Ceramics Special Appointment Instructor or Assistant Professor - 2008/2009 Academic Year

Kansas City Art Institute, a national leader in visual arts education, seeks nominations and applications for a full-time special appointment at the rank of instructor or assistant professor in the college’s ceramics department for the 2008/2009 academic year. This is a non-tenure track position and the start date is August 15, 2008.

Teaching responsibilities include instruction of junior and senior level ceramics majors and instruction of non-major elective students in the ceramics studio. The instructional emphasis is on aspects of the vessel, including methods for the potter’s wheel, slip casting, mold making, and other forming methods, in addition to a range of finishing, glazing and firing techniques. Candidates should have an artistic pursuit within the vessel idiom, utilitarian or otherwise, and be versed in historic and contemporary aspects of ceramic art, theory, and design. Technical ceramics skills must include knowledge in wheel forming, glazing, and firing gas kilns at high temperatures. Expertise in mold making and other vessel forming methods, and in low- and mid-range finishing and firing methods, is a plus.

The appointee will participate in critical reviews for students working in a range of ceramic forms, including the vessel, sculpture, and installation, and will also teach a professional practice seminar.

Aptitude of computer technology as a tool in studio practice and teaching is required. Candidates must have experience with ensuring the proper use of equipment and facilities and the ability to appropriately address safety issues. Formal credentials should reflect professional achievement, the MFA degree and college-level teaching experience.

The department offers students a specially designed 18,000+ sq. ft. studio building, equipped with facilities for in-depth studies of the ceramics field. All aspects of clay and glaze theory and all temperatures of firing techniques are explored.

Kansas City Art Institute is a four-year, private, independent and accredited college of art and design founded in 1885, and is located in the cultural heart of metropolitan Kansas City. The college enrolls over 650 undergraduate students drawn from throughout the United States and several other countries.

The position is open until a suitable candidate is selected, however applications received by April 7 are assured of full consideration. Send letter of application, curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching philosophy, and a list of 3 references we may contact. Also include electronic media of current work and student work as well as a self-addressed stamped envelope for return of materials.

Kansas City Art Institute

Ceramics Search

c/o Human Resources

4415 Warwick Boulevard

Kansas City, MO 64111-1874

Kansas City Art Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer