.

About the Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design

Situated within the College of Design, the Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design (ALI) was established in 2023 to enhance interdisciplinary connections between programs that until recently were in different departments, and in the case of Interior Design, on a different campus. ALI's studios, classrooms, workshop, and library are located in Rapson Hall. The building was designed by Thorshov & Cerny in 1960, renovated with an addition by Steven Holl in 2002, and named for the former head of the School of Architecture, architect Ralph Rapson.

ALI is committed to a diverse, socially engaged, contextually sensitive, ecologically responsible, and technologically rich vision of design. Its students, faculty, and programs are known for their history of design excellence, and their strong relationships with an exceptional practice community. They are well positioned to work together with culturally diverse local communities committed to race and climate justice, through a curriculum that actively pursues engaged design, research, and scholarship in the College, University, and beyond.
ALI enrolls over 800 students, including more than 450 undergraduates in architecture (Pre-Architecture, BDA, and BS in Architecture), approximately 100 graduate students in the NAAB accredited Master of Architecture degree, about 70 students in the professionally accredited BLA and MLA programs, and 150 in the professionally accredited BS in Interior Design program. In addition, there are approximately 40 students in the Master of Science in Architecture program (with tracks in Sustainable Design, Applied Research Practices, and Metropolitan Design) and the Master of Heritage Studies and Public History program. Recently, the School of Architecture has also launched an Architecture track in the College of Design's PhD program.
The department's faculty includes internationally recognized experts in a range of interrelated architectural fields: design; urban and rural design; building technology; digital design and representation, design/build; ecological design and sustainable building design; resilient and regenerative infrastructures; housing; heritage studies and public histories; critical practice and representation; history, theory, and criticism; and research embedded in practice.

Responsibilities

• Conduct teaching, research/scholarship/creative work, and/or service centered around areas of design justice.
• Conducting undergraduate and graduate architectural history courses, some of which will integrate landscape architecture, and interior design history. Teaching should contribute to students' understanding of and design for the contexts in which they will practice; and emphasize critical perspectives and intersections among cultural and global contexts, as well as design justice.
• Serving as a member of the Design Justice Collective for the first two years of the appointment. Contributing to the cultivation of policies and practices that exemplify the College's commitment to the mission of the Design Justice Collective. While issues concerned with design justice may inform your contributions in teaching, research, and service, they do not need to characterize your entire body of work.
• Conducting research on the history of architecture and the designed environment. Developing a strong record of publication and dissemination.
• Mentoring and advising students in their academic and professional development; fostering a diverse and inclusive learning environment; and contributing to recruitment and retention strategies of students who have been historically underinvested.
• Participating in departmental and university service, including curriculum development and community engagement to support the land-grant mission of the University of Minnesota.
• Service in support of the Department of Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design, College of Design, University, and/or broader community.
• Advise/mentor undergraduate and graduate students and contribute to recruitment and retention strategies of students who have been historically underinvested.
• Participate in faculty governance at the program, department, college, and/or university levels.
• Contribute to and support the mission of the University of Minnesota, a public research

• Commitment to teaching, scholarship, and/or service with a demonstrated ability, interest and/or potential to intersect with design justice and/or antiracism.
• Experience and/or commitment to teaching and/or mentoring students who have been historically underinvested.
• PhD in Architecture, Architectural History, History of Art, or a closely related field (ABD candidates will be considered with the expectation of finishing the degree by the start date).
• Experience teaching at the collegiate, graduate, and/or professional level. (This may include TA experience.)
• Ability to teach courses on the history of the designed environment that could be taught across the design disciplines in our department.
• Potential to develop a strong record of achievement in scholarship.

• A record of teaching and research in the history of architecture and the designed environment with a focus on issues at the intersection of equity, design, representation, and justice.
• Demonstrated potential and ability, and/or related scholarship to support our BIPOC and other marginalized communities.
• Demonstrated experience in securing grant funding to support research related to the history of architecture and the designed environment.
• Commitment to collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to research and teaching.
• Evidence of collaboration with multiple disciplines.