Lecturer in Managing and Mediating Art

Deadline: December 31 , 2013

Aalto University is a new university with over a century of experience. Created from a high-profile merger between three leading universities in Finland – the Helsinki School of Economics, the Helsinki University of Technology and the University of Art and Design Helsinki – Aalto University opens up new possibilities for strong multi-disciplinary education and research. The university’s ambitious goal is to rank among the top universities in the world in its areas of specialization. At Aalto, there are 20,000 students and a staff of 4,500 including 350 professors.

The former Aalto University School of Art and Design and the Department of Architecture of the School of Engineering have merged to form the School of Arts, Design and Architecture. The new school combines design, media, architecture, film, art education and art. The key areas of research in the school are design, digital media, audiovisual representation, art, visual culture, well-being architecture and emerging technologies, and urban planning and design.

The tasks of the Department of Art are research into contemporary art and art education and the provision of research-based graduate and post-graduate training of art pedagogues and professionals and experts in contemporary art. Among the core tasks of the department are high-quality artistic and art pedagogical activities that have both national and international effectiveness on all levels of society. Additional information about the department is found online: http://taide.aalto.fi/en/
The School of Arts, Design and Architecture, the Department of Art invites applications for:

LECTURER IN MANAGING AND MEDIATING ART

The successful candidate will be appointed for a fixed 3-year term on the Aalto University lecturer track.

Job description

The Lecturer in Managing and Mediating Art will have teaching and administrative tasks.

The lecturer will teach within CuMMA (Major in Curating, Managing and Mediating Art, http://taide.aalto.fi/en/about/programmes/cumma/). The teaching language is English. The lecturer will participate in the planning and development of teaching, and in the delivery of courses. The lecturer will collaborate on the planning of the curriculum and act as coordinator of courses, excursions and collaborations concerning the education within CuMMA. The lecturer is responsible for, among other duties, schedules and inviting visiting teachers, while also planning the annual schedule and resourcing for his/her field of teaching. The lecturer is also expected to, among other things, guide students and participate in the student selection process. The lecturer will cooperate with the other schools of Aalto University, other universities, as well as museums and institutions within the cultural field in Finland and internationally.

50 % of the duties are administrative tasks that consist of coordinating artist in residence programmes and developing artistic activity assessment criteria in collaboration with the School´s other departments and international art and design schools.

Aalto University follows the salary system of Finnish universities. The teaching personnel work within a total working hour system (1600 hours per year).

Requirements

The candidate is expected to have at least a master´s degree, experience in teaching and organizing in the field of managing, mediating and curating art. In addition, the successful candidate is expected to have the experience and merits required for the exercise of the duties, good teaching and cooperation skills. The applicant is experienced in the development and management of cultural productions. The successful candidate is expected to be familiar with the actors, organizations and policies in the Finnish cultural field.

The successful candidate is expected to be internationally networked and fluent in English

Application materials and deadline

The applications, including the following material, should be addressed to the Dean of the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture:

• a curriculum vitae (including possible publications)
• portfolio of your professional practice (max 10 pages / 20 MB)
• teaching portfolio (max 4 pages)
• description of your views regarding the present situation and the future development of managing and mediating art (max 2 pages).

The material must be in English. Guidelines for compiling a teaching portfolio are given at: http://www.aalto.fi/en/about/careers/tenure_track/for_applicant/guidelines_for_compiling_the_teaching_portfolio_eng-002.pdf.

The departmental committee reserves the right to ask for additional material from the applicants.

The applications should be submitted, preferably electronically, to the Registry of Aalto University (rekry-arts@aalto.fi) no later than 31^st December 2013. Electronic documents should be submitted in PDF format and the file names should follow the format lastname_MM(number 1-5).pdf (e.g. lastname_MM_1.pdf). The postal address is Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Registry, PO Box 31000, FI-00076 Aalto, Finland. Thestreet address is Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki. The Registry is open until 3 PM.

Application process

The applicants will be reviewed on the basis of the following: proficiency in the field of teaching, experience and merits in managing and mediating art, management and teaching skills, collaborative skills and activity in the cultural field.

The Departmental Committee will choose from amongst the applicants the ones who will be asked to visit the School and to give a teaching demonstration. The committee will also interview them. In addition, the Departmental Committee may seek reviews from external experts.

Aalto University reserves the right for justified reasons to leave the position open, to extend the application period and to consider candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period. The application materials will not be returned.

For further information on the available position, please contact Professor Nora Sternfeld by e-mail: nora.sternfeld@aalto.fi. Questions concerning the recruitment process should be sent to: rekry-arts@aalto.fi

Language requirements

Applicants are required to have a good oral and written command of English as is required for the exercise of the duties.

Language requirements for native Finnish citizens

Native Finnish citizens in teaching and research positions at universities are required to have good command of the language of instruction, Finnish or Swedish, used on their courses. Those in teaching and research positions at universities which offer degrees in both Finnish and Swedish are also required to have at least satisfactory oral and written proficiency in the other official language of Finland.

Foreigners and non-native Finnish citizens may be appointed notwithstanding the provisions pertaining to teachers’, researchers’ and officials’ requisite proficiency in Finnish and Swedish.

The applicant is deemed to be sufficiently proficient in Finnish if he or she has demonstrated excellent oral and written proficiency in Finnish as defined in the decree on the requisite proficiency of Finnish and Swedish of State civil servants (481/2003) or

• has demonstrated excellent command of written and oral Finnish in an examination by the Language Examination Board set by the National Board of Education or

• has received his or her basic education in Finnish or taken a maturity test at a higher education institution;

• has taken the Finnish matriculation examination with at least the grade of magna cum laude approbatur in the required Finnish examination

• has taken the Finnish matriculation examination with at least the grade of eximia cum laude approbatur in its ‘Finnish as a second language’ examination. ‘Finnish as a second language’ is an examination for foreigners, substituting the Finnish examination.

The applicant is deemed capable of understanding Swedish if he or she

• has demonstrated at least satisfactory ability to understand oral and written Swedish as provided in the decree on the requisite proficiency in Finnish and Swedish of State civil servants (481/2003);

• has, according to a certificate issued by the language examination board of some Finnish university, or by a member thereof, adequate command of written and spoken Swedish.