The Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (WdKA/RUAS), offers a variety of bachelor and master programmes in the field of visual culture, art, design, education in arts, and leisure management. The curriculum of the Willem de Kooning Academy is founded in an interdisciplinary ethos through the Autonomous, Social, and Commercial Practices. The Majors are the entry point of study for all Bachelor students; the Practices the interdisciplinary research contexts in the second half of the Bachelor programs; and the highly unique Stations (advanced workshops focused on Research through Making) complete the three pillars of the institute.
At the moment we are looking for:
Teaching Positions (0,1 - 0,3 fte contract depends on student enrollment in the programmes)
Theory/Practice Teacher (Course: Cultural Diversity)
Theory Teacher (Course: New Earth)
Theory/Practice (Course: Powerplay)
Theory/Practice (Course: Collective/Assembly)
&
Research Lecturer Positions (one year appointment 0,2 fte)
The candidates will be required to start teaching in September and join their new team for two preparation sessions in early/mid July.
Closing date: June 14, 2021, Apply here
ABOUT THE SOCIAL PRACTICES
Social Practices is one of three transdisciplinary graduation profiles at the Willem de Kooning Academy, which welcomes students from all majors currently offered at the academy.
Students within the Social Practices are encouraged to see cultural production as a political act that can challenge and reshape dispositions of power. We embrace the commons as a new form of citizenship, built on a deep attitude of care for the natural and social landscapes we inhabit. The Practice considers the act of making public—publishing in its most expanded form—as inherent to socially engaged cultural practice. It is committed to building bodies of knowledge in common. Currently, it is comprised of 4 fields of research (as described below) that translate into courses.
Courses
In year 1 and 2 all WdKA Bachelor students participate in short-term workshops that introduce them to the WdKA’s Practices at large. The following courses are currently being taught within Social Practices in year 3 and 4.
Cultural Diversity explores notions of identity and how it can be embodied, influenced, sedimented, or experienced across cultural, economic, political, and social lines.
Powerplay focuses on understanding the norms that govern institutions, human behavior, and representations of power, searching for ways to subvert dominant (visual) narratives.
New Earth questions sustainability paradigms like the circular economy and researches equitable development in the wake of climate change, looking towards design and cultural production as political acts.
Collective/Assembly experiments with un/learning how to work, study, make, circulate, in solidarity. And it investigates forms of physical/digital assembly that destabilize hierarchy. Slash, and, et cetera.
Position paper on Social Practices
http://beyond-social.org/wiki/index.php/Social_Design_as_a_Political_Act
TEACHING POSITION
Within the Social Practices team, you will be teaching in primarily one of the programs mentioned above. Additionally, you might be asked to teach in short term workshops for Bachelor study year 1 or 2 that introduce students to the Social Practices.
Main tasks:
- Developing and executing full lesson plans in a collaborative process with your teaching team
- For theory teachers: guide students in the writing of research papers, bringing in theoretical references and strongly relating them to materialized practice
- Organizing resits and guiding students during Plus Weeks—mandatory self-directed study periods at the end of each term.
- Participating in the development of the Social Practices curriculum with other faculty members.
- Responding with flexibility to a workload that varies over the course of the academic year.
- Reporting to the Social Practices coordinator and WdKA's educational managers for quality assurance, guidance and feedback.
Other
- Conducting integrated Competency Assessments of 3rd or 4th year students
- Participating in training sessions as required, such as acquiring a BKE certification or Competency Assessment trainings, and Education Days
- Participating in events, e.g. Open Day, Theory Program, Graduation Show
- For 4th year research supervisors: supervise students in the writing of their graduation thesis and assess students in their final examinations
RESEARCH LECTURER
To further advance the WdKA’s transdisciplinary Practices curriculum as a field of enquiry and knowledge, each Practice appoints a temporary (one-year) Research Lecturer. The focus of the Research Lecturer’s work is on bridging ‘research’ and the ‘classrooms’ by strengthening the collaboration between existing Research Professors (readers/‘lectoren’), Practice teachers and students. This research position aims to both advance the specific Practice to which it has been assigned and stimulate WdKA’s research culture at large.
Research Lecturers will be situated within WdKA’s Research Station which functions as a podium, interface, network and studio to embody and (re)present contemporary research questions.
