Assistant Professor of Indigenous Building and Regenerative Practices

Tenure-Track Appointment 

School of Constructed Environments

Parsons School of Design 

Start date: July 1, 2025

Application link

Parsons School of Design, a college of The New School, acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories of The Lenape People on which our faculty, staff and students work, learn, and create. We recognize that New York City has the largest urban Indigenous population in the United States.

Parsons is dedicated to cultivating curricula rooted in social, racial, gender, disability, and climate justice. As part of this commitment, we are launching six full-time faculty positions focused on Indigenous art and design, specifically in relation to the knowledges and practices of Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (North America). This initiative seeks to address the underrepresentation of Indigenous knowledge at Parsons and honor the original place-based scholars, artists, and makers of the land on which Parsons is situated. We encourage applications from candidates whose teaching, research, scholarship, and creative practice engage with the worldviews and practices of Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island, including but not limited to Native American, First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian communities.

As part of this cluster search, we invite candidates for a tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor of Indigenous Building and Regenerative Practices in the School of Constructed Environments. This appointment will begin July 1, 2025.

We seek candidates who are engaged in building and regenerative material practices centering Indigenous worldviews in relation to Turtle Island. An ideal candidate will be an active practitioner, educator, and/or researcher, informed and in active dialogue with indigenous frameworks of meaning, history, and culture. We are especially interested in candidates who embody a depth of Indigenous knowledge, embracing longstanding and active cultural frameworks. We welcome candidates whose building, architecture, and design practices embrace regenerative material and land practices and whose work includes climate and environmental justice. While recognizing the global, cross-cultural scope of indigenous building practices, this position emphasizes a regional focus on the traditional lands of the Lenape people, known today as Manhattan (historically referred to as Manahatta). We seek candidates who will engage with the unique cultural, environmental, and historical significance of Indigenous practices in this region while maintaining a broader understanding of Indigenous frameworks globally. Candidates must demonstrate how their practices are informed by lived experience and embedded in ongoing relationships with Indigenous communities. Candidates will lead seminar courses and design studios in building, architecture, and indigenous practices at the graduate and undergraduate levels. The candidate should be able to foster an inclusive learning environment that supports students with a diverse range of skills, backgrounds, and interests.

Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments (SCE) engages the disciplines of architecture, interior design, lighting design, and industrial design -- ideal candidates will be able to collaborate within a focused discipline, and across all disciplines. As one of the only schools in the country that offer degrees in the full range of fields that construct our environment, SCE welcomes faculty who have a deep commitment to disciplinary rigor and cross-disciplinary collaborations. The school has over 150 faculty and nearly 800 students. Located in the heart of New York City, Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments nurtures tomorrow’s practitioners and guides them in designing socially just, environmentally regenerative, and innovative cities, buildings, interiors, lighting, and products. We foster the skills, values, and vision vital to creating more integrated, equitable, and delightful worlds.

The New School is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and particularly seeks applications from members of underrepresented groups, as well as candidates who share this commitment.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The work of this faculty member is divided between (1) teaching, (2) scholarship or professional/creative practice, and (3) university service. The standard teaching load is five courses––or the equivalent––per academic year. Within their field of expertise, the faculty member will be expected to teach undergraduate, including First Year, as well as graduate courses, to majors and non-majors. They will hold regular office hours, and participate in extracurricular teaching activities such as critiques, review panels, thesis supervision, independent study, and advising. University service includes program, Parsons, and New School assignments on committees and task forces, and as program directors or associate directors with a reduced teaching load in graduate and undergraduate programs, including the undergraduate First Year. All faculty are expected to be engaged with scholarship or professional/creative practice at a level commensurate with their faculty rank.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• An B.Arch, M.Arch or alternative terminal degree in a related field, or equivalent professional or life experience.
• Active/current professional practice or creative/critical scholarship that demonstrates significant creative and professional achievement.
• Two years teaching at college, university, community-based, and/or secondary education level with evidence of engagement with course and syllabus development/planning.
• Strong interest in working collaboratively across Parsons and the University.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, as a collaborator or lead.
• Commitment to or evidence of interest in/building the ability to mentor and support students from diverse backgrounds, to develop and nurture the individual student’s abilities, and a strong commitment to progressive education. This evidence can be in a candidate’s teaching, research, scholarship, professional/creative practice, or other experience.
• Evidence of a commitment to diversity and inclusion (in classroom, campus, community) in teaching, research, scholarship, professional/creative practice, or other experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in higher education academic setting, with a working knowledge of curriculum development, student support, and management.
• Experience teaching English language learners, students from low income backgrounds, and/or first generation college students.
• University-level teaching that includes a combination of studios, seminars, and tutorials, at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• Experience with/commitment to curricular and community-building work for first-year college students; capacity to lead in the context of a first-year studies program.

WORK MODALITY

On-Campus Position: Faculty are expected to work on-campus due to the nature of the work in accordance with the University policies as set forth in the Full-Time Faculty Handbook. #LI-ONSITE

SALARY RANGE

$80,000 - $95,000

PRIORITY APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 1st, 2024

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS

To apply, please submit:

• A current CV.
• A cover letter: 1-2 pages summarizing experiences as related to the requirements of this job description.
• A teaching statement: 1-2 pages describing artistic/design/research practice and teaching philosophy. Please include in the statement an articulation of your approach to inclusive pedagogy and demonstrated evidence of commitment to equity, inclusion and social justice.
• The names and contact information for three professional and/or community references.
• 1 sample syllabus with assignments.

Long-listed candidates will be asked to provide:

• Up to 10 creative, research, or professional practice projects
• 1–10 examples of student work mentored by the candidate

Please visit www.newschool.edu/parsons/academics for a full list of programs.