Assistant Professor, Theatre and Dance

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Job description

Spokane, WA

At Gonzaga we don’t just state our mission. We live it every day as a Catholic, Jesuit, and humanistic University. It is the reason we exist and the foundation for our purpose: educating students for lives of leadership and service. From students to faculty and staff members, everyone here knows what we stand for – and they know how valuable our mission is to the success of our institution.

Our diverse selection of benefits is part of Gonzaga’s commitment to care for and meet the needs of our employees and their families. The University provides full-time faculty in their first year: a PPO Medical plan administered by Premera Blue Cross, employer-paid dental programs through Delta Dental, vision coverage through VSP, employer-paid Life Insurance, and optional employee-paid Life Insurance through Lincoln Financial, TIAA 403(b) Retirement plan including free onsite financial planning and advising, Employee Assistance Program through Supportlinc, ZagFit Wellness program with access to GU’s onsite fitness center, Spokane Transit Authority (STA) bus passes and more. Additional benefits such as Long Term Disability and Tuition Waivers are available after the first year of employment.

For more information, click here.

Department: Theatre and Dance

Proposed Hiring Contract Type: Tenure Track

Appointment Percent: 100%

Months per Year: 9-months

Job Summary

The Theatre and Dance Department at Gonzaga University in Spokane WA, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the field of dance. We welcome candidates who possess strong pedagogical abilities and national professional experience with sensitivity to inclusive, equity-minded teaching practices, and who can effectively teach the impacts and consequences of dance on society, politics, culture, and identity. We look forward to collaborating with a colleague who is committed to pursuing excellence in teaching that promotes an inclusive learning environment. We are especially interested in professional experience in teaching styles that go beyond western concert modalities and may include dance forms of African, Latinx, Asian, and other Diaspora.

Gonzaga Dance seeks to educate the whole person through our curriculum, productions, and service. We are a small but thriving program looking for a colleague to join in taking us to the next level. Gonzaga Dance annually produces 6-8 concerts, presents dance companies such as Cleo Parker Robinson and Pacific Northwest Ballet, and has regular service programing through Dance for Parkinson’s, Celebrate EveryBODY, and free after school dance program called ZagDance. In addition to teaching, successful candidates will have an in-depth knowledge in choreographing and/or restaging professional works for concert dance performances. This colleague will contribute to our introductory theory and methodology courses in addition to teaching our upper-level course offerings for majors and minors (see course and curriculum on department website). In addition, all members of our department share in the responsibility of teaching the University Fine Art Core Curriculum. The teaching load for the tenure-track position is the equivalent of 18 credits per year (9 credits per semester).

As a full-time faculty member, the successful candidate will demonstrate a commitment to the university mission and ethos of the Dance Department as a student-centered and diverse learning environment through a demonstrated record of empowering, advocating for, and valuing a broad range of students of diverse identities and experiences, as shown through teaching, mentoring, and related activities. The successful candidate must: Maintain teaching and creative/research activities with continued engagement in professional practices that advances a research profile in creativity, choreography, and/or performance with national and/or international recognition; and contribute to curriculum development, faculty governance, and administrative responsibilities of the School and College. Thus, we hope to engage with a colleague who has potential for interdisciplinary collaboration with departments and programs in the College of Arts and Sciences such as Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Native American Studies, Environmental Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, International Studies, and Film Studies. We encourage you to visit www.gonzaga.edu/casjobs for more information about the college.

Additionally, all members of the department contribute to and participate in peer review of teaching activities, department committees, and special projects. Gonzaga University features an outstanding Center for Teaching and Advising that sponsors regular faculty development and education opportunities.

The Dance Department is committed to inclusive excellence, to increasing the diversity of the campus community, and to supporting traditionally underrepresented students in higher education, especially at a predominantly white institution. In alignment with Gonzaga University’s mission, we expect applicants to provide evidence of direct experience and expertise in issues related to social justice, diversity, global engagement, and care for/solidarity with vulnerable and marginalized communities. Candidates who have demonstrated experience working with a diverse range of faculty, staff, and students, and who can contribute to the departmental ethos and campus climate of inclusivity are encouraged to identify specific experiences in these areas. Candidates who have demonstrated expertise in issues applicable to diverse populations and direct experience working with underrepresented and minoritized students through teaching, research, mentoring, or administration are preferred.

Essential Functions

  • Teaching load equivalent to 18 credits per academic year (i.e. 3-4 courses per semester). This will include undergraduate dance courses such as technique classes (DANC105, 110,115,205, 215), performance-based technique classes (DANC300, 301, 305/405, 310/410. 315/415), courses required for the DANC major (Principles of Dance Conditioning, Dancy History, Strategies for Dance Instruction, or Choreography), university core dance courses (Introduction to Dance, Dance: Culture and Art, Interdisciplinary Arts) and electives in the candidates’ area of expertise.
  • Engage in research, creative inquiry, publication, choreography and production appropriate to the candidate’s areas of expertise. Engage undergraduates in this research work.
  • Provide curriculum and career advising and mentoring to the program’s undergraduates. Engage in active recruitment for the program.
  • Support the department, university, and discipline through service, production and other forms of academic citizenship.

