Naropa University: Announces a vacant position for Chair MFA Theater Program

Job Description

NAROPA UNIVERSITY

Position Title: Faculty Chair MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance Program

Job Code: FAC01

Department or School: School of the Arts

Reports to:  Dean of the School of the Arts

FLSA Classification:

Pay Rate: $46,000 – 48,760, depending on rank

Rank: To be Determined

HR Review Date:

Job Summary: Naropa University is searching for a Faculty Chair of the MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance program entering as a full time faculty candidate with a 3 year contract, renewable upon review. We seek a visionary individual with the ability to manage a program of two MFA cohorts, four core faculty and yearly guest artists. The Faculty Chair must be deeply committed to Naropa’s mission and vision of contemplative education and to mentoring the next generation of innovators and practitioners of contemporary performance. They must be able to clearly articulate the unique and cutting edge training that is developing in the MFA curriculum and effectively lead our MFA to the next level of national and international recognition. This is a full time position starting July 1, 2015.

Responsibilities:

Teaching

•      20 credit load combining teaching courses in the MFA, and administrative Chair duties.

•      Mentoring and Advising – the Faculty Chair is responsible for the oversight of each student’s journey through the MFA curriculum. This includes guiding faculty in their mentoring and advising roles within the program.

•      Manage all aspects of production in collaboration with the Office of Events, MFA Production Coordinator and MFA faculty.

Administration

•      Planning and implementation of the interdisciplinary MFA curriculum in collaboration with MFA faculty and the Dean of the School of the Arts

•      Attend and actively participate in committees and meetings at the program, school and University level commensurate with Full Time Core Faculty employment outlined in faculty handbook.

•      Assure the delivery of curriculum including: course syllabi, assessment of training module content and its delivery, and course schedule management.

•      Develop and oversee curriculum assessment and design and community building in collaboration with MFA faculty and the Dean.

•      Collaborate with offices of Marketing, Admissions, Development, and Academic Affairs in support of the MFA in these areas.

•      Collaborate with School of the Arts Dean regarding budgets and staffing.

•      Program budget development and oversight: Instructional, Operational, and Student Fees/Production budgets.

Minimum Qualifications: 

•      Qualified candidates will possess a Master of Fine Arts or Doctorate degree in a Contemporary Performance-related field (Acting, Directing, Performance Studies, Dance or Movement Studies) or consistently demonstrated leadership in the performing arts within an academic setting.

•      Minimum 5 years of successful university level teaching in performance techniques directly related to the MFA’s aesthetics and interdisciplinary, physical pedagogy.  The program especially seeks expertise in the area of physical actor training, Viewpoints, Suzuki and/or academic credentials in the area of Performance Studies, critical theory and context.

•      Commitment to graduate teaching and mentoring in an experimental conservatory and contemplative education setting.

•      Successful applicants will be familiar with contemporary arts trends, issues, theories and methods, and demonstrate teaching experience informed by contemplative practice.

•      Demonstrated ability to collaborate with others in an administrative and leadership capacity.

•      Familiarity with the vision and mission of Naropa University and the MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance program is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

·      Demonstrated ability to provide at least one element of physical studio training at a graduate level and/or qualified to teach critical theory, history and context based on a graduate degree in this area.

•      Demonstrated ability as a teacher in contemplative education. 

Applications: Application review begins December 15^th and continues until position is filled. Qualified candidates should apply online and include : Curriculum Vitae, one page Teaching Philosophy, three professional references, and digital representation of work (e.g. website, portfolio, publication links, etc.).

Naropa University is actively engaged in creating an inclusive, diverse community and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. In keeping with our diversity initiatives, we encourage applications from persons of historically under-represented groups and those who support diversity.

 

3. Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation – USArtists International – Guidelines – Baltimore, Maryland

USArtists International Guidelines
The application deadlines for USArtists International (USAI) 2015 grant rounds are:
> CLOSED: September 5, 2014 for projects taking place between November 1, 2014 and October 31, 2015.
> December 5, 2014 for projects taking place between March 1, 2015 and February 29, 2016
> April 17, 2015 for projects taking place between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.

Guidelines are available below:
Download USAI Guidelines (pdf)
To access the USAI online eGRANT application click here.

 

4. An Opportunity for US and European Professionals in Arts and Culture:Cultural Fellowships in Russia 

CEC ArtsLink is pleased to share with you the request for fellowship applications by our Russian colleagues at the Likhachev Foundation. If you are interested in applying, review the information below and respond directly to the competition coordinator, Elena Vitenberg, atvitenberg@lfond.spb.ru and elenavitenberg@gmail.com. The subject line should read “Application for the Fellowship”. Please note that CEC ArtsLink does not administer this program and has no hand in the selection process. 

The Likhachev Foundation (St. Petersburg, Russia) and the Fund of the First Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin (Moscow, Russia), with support of the Committee on External Relations of St. Petersburg, announce a competition for 2-week cultural fellowships in St. Petersburg on  May 11-24, 2015.
 
The application deadline is February 1, 2015.  The Likhachev Foundation will accept applications from the US and European professionals in the fields of culture, history and arts who are working on creative projects related to Russian culture or history. Command of the Russian language is very helpful but not required. Students are not eligible. Working languages of the program are English and Russian.
 
