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Visual Arts Assistant Professor of Teaching, Film and Media Studies

Position overview

Position title: Visual Arts Assistant Professor of Teaching, Film and Media Studies
Salary range: Based on market conditions and the UC salary scale, a reasonable salary range for this position is $84,100- $108,900 . The posted UC academic salary scales (https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/compensation/2025-26-academic-salary-scales.html) set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See the following table for the salary scale for this position (T1) Off-scale salaries and other additional pay components (additional compensation to the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step) are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions, qualifications, and experience.

Application Window

Open date: October 1, 2026

Next review date: Sunday, Nov 1, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Thursday, Sep 30, 2027 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

Department of Visual Arts at UC San Diego invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Teaching in Film and Media Studies. The Assistant Professor of Teaching will teach in the quickly growing interdisciplinary Cinematic Arts major and will collaborate with The Suraj Israni Center for Cinematic Arts. This center promotes research, scholarship, teaching, production and exhibition of film, providing access and opportunity for UC San Diego students and scholars to pursue instruction in cinematic arts.

We seek a candidate who is working across a range of potential research areas, including film and media history, theory, aesthetics, and curation. The ideal candidate will bring a rigorous approach to foundational film studies while engaging adjacent fields like time-based media, experimental and expanded cinema. This candidate will provide a crucial role in performing the pedagogical mission of the Cinematic Arts major.

Duties include classroom teaching at all levels, graduate supervision, active research, and departmental and university service. The successful candidate will teach in the Department of Visual Arts undergraduate Media major, an area spanning analog and digital photography, film, digital media, and the history, theory, and criticism of film and media. The position also entails teaching in the M.F.A. program and contributing to the Ph.D. programs in Art History, Theory, and Criticism and Art Practice.

We seek candidates whose research, teaching, and service records demonstrate their capacity to contribute to culturally responsive pedagogy, engaging with students from all social backgrounds. Our ideal candidate will demonstrate a commitment to inclusive teaching of non-traditional, global, or marginalized cinematic perspectives.

Teaching will encompass the entire curricular range, from large undergraduate lecture courses to graduate courses for MFA and Ph.D. Art Practice students. Courses could include such topics as Histories of World Cinema, Second Cinema, Third Cinema, the Avant-garde in Cinema, Documentary Film History, Media Art Histories and the Aesthetics of Cinematic arts.

All department faculty are expected to advise, work with, and serve on the committees of, MFA students in all areas and also work with, and serve on the committees of, Ph.D. students.

The Department of Visual Arts ranks among the world’s leading art schools. Founded on the principle that the production, critical analysis and history of art are inter-related activities. The Department of Visual Arts offers undergraduate degrees in Art History, Studio Art, Media, Speculative Design, and the Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts Major (ICAM), as well as housing internationally renowned graduate programs in studio art (MFA) and art history and art practice (PhD). As our department grows and moves forward, our current faculty include exciting new internationally renowned artists and scholars working in a range of disciplines in the study and practice of art.

The standard teaching load is 6 courses per year.
The appointment is expected to begin July 1 2027.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Job candidates must have a terminal degree (PhD, MFA) or have advanced to candidacy at the time of application, with an expectation of the degree being earned by the time of appointment. CV and portfolio must demonstrate at least 3-5 years of teaching experience.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

Terminal degree (PhD, MFA) required.

Preferred qualifications

PhD degree preferred. Preferred candidates will be able to demonstrate the potential for teaching excellence.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Cover Letter

  • Statement of Research

  • Statement of Teaching

  • Portfolio of Work - Upload a PDF document that includes a list of links or one link to your online portfolio specifically curated for the search committee, prioritized with your most accomplished work with any writings/statements and notable reviews about your work

  • Teaching Portfolio - Teaching Portfolio may include examples of previous syllabi, student evaluations, or additional evidence of teaching experience

  • Statement of Contributions to Diversity (Optional)

Reference requirements
  • 3-5 required (contact information only)
Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04661

Help contact: vis-ap@ucsd.edu

About UC San Diego

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

As a university employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements. 

The University of California prohibits smoking and tobacco use at all of its university-controlled properties. 

The UC San Diego Annual Security & Fire Safety Report is available online at: https://www.police.ucsd.edu/docs/annualclery.pdf. This report provides crime and fire statistics, as well as institutional policy statements & procedures. Contact the UC San Diego Police Department at (858) 534-4361 if you want to obtain paper copies of this report. 

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.
Click for more information on Assembly Bill-810
Click for more information on Senate Bill-791

• “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy: [https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000385/SVSH]
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties: [https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/1001004/Anti-Discrimination]

Job location

La Jolla, CA