Lynch Postdoctoral Associate in Curricular Engagement – Cornell University, Ithaca (Main Campus)
Cornell University embraces diversity and seeks candidates who will contribute to a climate that supports students, faculty and staff of all identities and backgrounds. We strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented and/or marginalized identities to apply.
This position offers the opportunity for a recent PhD in art history or a related field of visual study looking to enter the field of academic museum education. As the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art nears its fiftieth anniversary in 2023, we are invigorated by opportunities to further impact teaching and research at Cornell University, and to broaden our reach as a world-class academic art museum.
The Johnson Museum enriches learning opportunities for Cornell students by promoting object-based instruction and inquiry, as a component of coursework or independent study, in any discipline across Cornell’s schools and colleges. In collaboration with faculty and instructors, the Museum’s educators and curators develop and organize approximately 400 class sessions per academic year in the Museum’s galleries and classrooms. This position drives and supports object-based teaching across disciplines at scale while focusing on a certain number of faculty partnerships each year for a more sustained engagement with works in our collections or on view in our galleries.
We seek an individual with a passion for teaching and interdisciplinary thinking; a deep commitment to object-based learning and inquiry; and a collaborative approach to working with colleagues in the Museum and across the university campus. The Postdoctoral Associate will consult with a broad constituency of faculty and graduate student instructors as well as Johnson Museum curators to co-develop and co-teach museum sessions for an array of university classes, focusing primarily on artworks in the Johnson Museum’s permanent collections and temporary exhibitions. Museum-led curricular engagement may also embrace a diversity of objects and artifacts drawn from the breadth of Cornell University collections, in collaboration with other campus entities. In doing so, the position will deepen integration of the Museum’s collections and object-based pedagogy into curricula across campus. In addition to teaching, the Associate will engage in scholarly reflection upon their practice as a museum educator and maintain an active research profile. They will also realize plans for the Johnson Museum’s new Richard Sukenik ’59 Teaching Gallery by developing curricular installations drawing on the Museum’s collections to support and enrich learning. The Associate is particularly encouraged to support and promote new experimental pedagogical collaborations with faculty and instructors in the Sukenik Gallery, and to document and further explore key highlights in the collection by way of a symposium and associated publication after three years.
Reporting to the Director of Education, the Lynch Postdoctoral Associate in Curricular Engagement is part of a team of six professionals that advances the educational and land-grant missions of the Johnson Museum and implements new strategies to encourage use of the Museum in creative ways.
Required Qualifications:
PhD degree in art history or a related field of visual study plus museum experience and/or college-level teaching/teaching assistant experience with works of art. Capacity to respond quickly and effectively to class visit requests. Ability to work well with colleagues in a fast-paced environment. Excellent writing, research, and administrative skills. The successful candidate must have experience in and/or a demonstrated commitment to supporting diversity, equity, access, and inclusion.
Preferred Qualifications:
Curatorial experience and object-handling knowledge are desirable. Expertise in building and maintaining relationships with a diverse range of faculty, staff, and students.
This is a 4-year postdoctoral position. The selected candidate will be appointed annually, as per Cornell’s academic appointment policy. Starting salary is $57,000 and includes a comprehensive benefit package. Visa sponsorship is available.
To apply, please submit a letter of application, CV, a list of three references, and a statement of teaching philosophy; all documents should be attached to the resume section of the application. Review of applications will begin on May 18 and will continue until a suitable candidate is selected.
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
The Johnson Museum’s permanent collection numbers 40,000 works, spanning six millennia and encompassing art from most world cultures. Among the strengths of the collection are the holdings of Asian art; more than 23,000 prints, drawings, and photographs ranging from the fifteenth century to the present; modern and contemporary painting and sculpture; European art from ancient times to the present; African sculpture and textiles; and pre-Columbian sculpture and ceramics.
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Brenda Joly Number of Openings:
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