Details
09/19/2023
Film, Video, and Media Studies Position
School of Communication - Western Michigan University
Assistant/Associate Professor of Communication, tenure track, starting August 2024
Position Summary
The School of Communication at Western Michigan University invites applications for a full-time tenure track position in Film, Video, and Media Studies at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, to begin August 2024. Faculty will contribute to a dynamic program in communication that situates film and broadcast media within a liberal arts curriculum, emphasizing critical thinking to inform student work. Candidates with scholarship or creative activity that demonstrates a commitment to social justice issues are especially encouraged to apply.
Qualifications
Ph.D. or M.F.A. in Film, Communication, or relevant discipline (ABDs are eligible for consideration but are required to complete their degree requirements by August 5, 2024). Ideal candidates will provide evidence of strong potential to develop and maintain a nationally recognized program of scholarship or creative activity and demonstrate the capacity for excellence in teaching. The ideal applicant is a scholar/maker with the desire to teach film studies courses as well as hands-on digital media production informed by critical theory. Preferred qualifications include experience teaching major non-linear editing software in the Macintosh environment (e.g., Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro), with the ability to adapt to rapid advances in digital video technology. The successful candidate will demonstrate a record of contributions or a commitment to diversity and inclusion in their scholarship, creative activity, teaching, service, or student mentoring.
Responsibilities
Candidates will teach both digital media production and film studies courses in their area(s) of expertise, engage in curriculum development, participate in departmental and college committees, and develop industry relationships. Other responsibilities include maintaining a nationally recognized research and/or creative activities agenda and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. The ability to teach foundational courses also is expected.
General Summary
University
We would like to recognize that Western Michigan University is located on lands historically occupied by Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadmi nations. WMU seeks to acknowledge and honor this ancestral land of the Three Fires Confederacy, the sacred lands of all indigenous peoples and their continued presence.
Western Michigan University (WMU), located in Southwest Michigan, is a vibrant, nationally recognized student-centered research institution with an enrollment of nearly 18,000. WMU delivers high-quality undergraduate instruction, has a strong graduate division, and fosters significant research activities. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has placed WMU among the 185 public institutions in the nation designated as research universities with high research activities. Western Michigan University is a globally engaged university that promotes success for learners at all levels and stands out among America’s more than 4,600 public and private degree-granting colleges and universities.
This hiring coincides with ongoing anti-racism efforts at the university focused on creating an inclusive environment and equitable structures for hiring, teaching, learning and research. These include the Racial Justice Advisory Committee, which recently made recommendations to address systemic racism on campus, and the president’s Mountaintop Initiative, a $2 million fund to advance these recommendations, as well as other proposals from the WMU community. The university also recently received a $550 million endowed, multi-year Empowering Futures Gift, which will fund many projects and initiatives that aim to break down the barriers created by historic inequities. The Empowering Futures Gift is the largest gift for a public institution of higher education in U.S. history.
INSIGHT into Diversity consistently honors WMU for its outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Ability
Annual employment surveys show that upon graduation, 9 of 10 WMU graduates are employed, with 90% landing positions related to their degree.
Military Times ranks WMU among the best institutions for veterans, and WMU is the only Michigan school to appear on all nine years of its annual Best for Vets list.
WMU operates the nation’s largest and most comprehensive collegiate support program for former foster-care youth and is an international model for teaching, research, learning, and public service related to foster care and higher education.
Washington Monthly ranked WMU first in the state of Michigan for its impact on alumni earnings 10 years after graduation.
Department
The School of Communication at Western Michigan University embraces the philosophy of engaged scholarship – a philosophy that grounds our theory and research in a practical effort to make an impact on our personal relationships, organizations, communities, society, and the global community. We have a nationally recognized master’s program and 17 tenured/tenure-track faculty who have national and international research and creative activity records and who are actively engaged in student mentoring. Our graduate program engages students in public scholarship, providing transparent criteria for student success, and employs the best practices such as teamwork, interdisciplinary approaches, and mentoring. Our undergraduate curriculum serves approximately 400 students in five majors, including Communication Studies; Digital Media and Journalism; Film, Video, and Media Studies; Interpersonal Communication; and Strategic Communication – and 150 students in three minors: Communication, User-Experience/ Human-Computer Interaction (UX/HCI), and Journalism. This position coincides with a $42.3M renovation of Dunbar Hall, to include a highly visible broadcast production space ideal for live news and sports shows, interviews with visiting scholars, professionals, or alumni, chroma key, photography shoots, or other performance-based activities.
The School of Communication is committed to the University’s strategic direction on inclusive excellence and equity and actively works to promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive University culture to ensure social sustainability and accessibility. We strongly encourage applications from candidates in underrepresented groups, including those with physical disabilities, neurological disabilities, as well as multilingual candidates for whom English is not a first language. We seek all candidates who have a passion for inclusion, accessibility, and related themes.
In support of the School of Communication’s commitment to scholarly and creative activity, the successful candidate will enjoy many opportunities to develop their research and/or production activity portfolio. Travel funding will be provided, with support for presenting at conferences, publishing in professional publications, creative activities, and developing leadership experience.
College
The College of Arts and Sciences represents the foundation of learning and the academic heart of WMU. As articulated in the College of Arts and Sciences strategic plan, we are committed to fostering a community of diverse, inclusive, equitable, and globally engaged scholars, learners, and leaders. With 23 departments and interdisciplinary schools and institutes, WMU’s largest college offers a broad range of learning opportunities and career paths for our students. CAS students are among the very top students in the country, having received very competitive awards including Goldwater Fellowships, Udall Scholarships, Boren Fellowships, and Fulbright awards, among others.
Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo is located only two and a half hours by car from Chicago and Detroit and only 45 minutes from the beaches of Lake Michigan. It is in one of Michigan’s designated research corridors, maintaining a strong life sciences/biotech presence and supporting two leading medical centers. With 263,000 people in the greater Kalamazoo area, the community offers an array of cultural events, entertainment, and all-season recreation. The city supports an international keyboard competition and a nationally recognized symphony and has earned a reputation for a vibrant community theatre and visual arts scene. Relatedly, Kalamazoo is committed to social justice, community development and the elimination of generational poverty through its Shared Prosperity Kalamazoo initiative, with structural budgetary support provided by the City of Kalamazoo’s Foundation for Excellence program. Kalamazoo also is the home of the Kalamazoo Promise, a scholarship program offered to all Kalamazoo Public School students that covers up to 100% of tuition and mandatory fees to all Michigan public (and many private) institutions of higher learning.
Compensation
Competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience, with an excellent benefits package, including participation in TIAA. Opportunities exist to teach in the summer for additional compensation.
Starting Date
August 2024
Applications
Review of applications will begin October 15, 2024 and will continue until the position is filled. Applicants should visit http://www.wmich.edu/hr/jobs to apply. Online applications include:
1. Curriculum vita
2. Letter of application that addresses fulfillment of qualifications and demonstrates skills, knowledge, and/or success in diversity, equity, and inclusion work
3. Representative examples of research and/or portfolio of production activity, specifying your role in each production (e.g., cinematographer; director; producer; editor; camera operator; etc.)
4. Three samples of teaching materials (e.g., syllabi, assignments, prepared materials for class)
5. Unofficial copies of graduate transcripts
Please direct any questions to Dr. Keith Hearit, chair of the search committee, at keith.hearit@wmich.edu.
