Job Details
Assistant Professor
Department of Theatre Arts
College of Fine Arts and Communication
COFAC-4023
Towson University:
Towson University (TU) is one of the nation's top 100 public universities. Located north of Baltimore, TU currently enrolls over 19,000 students and is the second-largest university in the prestigious University System of Maryland. Towson University fosters a climate that is grounded in respect to cultivate the intellectual and personal growth of the entire university community.
Position:
The College of Fine Arts and Communications invites applications for a tenure-track, Assistant Professor position in the Department of Theatre Arts. This colleague will teach in the BFA in Acting track and help lead the program's growing musical theatre offerings, including the upcoming musical theatre minor. Preferred start date August, 2027.
Qualifications:
Required:
- MFA in Acting preferred, but related terminal degrees will be considered.
- Demonstrated excellence teaching acting across both musical and non-musical performance.
- Training in a recognized pedagogy of movement for the actor.
- A comprehensive view of the theatre discipline and the ability to teach and mentor students within a liberal arts education.
- A record of professional creative activity and/or scholarship.
Ideal candidates will have experience engaging with theatre, including the development of new work, that reflects a broad range of communities, identities, and lived experiences, and demonstrates a commitment to inclusive artistic and educational practices.
Skills in areas such as music direction or vocal coaching for singers are a welcome bonus, but they are not required, and candidates without them are encouraged to apply.
Responsibilities:
Faculty are assigned an instructional workload of 3/3, with primary responsibility for required courses in the BFA in Acting and reassigned time for directing and production responsibilities.
- Ability to teach musical theatre courses, including Acting for Musical Theatre, Dance the Scene (Dance for the Actor), and Advanced Musical Theatre.
- Ability to teach non-musical acting courses, including Acting I, Acting II, Intermediate Scene Study, and Movement I and II.
- Direct productions in the mainstage season, as opportunities arise.
- Support non-musical productions with dance and/or movement direction.
- Collaborate with faculty in the Departments of Music and Dance to support and build the musical theatre program.
- Advise and mentor student projects in areas such as new work development and educational outreach.
- Support and contribute to the department's educational outreach efforts.
- Participate actively in student recruitment and retention, including BFA auditions, college festivals, Unifieds, and outreach to prospective students, with particular attention to building the musical theatre program. This will include participation in musical theatre auditions once the minor is established.
- Provide service to the department, college, university, and community.
- Maintain an active record of creative activity and/or scholarship.
The successful candidate will be a collaborative teaching artist committed to student creativity and success, able to teach across both musical and non-musical performance, and engaged in ongoing creative activity and/or scholarship.
The Department:
The Department of Theatre is housed within the College of Fine Arts and Communication and is dedicated to preparing emerging theatre artists through rigorous coursework, hands-on production experience, and engagement with professional practices. Students participate in a diverse production season and work closely with faculty who are active artists, scholars, and educators.
Application Process:
Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.
Applicants should submit:
- Letter of application addressing qualifications for the position.
- Curriculum vitae.
- Statement of teaching philosophy.
- Link to website or portfolio of creative work
- Names and contact information for three professional references.
All applicants must apply through Taleo
Please note that the search number for which you are applying is COFAC-4023.
Please be sure to visit the Applicant Data Form to complete a voluntary on-line form. All data collected are for internal, state, and/or federal reporting and will not be used for other purposes.
Salary and Benefits:
Targeted salary range: $67,000-70,000 commensurate with experience.
Benefits: TU offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes excellent health, life and retirement plans; and tuition remission. To learn more about our benefits, click here for regular faculty/regular lecturer or here for contingent lecturer. TU also offers a variety of great perks and discounts, which can be found here.
Background Check:
A Criminal Background Investigation is required for the hired candidate and the results may impact employment.
COVID-19 Statement:
The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and neighbors has been our top priority and the focus of every one of our decisions since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the University System of Maryland (USM) has strongly encouraged full COVID vaccination and up-to-date booster shots (when eligible) for all faculty, staff, and students at all schools in the USM as both a reasonable and necessary means of protecting our health and safety.
Organization
Towson University (TU; www.towson.edu) was founded in 1866, is recognized by U. S. News and World Reports as one of the top public universities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, and is Baltimore's largest comprehensive university, and the largest public, comprehensive institution in the University of Maryland System. TU enrolls over 18,000 undergraduates and nearly 4,000 graduate students across six academic colleges (business, education, fine arts, health professions, liberal arts, science & mathematics), has over 865 full-time faculty, and offers more than 65 bachelor's, 45 master's, and 5 doctoral programs. Towson University offers many cultural, educational and athletics programs and events that are open to the public ranging from concerts and lecturers to Division I college sports.
Our centrally located campus sits on 330 rolling green acres and is 10 miles north of Baltimore, 45 miles north of Washington D.C., and 95 miles south of Philadelphia. The town of Towson, MD. has a population of approximately 52,000, with tree-lined streets, shops, restaurants, movies, bookstores, a county library branch, live music venues, and is in walking distance of the TU campus. Towson was established in 1750 and is the seat of Baltimore County government.