Assistant Professor in Visual Studies, Critical Practices at the University of Toronto

Part-time Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream
Visual Studies, Critical Practices

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, at the University of Toronto, invites applications for a 50% part-time teaching stream position in the area of Visual Studies, Critical Practices. The appointment will be at the rank of Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream with an expected start date of August 1, 2022, or shortly thereafter.

Programs in Visual Studies focus upon a critical understanding and production of art. Visual Studies is set within a unique environment focusing on a rigorous investigation of the interdisciplinary and conceptual components inherent to contemporary art and curatorial practice, as well as in critical writing, theory, art history, design, and related areas requiring a high degree of visual literacy. The Critical Practices stream is intended for students who are drawn to the fields of criticism, publishing, curating, exhibiting, and writing about both design and art. It is intended for students who are visually literate but not necessarily focused upon studio-based artistic practice. This stream recognizes that aesthetic production is multifaceted and that careers in art often extend beyond traditional modes of practice and scholarship to include potential careers as critics, journalists, editors, publishers, curators, teachers, and research-based practitioners.

Candidates must have earned a Master of Fine Arts or Master of Visual Studies degree or a Masters degree in a field related to the Critical Practices stream as described above. We seek candidates whose creative practice and teaching interests complement and enhance our existing strengths. Candidates must have previous teaching experience in an arts or visual studies program including lecture preparation and delivery, curriculum development, and development of online material/lectures. We are seeking artists with a record of exceptional scholarly creative research activity with international exposure (e.g. exhibitions, festivals, residencies, publications, commissions, and/or curatorial practice, etc.). Demonstrated excellence in teaching is required in contemporary art history and/or arts-based critical theory and practice, ideally with experience in teaching studio and/or media-based practices. Candidates should also have demonstrated accomplishments in critical writing and/or curation. Because the candidate will be expected to make significant contributions to undergraduate and graduate teaching in a department that emphasizes academic research through the production and critical understanding of art, the candidate must have a record of combining professional disciplinary knowledge with a broader liberal arts perspective attuned to the humanities focus of the Daniels Bachelor of Arts in Visual Studies (BAVS).

Candidates must demonstrate teaching experience and the ability to contribute to the enrichment of undergraduate and graduate programs at the Daniels Faculty. Candidates must possess a demonstrated commitment to excellent pedagogical inquiry and a demonstrated interest in teaching-related scholarly activities. Evidence of excellence in teaching will be provided through teaching accomplishments and strong letters of reference.

We are seeking a candidate with a demonstrated capacity to advance visual studies knowledge and allied disciplines in a way that can contribute meaningfully to the diverse population and intellectual milieu at the Daniels Faculty. Please visit our home page: the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at www.daniels.utoronto.ca.

Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Set within a preeminent research university and located at the center of one of North America’s most cosmopolitan cities, the Daniels Faculty uniquely combines the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, visual studies, and forestry in undergraduate, professional, and advanced graduate programs. The Daniels Faculty explores the intersections between nature, technology, architecture, and various built and natural geographies in a way that situates design, art, and forestry to meet their contemporary challenges. An emphasis on the connections between all of the design disciplines at work in the remaking of the built environment is apparent in the scholarly research and built work of many of our faculty. Following a decade-long transformation of the school’s faculty and professional programs, and a major increase in its endowment, the Faculty has recently expanded its undergraduate and graduate programs. Most recently, Forestry has been welcomed as a new program which will broaden the research and teaching reach of the Daniels Faculty. To accommodate both growth in its curricular offerings and an increase in its research and outreach programs, an award-winning new building complex for the Faculty was completed on Toronto’s historic One Spadina Crescent.

The John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is located at 1 Spadina Crescent, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The University of Toronto is an English-speaking University and our business is conducted in English.

All qualified candidates are invited to apply online by submitting an electronic application to, in PDF form no larger than 50MB, to daniels-dean@daniels.utoronto.ca. Applicants must submit:

• Letter of Intent
• CV
• Portfolio (50MB maximum)
• Optional Teaching Dossier (50MB maximum)
• List of 3 references with contact information

If you have questions about this position, please contact the Dean’s Office at daniels-dean@daniels.utoronto.ca or 416-978-3103.

All application materials must be received by July 21, 2022.

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

Diversity Statement
The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

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 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 daniels-dean@daniels.utoronto.ca.