Associate Professor/ Professor - Emerging Technologies in Theatre and Performance

Date Posted: 07/30/2024
Closing Date: 09/30/2024, 11:59PM ET
Req ID: 38299
Job Category: Faculty - Tenure Stream (continuing)
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Arts & Science
Department: Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Description:

The Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto invites applications for a full-time tenure stream position in Emerging Technologies in Theatre and Performance at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor, with an expected start date of July 1, 2025, or shortly thereafter. The successful candidate may be named to the Paul and Helen Phelan Chair in Drama. This endowed chair appointment would be for a five-year term and is renewable following a favourable review. 

We are seeking a leading mid-career/senior scholar with an established program of research in performance and technology coupled with an ongoing critical curiosity about the possibilities, practices, and implications of emerging technologies and evolving conceptions of theatre and performance.  

As the Centre fosters an exciting diversity of theatre and performance scholarship, as well as a commitment to anti-racist and equity-based research and pedagogy, we would welcome a candidate who can bring contemporary critical methodologies, theory, and practice informed by Indigenous, post-colonial, critical race, feminist, or queer thought to bear on performance and technology.  

Applicants must have earned a PhD degree in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies or a related area, with a clearly demonstrated record of excellence in research and teaching. We seek candidates whose research and teaching interests complement and enhance our existing departmental strengths. Candidates will have an established international reputation and will be expected to sustain and lead innovative and independent research, and to maintain an outstanding, competitive, and externally funded research program.

Candidates must provide evidence of research excellence which can be demonstrated by a record of sustained high-impact contributions and publications in top-ranked and relevant field-relevant journals, the submitted research statement, presentations at significant conferences, awards and accolades, and other noteworthy activities that contribute to the visibility and prominence of the discipline, as well as strong endorsements from referees.

Evidence of excellence in teaching will be provided through teaching accomplishments, the teaching dossier submitted as part of the application (with required materials outlined below), as well as strong letters of reference.
 

Salary and rank will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. 

The Centre is also home to the BMO Lab for Creative Research in the Arts, Performance, Emerging Technologies and Artificial Intelligence. The BMO Lab engages in research into the applications and implications of emerging technologies for performance with a broader mandate to look at their societal implications through the lens of performance practices and scholarship. We consider the term ‘emerging technologies' to refer to a shifting set of technologies that are socially consequential, relevant to performance practice and learning, and which can be explored on a range of levels from the deeply technical to the social and philosophical, to the playfully speculative and experimental. A critical curiosity about machine learning and motion capture would align well with current research in the Lab. 

The successful candidate will contribute to the University of Toronto’s leadership in interdisciplinary research and teaching at the intersection of technology and theatre/performance. There will be opportunities for the successful candidate to participate in academic mentorship in the Centre and academic leadership in the BMO Lab; to collaborate in exploring the conceptualization, application, experimentation, and implications of emerging technologies through the lens of performance. In addition to undergraduate and graduate courses related to their area of specialization, the successful candidate will also teach core curricular courses in theatre and performance history, theory, and practice; we look forward to evidence of those strengths and experiences in the application.  

All qualified candidates are invited to apply online by clicking the link below. Applicants must submit a cover letter; a current curriculum vitae; a research statement outlining current and future research interests; one recent publication; and a teaching dossier to include a strong teaching statement, sample course materials, and teaching evaluations. Equity, diversity and inclusion are essential to academic excellence as articulated in University of Toronto’s Statement on Equity, Diversity and Excellence. We seek candidates who share these values and who demonstrate throughout the application materials their commitment and efforts to advance equity, diversity, inclusion, and the promotion of a respectful and collegial learning and working environment.

Applicants must provide the name and contact information of three references. The University of Toronto’s recruiting tool will automatically solicit and collect letters of reference from each referee the day after an application is submitted. Applicants remain responsible for ensuring that references submit recent letters (on letterhead, dated, and signed) by the closing date. More details on the automatic reference letter collection, including timelines, are available in the candidate FAQ.

Submission guidelines can be found at http://uoft.me/how-to-apply Your CV and cover letter should be uploaded into the dedicated fields. Please combine additional application materials into one or two files in PDF/MS Word format. If you have any questions about this position, please contact Professor Kathleen Gallagher at director.dramacentre@utoronto.ca.

All application materials, including recent reference letters, must be received by September 30, 2024.

The University of Toronto has adopted the AAU Principles on Preventing Sexual Harrassment in Academia, including the requirement that applicants release personnel information from prior employers regarding sexual misconduct. Full details and requirements can be found here.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Diversity Statement
The University of Toronto embraces Diversity and is building a culture of belonging that increases our capacity to effectively address and serve the interests of our global community. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, Black and racialized persons, women, persons with disabilities, and people of diverse sexual and gender identities. We value applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise are essential to strengthening our academic mission.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete a brief Diversity Survey. This survey is voluntary. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources staff. Results will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes. For more information, please see http://uoft.me/UP.

Accessibility Statement
The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission.

The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities.

If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact uoft.careers@utoronto.ca.