Open-Rank Professor of Games (Tenure-Track/Tenured)

Open-Rank Professor of Games (Tenure-Track/Tenured)

University of California Los Angeles

Application number: JPF09663

The Design Media Arts (DMA) department at the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture invites you to apply for assistant, associate, or full professor positions in the field of games.

Who is this suitable for?

We seek applicants from artists, scholars, designers, and developers whose practices deeply engage with critical and experimental approaches to games. The Design Media Arts Department is housed within the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture and offers BA and MFA degrees; applicants should have experience working with artists and designers in academic, studio, or professional contexts. Applicants should demonstrate expertise, community involvement, and international recognition for one or more critical game-related practices.

The search committee will review applications as they are received through RECRUIT. Applications will be reviewed for completeness and candidates will be notified if their applications are incomplete and will be given a reasonable amount of time to provide missing material. To ensure full consideration, candidates must apply by October 5, 2024.

Examples of areas of focus include:

-experimental game art

-critical theory and method in game studies

-game programming and technical development

-game production and publishing

-game writing and emerging genres

-game curation and community organization

-games related to race, gender, sexuality, disability and class

Ideal candidates will contribute to the further development of the vision of the Design Media Arts Department and the UCLA Game Lab and will play a leadership role in advancing our goals of merging artistic practice, social responsibility, and cultural inquiry around gaming and related fields. Applicants should become familiar with the work we do in the Game Lab https://games.ucla.edu/ and in the Design Media Arts Department https://dma.ucla.edu/

Working at the Design Media Arts (DMA) department

DMA is seeking a colleague who is committed to working in social, critical, and cultural spaces, who believes in building nurturing and supportive communities. We prioritize diversity, accessibility, and accountability. We expect this position to attract applicants who value excellence in teaching, academic service and leadership, and collaboration, who have a deep commitment to societal issues, and who manifest their passions and craft within the field of games and media arts.

This position offers you the opportunity to help establish a Games Major, expanding our educational offerings within the Design Media Arts department at UCLA.

Responsibilities

The position involves teaching three undergraduate studio courses and two graduate seminars per academic year, providing service to the department and the university, furthering the goals of the UCLA Game Lab, and developing independent research and creative activities suitable for promotion within the University of California. Teaching at UCLA is quarterly; the class load is 2,2,1. Service includes chairing or serving on two or three department- or university-wide committees, involvement in departmental admissions, mentoring junior faculty, and advising graduate students.

Basic qualifications

Graduate degree (MFA or PhD in a related field) or equivalent professional experience of 5 years or more

About UCLA, the Department of Design Media Arts, and the UCLA Game Lab

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. An R1 research institution, UCLA is part of the University of California (UC) system and has been ranked the No. 1 public university by U.S. News & World Report for six years in a row.

Housed in the School of Arts and Architecture, the Department of Design Media Arts (DMA) has a population of 24 graduate students in the 3-year MFA program and approximately 200 undergraduate students in the 4-year BA program. DMA is home to 12 full-time senate faculty, approximately 15 lecturers, and a suite of faculty-led research centers and initiatives, including the UCLA Game Lab, Counterforce Lab, UCLA Social Software, Media Arts Research Space (MARS), Art|Sci Center, FLAT Journal, and the Conditional Studio. DMA offers a technologically innovative and intellectually rigorous curriculum anchored in media arts, design, and games, and provides a multidisciplinary education to foster critical thinking and encourage experimentation, creative exploration, and inquiry.

The UCLA Game Lab promotes the production of experimental games and game-related research within an art and design context. We emphasize conceptual risk-taking and the development of new forms of expression, form, and critical inquiry through gaming. In addition to game production and research, the UCLA Game Lab also functions as a center that develops public programming around critical issues in gaming, including lectures, workshops, exhibitions, a visiting artist program, a summer program, and a public game festival at the Hammer Museum, among other events.

Salary

The published UC salary scales establish the minimum salary determined by grade and/or step at appointment. See table(s) (1). The salary range for this position is $78,200-$205,400. “Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary in excess of the published systemwide salary at the designated grade and step, will be offered when necessary to meet competitive terms.

The level of appointment is determined by the qualifications and professional experience of the candidate.

The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community dedicated to the advancement, application, and transmission of knowledge and creative endeavor through academic excellence, where all individuals participating in University programs and activities can work and learn together in a safe and secure environment, free from violence, intimidation, bullying, and other degrading behavior, discrimination, exploitation, or harassment. With this commitment and a dedication to addressing all forms of academic misconduct, UCLA conducts targeted reference checks for finalists to whom departments or other hiring entities intend to make formal offers of appointment to faculty positions in the Academic Senate. The targeted reference checks involve contacting the finalists’ current and previous workplaces to inquire whether there are substantiated findings of misconduct that would violate the University’s Code of Faculty Conduct. To implement this process, UCLA requires that all applicants for faculty positions in the Academic Senate complete, sign, and upload to RECRUIT the form entitled “Authorization to Release Information” as part of their application. If the applicant does not include the signed Authorization to Release Information with the application materials, the application will be considered incomplete. As with any incomplete application, the application will not be considered further. While all applicants for faculty recruitment must complete the entire application, only finalists (i.e., those to whom the department or other hiring entity intends to make a formal offer) who are considered for faculty positions in the Academic Senate will be subject to targeted reference checks.

To apply, go to: https://apptrkr.com/5515169

The University of California is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. For the University of California’s complete nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy, see: UC Nondiscrimination & Affirmative Action Policy, https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/DiscHarassAffirmAction