Minimum Qualifications

  • MFA or PhD. in Dance or a related field with corresponding professional skills (ABDs considered with completion by July 16, 2025)
  • Evidence of professional record as a performer, choreographer, and/or dance artist
  • Evidence of effective and reflective college-level teaching
  • Evidence of inclusive, equity-minded teaching practices
  • Active research and/or creative inquiry programming in Dance

Desired Qualifications

  • Nationally and/or internationally recognized reputation and record of professional accomplishments.
  • Record in choreographing and/or restaging creative works for professional concert performances.
  • Collaborative approach to teaching and institutional service ability to communicate disciplinary ways of thinking within a liberal arts curriculum.
  • Record in teaching western and non-western concert dance forms of African, Latinx, Asian, and other Diaspora and dance modalities such as Breakdancing, Capoeira, Bachata, Vogueing, Hip-Hop, Salsa, Ballroom or other forms.
  • Record teaching expertise in one or more of the following dance practices: Choreography, Pedagogy, Partnering, Dance History, Improvisation, Dance Science, Dance Technology and Digital Media, Career Skills, and Arts Administration.

Open Date: 12/13/2024

Open Until Filled: Yes

Application Review Begins on: 01/13/2025

EEO Statement

Gonzaga University is a Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic institution, and is therefore interested in candidates who will contribute to its distinctive mission. Gonzaga University is a committed EEO/AA employer and diversity candidates are encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their disability status and/or protected veteran status. Applicants with disabilities needing reasonable accommodations to complete the application or hiring process should contact Human Resources (509) 313-5996.

Hiring Salary
The budgeted annual salary that the University reasonably expects to offer for this position is $68,461; commensurate with education and experience. The internal salary range for this position is $68,461 – $73,025

How to apply

To apply, please visit our website at www.gonzaga.edu/jobs. Applicants must complete an online application and submit:

(1) a cover letter that includes how your experience might aid in recruitment and career placement for students within and beyond dance performance,

(2) a curriculum vitae,

(3) Statement of teaching philosophy that includes evidence of teaching effectiveness and the use of equitable and inclusive classroom strategies specifically in support of traditionally underrepresented students in dance and higher education (e.g. race, ability, LGBTQ+, first-gen),

(5) Copies of graduate school transcripts, and

(6) Names and contact information for three (3) professional references (letters will be requested when finalists are selected).

Clery Statement

Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics

The safety of all members of the campus community is of vital concern to Gonzaga University. Information regarding crime prevention advice, the law enforcement authority of Campus Security, policies concerning the reporting of any crimes which occurred on the campus (and other specified locations), other security and safety-related policies, as well as the crime statistics for the most recent 3-year period may be found in the Campus Safety and Security Guide and Annual Fire Safety Report. The Gonzaga-In-Florence Safety & Security Guide is also available.

A copy of the report can be found online at www.Gonzaga.edu/Clery. A paper copy of the Campus Safety & Security Guide and Annual Fire Safety Report or the Gonzaga-In-Florence Safety & Security Guide may be obtained by contacting the Student Development Office on main campus, College Hall 120. The Florence Guide may also be obtained on the Florence campus in room 105.

Gonzaga University is a Jesuit, Catholic, humanistic institution, and is therefore interested in candidates who will contribute to its distinctive mission. Gonzaga University is a committed EEO/AA employer and diversity candidates are encouraged to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their disability status and/or protected veteran status. Applicants with disabilities needing reasonable accommodations to complete the application or hiring process should contact Human Resources (509) 313-5996.

Gonzaga College started in 1881 with $936 in hard silver dollars. It bought Gonzaga’s founder, Father Joseph Cataldo, S.J., 320 acres of land and water, what people then referred to as “the old piece of gravel near the falls.” Six years later, the College officially opened the doors of its only building for “young Scholastics, whose ambition it is to become priests.” Exclusively for boys, the College was under the charge of the Jesuit priests. Enrollment for the 1887-88 academic year was 18 boys and young men. Today, it is known as Gonzaga University, a private, four-year institution of higher education. More than 105 buildings dot the 131-acre campus overlooking the Spokane River. Students include both women and men, who can enroll in a multitude of undergraduate or graduate programs. Enrollment for the 2009-10 academic year was 7,837 students. A constant throughout the years is Gonzaga’s educational philosophy, based on the centuries-old Ignatian model of educating the whole person – mind, body and spirit. At Gonzaga, students discover how to integrate science and art, faith and reason, action and contemplation. "Cura personalis," or care for the individual, is our guiding theme.