Goals for the Research Lecturers 2021-2022 are the further development of research perspectives of Social Practices (embodied knowledge, collaboration, making public), to translate them to (extra)curricular activities, stimulate curricula change (to lay the conceptual groundwork for future Bachelor and Master programs), to contribute to ‘cross-Practice’ (public) seminars and exchange. The position of the Research Lecturers is always partly a teaching position.
PROFILE
We warmly welcome applicants from underrepresented, minority, or non-conforming communities. Our staff is diverse, not just in terms of professional profiles but also in terms of culture, gender, and ethnicity.
Attitude and Practice
You(r):
- Are a maker whose practice is strongly informed by theoretical notions and/or a critical thinker who can relate abstracted theory to concrete processes of making. Here, we understand making in relation to processes, texts, and experiences as well as objects
- Work is committed to addressing, unpacking, understanding complex social and ethical issues. It understands the importance of engaging with landscapes outside the privileged realms of cultural production
- Are able to ask supportive, nuanced questions of students and colleagues
- Believe intersectional perspectives and critical practices of care are vital for an effective learning environment, and are able to transmit these values to students by showing, not just telling
- have an active network in Rotterdam's cultural/arts sector to situate our curriculum in a wider field of local practitioners, or be willing to cultivate it
- Have good organizational skills—to plan a course effectively in compliance with educational frameworks
- Remain flexible to improvisation—to read and respond to the (class)room dynamically
- (Research Lecturer) have a reputable critical, informed and networked research perspective
- (Research Lecturer) practice represents a relevant perspective of Social Practices (Embodied knowledge, Collaboration, Making Public in your work)
- (Research Lecturer) have a proven to be able to relate to the existing work but also able to renew this
- (Research Lecturer) have a proven to be able to bridge ‘research’, ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ by collaboration
We are aware that you might not have experience and canonical qualifications in all domains below. If this is the case, do specify in which areas you would need to further develop through this position.
Experience
You've:
- Preferably a master-level degree in a relevant program in the creative/cultural fields or demonstrable work experience that provides equivalence
- Experience working in the cultural sector or related fields
- Experience with teaching (formally or informally) with a focus on transformative and experimental pedagogies
- A commitment to developing new forms of pedagogy in art and design
- An interest in project-based education and a willingness to participate in team teaching;
- Experience teaching post-secondary level education
- Experience in teaching/working within interdisciplinary environments is an advantage
- EU/ECC work authorization
- Fluency in verbal and written Dutch and English
OFFER
The Willem de Kooning Academy/Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Rotterdam) offers you a temporary contract as a teacher, depending on specific tasks and student enrollment in the programs, at 0,2 fte. The salary range is HBO-CAO grade 10/11 (€ 2,845.48 minimum and € 5,026.85 maximum per month) for full-time employment, exclusive of 8% holiday pay and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. Perks include a Hogeschool Rotterdam discount on your healthcare via Achmea and a solid pension package.
All staff members of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences must be able to submit a Certificate of Conduct (Verklaring Omtrent Gedrag, VOG) issued by the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security.
A dynamic and versatile working environment in the center of Rotterdam that appreciates self-initiated projects. For us, teaching is a continual learning process done in community. Colleagues in the Social Practices are committed, conscientious and engaged in their work and are mindful of the cooperative environment that begets it. Social Practices is engaged with self-reflective tasks of decolonizing the curriculum, instituting critical practices of care, and building a learning commons.
Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences works with a limited travel reimbursement (maximum of 20 km).
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
- CV
- Brief motivation letter, stating your interest in the specific course (Cultural Diversity, New Earth, Powerplay, Collective/Assembly), your teaching philosophy, and how this relates to your research and practice
- If you also apply for a Research Lecturer position include a research proposal related to the research focus of Social Practices
- Portfolio with relevant work or link to your website
All documents should be written in English.
The selection procedure will take place in two phases. A short list of applicants will be drawn based on CV, letter of motivation and portfolio, followed by interviews.
INFORMATION
Please send your CV, portfolio of work, and brief motivation letter stating your interest in the course/department, your teaching philosophy, and how this relates to your practice.
For brief information you can contact Clara Balaguer, coordinator of Social Practices (c.balaguer.lobregat@hr.nl).
Closing date: June 9, 2021, Apply here
