Assistant Professor in Transformative Design - MIT Media Lab and MAS

The Program in Media Arts and Sciences (MAS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Cambridge, Massachusetts invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in the area of Transformative Design. We welcome outstanding applicants with research, teaching, and professional experience related to the merging of design and technology in fields such as architecture, urban planning, graphic design, object design, engineering design, and immersive experience design. We seek candidates who have a bold vision for how design can help solve some of the societal challenges we are facing. We are particularly interested in candidates with the vision and skills to extend human creativity, as well as people whose work champions the use of advanced technology, new methodologies, or emerging materials. 

Successful candidates  will have an opportunity to enhance a long tradition of design research and innovation at the MIT Media Lab and MAS related to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), visual information and aesthetics, nature-inspired design, urbanism, biological systems, music and sound, civic media, design justice and more. Faculty duties will include a full-time commitment to running a design-oriented research group, supervising and mentoring graduate students, teaching courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in topics related to Media Arts and Sciences, conducting original scholarly research in related topics, and playing an active role in shaping the cultures of MAS/Media Lab and also of the new Morningside Academy for Design (MAD), the latter centered in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning but extending throughout the Institute and with which the successful candidate would maintain a close relationship. 

MAS believes the intellectual, cultural, and social diversity of our faculty, staff, and students is vitally important to the distinction and excellence of our academic and research programs. We seek candidates who support our institutional commitment to ensuring that MIT is inclusive, equitable, and diverse. This appointment will be at the assistant or untenured associate professor level. Candidates should have a strong record of research, an exceptional grounding in both technology and aesthetics, a willingness to take risks, a desire to look beyond traditional disciplines, and a dedication to making a difference in the world. Applicants should hold an advanced degree in Architecture, Design, Art/Media Studies, Computer Science, Data Science, or a related discipline, or have equivalent professional experience in a field related to design and/or computation by the start of employment. Candidates should have a track record of professional design work; exhibitions, installations and/or performances; and authoring or co-authoring significant and impactful publications. We value candidates with prior experience in, and a strong desire to continue, both teaching and mentoring students.

To apply, please fill out the application at http://apply.interfolio.com/119662. Applications must include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a research statement (2-4 pages), a teaching statement (1-2 pages), and a design portfolio. In addition, candidates should provide a statement regarding their views on diversity, inclusion, and belonging (1-2 pages).

Complete applications should be received by November 1, 2023. Each application should include the names and addresses of three or more individuals who will provide letters of recommendation. Letter writers should submit their letters directly to MIT, preferably via the application website or by mailing to the address below. It is the responsibility of the candidate to arrange reference letters to be uploaded to Interfolio by November 7, 2023.

Applications will be considered complete only when both the applicant materials and at least three letters of recommendation are received. Send all materials not submitted on the website to: Program in Media Arts and Sciences Search Committee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; c/o search@media.mit.edu.

Review of applications will begin immediately. 

Please see the full posting for this opportunity here.

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