Job Description

Full Time

Assistant Professor of Contemporary Dance Forms of the African Diaspora

Appointment begins:August 20, 2025

We are seeking an artist/scholar whose creative and scholarly research is situated firmly within an Africanist global intercultural paradigm and who can advance the department’s goals in the areas of global dance studies and community-based creative research. Our new colleague will participate in our majors-level dance technique rotation by offering all levels (beginning to advanced) of contemporary dance practices grounded in the dance cultures and aesthetics of the African diaspora including but not limited to: African, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latinx and/or Afro-fusion forms, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Vogueing, Waacking, J-Setting and/or any other African diasporic dance practices determined by their area(s) of specialization. Additionally, our colleague will contribute by teaching and developing courses both within the department’s general education curriculum in Diversity and Inclusion and related to the candidate’s areas of expertise and departmental needs. Other services to the program could include undergraduate student advising, supervision of graduate student independent projects and theses, and attending to other departmental and university service assignments. We value colleagues who can contextualize their curricular offerings and interventions within historically distinct movement traditions and lineages of the African diaspora and who see their particular fusions and hybrid embodied practices as rooted in the principles of Sankofa and in experimentation, thus looking backwards historically and forwards contemporaneously in equal measure. We will welcome an individual with established relationships within the professional field and will prioritize candidates: 1) with demonstrated ability to teach contemporary dance in the candidate’s area(s) of expertise and courses blending theory and practice in African diasporic dance cultural studies; 2) who possess the qualifications and experience for instructional versatility in more than one Africanist contemporary movement practice; and 3) with demonstrated capacity to engage students from all backgrounds.

We will collaborate with our new faculty colleague to design and deliver rigorous curricula grounded in the dance cultures and aesthetics of the African diaspora and innovate curricular and programmatic initiatives that expand the range of our offerings in dance techniques and cultural dance studies. Our new colleague will elevate faculty research and student involvement in the creative process, as spaces for teaching and learning. We welcome candidates of diverse cultural and social identities to join our faculty and contribute to our department’s heterogeneous and multi-perspective culture.

APPLICATION INFORMATION

To apply for this position, go to https://jobs.uiowa.edu/and refer to requisition 75375.  Review of applications will begin November 1, 2024, and continue until the position is filled. Questions should be directed to Search Committee Chair, Professor Rebekah Kowal at rebekah-kowal@uiowa.edu. 

Supporting materials must include:

• Curriculum vitae.



• A cover letter including a discussion of your preparation for and interest in this role.



• A research statement addressing the nature and significance of your creative and/or scholarly research in the area of Contemporary Dance Forms of the African Diaspora.



• A statement of teaching philosophy including for Africanist diasporic dance technique(s) and African diasporic dance cultural studies.



• Names and contact information of three references who will receive an email prompting them to upload their letters of recommendation.



• Links to samples of body-based creative research samples (completed works of any length may be submitted, no excerpts) and/or research samples of scholarship in dance studies.



• 30-minute teaching video of a movement practices (dance technique) course.

Note: Semi-finalists will be asked to submit two syllabi: one for a practice-based dance course and one for an African diasporic dance cultural studies course.

Successful candidates will be required to disclose any misconduct history or pending research misconduct investigation, including but not limited to sexual misconduct in prior employment, along with a related release. Successful candidates will also be subject to a criminal background and credential check.

The University of Iowa is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment free from discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth and related conditions), disability, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, service in the U.S. military, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preferences.

WHY IOWA?

Quality of Life. Iowa City prides itself on being “The Greatest Small City for the Arts,” is a UNESCO City of Literature, and has been consistently ranked as one of the top 100 places to live in the USand one of the top 25 best places to live in the Midwest.The Iowa City area has over 300 restaurants providing cuisine from around the world. The area has a beautiful natural landscape that includes parks, woods, prairie, rivers, and lakes.

Department Reputation.The Department of Dance offers BA, BFA and MFA degrees with a major emphasis on performance and choreography. The Department produces eight to ten concerts each academic year, along with the University of Iowa Dance Company (UIDC) – the UI student repertory ensemble – which tours Iowa and the surrounding states. The Department currently has a nine-member faculty serving approximately 90 undergraduate dance majors and 12 graduate students.

The University of Iowa is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD). College Factual rates UI Dance at #13 (#6 in public colleges and universities) for bachelor’s degree programs and #5 (#2 in public universities) for master’s degree programs. Our students have gone on to notable careers in the arts as performers, choreographers, instructors, studio owners, and arts administrators, and in other fields, such as law, medicine, and business. 

The Department of Dance is an integral part of Performing Arts at Iowaand the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The University of Iowa is known for its thriving arts programs and Iowa City for its active community arts scene.

Opportunities for Research.The University of Iowa is an R1 institution. Our faculty disseminate research to a variety of venues, including theatrical spaces and concert halls, art galleries and museums, scholarly journals, monographs, textbooks, conferences, art exhibitions, cinemas, dance and performing arts festivals, internet-based platforms, site-based work, and in the public square. Faculty frequently collaborate with scholars in other university departments on their research.

The UI Department of Dance encourages students and faculty to think across disciplines and to explore opportunities to connect dance with any other field of knowledge. A majority of our undergraduate students are double majors and are encouraged to consider ways dance is a framework for understanding the world. Three of our faculty members hold joint appointments, one in Dance/Theatre Arts, one in Dance/Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, and one in Dance/School of Art and Art History. And members of our faculty produce interdisciplinary creative and scholarly research within their areas of training and expertise.

• M.F.A. or Ph.D. degree in Dance or a related field awarded by start date.

• Professional experience in the dance field.



• College-level teaching experience.



• Demonstrated strong record of active creative research in African-based and/or Africanist choreography, performance, and/or community-based dance practices.



• Demonstrated ability to teach contemporary dance in the candidate’s area(s) of expertise.



• Demonstrated capacity for course development and design; administrative skills to work in an academic environment, including in written communication as demonstrated in the application materials.

• National and/or international profile in the field.



• Qualifications and/or experience for instructional versatility in more than one Africanist contemporary movement practice.



• Capacity to teach courses blending theory and practice in African diasporic dance cultural studies.



• Capacity to teach or develop a course that satisfies the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences general education curriculum in Diversity and Inclusion.



• Demonstrated engagement with professional organizations and associations; a record of sustained and impactful community-based practices.

Curriculum Vitae
Letter of Interest
Research Statement
Teaching Statement
Research Samples
30 minute teaching video

Number of References:3

Letters of Recommendation are required as part of the application process. Upon submission, references selected will be notified by e-mail with directions on how to electronically submit letters to the University of Iowa.

To start the Online Application process for this position, click the "Apply for This Position" button located below the Contact Information.

Job Tags

Similar Jobs