Creative project could be a museum exhibition, a theater performance, a film, photo exhibition, preparation of fiction or research books, etc. related to Russian culture or history. Creative project should be conceived in the USA or Europe for a broad American or European audience. Residence in Russia should serve as an important stage in the realization of the applicant’s cultural project.
 
The Likhachev Foundation will prepare individual programs for the fellows according to their projects’ specifics, to help them achieve maximum results during their fellowships. These programs will include meetings with Russian colleagues, possibilities to work at St. Petersburg museums, libraries, archives and other organizations.
 
Ten two-week fellowships will be organized on May 11-24, 2015 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Deadline for submitted applications is February 1, 2015.
Applicants will be notified by March 1, 2015. 
Application should include : 

• CV (including information on Russian language skills, previous creative projects related to Russia and previous visits to Russia).
• Description of creative project (up to 3 pages) such as museum or exhibition project, theater performance, film, preparation of fiction or research book and other types of cultural projects related to Russian culture or history. It should contain, in particular, a paragraph on how a residency in St. Petersburg will benefit the applicant’s creative project and which cultural organizations in St. Petersburg the applicant would like to work with. 

Email your application in Russian or English to the competition coordinator Elena Vitenberg atvitenberg@lfond.spb.ru and elenavitenberg@gmail.com with subject line «application for the fellowship».   

The D. S. Likhachev International Charitable Foundation
cf.lfond.spb.ru

B. Yeltsin Presidential Center
www.yeltsin.ru

Committee on External Relations of Saint Petersburg
http://www.kvs.spb.ru

New Fellowship for Emerging Directors

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, in partnership with the Kennedy Center,National New Play Network and Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, announced a new National Directors Fellowship on Tuesday, American Theatre has learned exclusively.

Planned to run over five years, the program will provide a total of 25 early-career directors with 18 months of professional development opportunities and hands-on experience each, culminating in a potential directing opportunity at an NNPN theatre.

“We want to be an agent of change with this program, in terms of breaking the hamster wheel where emerging directors are stuck in this consistent track of assistant directorships,” said Preston Whiteway, executive director of the O’Neill Center. “How do you ever get that full production if no one’s going to take a chance on you?”

That’s a question Wendy C. Goldberg has been asking herself for years. As artistic director of the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference, she has devoted her time to helping writers. She brought up the idea of starting a directors fellowship two years ago when she noticed, from her own experience as a director, that there weren’t as many opportunities for rising directors as there were for playwrights.

“I’ve been a professional director for 15 years, and in the last 15 years, look at how many more opportunities have emerged for playwrights, and I can still look at essentially the same three to four programs that were trailblazers in director outreach and training,” Goldberg explained. “There’s a perception issue that because there are so many playwright opportunities that equals director opportunities.”

With a $200,000 grant from the Doris Duke Foundation, along with some additional funding, the National Directors Fellowship plans to welcome a new class of 5 fellows every 12 months for its 18-month program. The curriculum begins with a week at the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference at the end of July, where the fellows will observe rehearsals and potentially assist in the room, as well as attend additional seminars with industry professionals.

From the O’Neill, the cohort will go directly to the Kennedy Center for an MFA playwrights’ workshop and directing intensive, led by NNPN and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The group will then return to the O’Neill in January for more intensive curriculum, as well as the opportunity to work on directing a play by a living writer with professional actors. The directing fellows will also have esteemed working directors available for mentoring and advice while working on these projects.

The entire program concludes with a residency at an NNPN core theatre, where the director fellows might have the chance to direct or assist on a production. The O’Neill will accept applications for the fellowship Jan. 12-16, 2015.

“We have to be certain that someone is really trying to make a concerted effort to make this their career path,” Goldberg said of what she’s looking for in applicants. “We’re also going to be looking at people who understand that we are specific to new play work, and people who really understand and are devoted to writers as a core value of what they do.”

Added Whiteway, “We are keeping it a little bit vague on purpose because we do want to find the person who didn’t necessarily go through an MFA program for directing, but who is doing great things with little visibility in Kansas City or Denver or Portland. Part of this grant is about finding folks who aren’t necessarily on the MFA directing track.”

NNPN executive director Nan Barnett said that what NNPN brings to the partnership is the ability to expose the fellows to all different forms of work across the country. “The program is going to evolve as the directors themselves evolve,” Barnett said, adding that fellows will have the chance to network with and possibly collaborate with NNPN’s 29 core theatres, as well as their associate members, who focus on all types of work, including devised, solo and ensemble-driven pieces. NNPN has theatres in 57 cities across the U.S., providing geographic diversity as well.

“NNPN matches very well with launching careers for early career directors, and this program is trying to make it easier for these theatres, which are on a smaller budget scale and don’t always have the funding to bring someone in from out of town and house them,” Whiteway explained. “It funds the director to go wherever they need to go and pays for the salary.”

With the O’Neill’s campus expansion this year, the Waterford location has 65 additional beds and more rehearsal spaces, which are helping to accommodate new initiatives like the directing fellowship.

“We’re interested to see what comes in,” Whiteway says of applicants. “We want to find the undiscovered talent.