Position Overview and Department Description: The Berea College Health and Human Performance Department announces a three-year appointment in Dance beginning
August 2027. The Department offers B.A. degrees in Health and Human Performance, HHP P-12 Teaching Certification, Health Studies, and minors in Health Studies and Dance, providing a wide range of exercise science, health, and wellness courses that serve the entire student body. We seek an enthusiastic dance educator with a strong commitment to undergraduate liberal arts education who demonstrates a commitment to carrying out the mission of Berea College. The ideal candidate displays professionalism across the campus community and thrives when working with students who possess significant artistic potential with limited dance experience. Following long-standing tradition and practice at Berea College, this position includes responsibility for supervising, mentoring, and developing students in the College's integrated Work College Program. This supports student learning, career readiness, and the program's learning goals and outcomes. The Work College Program provides a developmental framework that guides student learning while creating a structured mentorship opportunity, with role-specific training that equips faculty and staff mentors to support student development. Faculty and staff mentors play an essential part in helping students connect their work-learning-service experiences with broader academic, professional, and personal development. For faculty, this aligns with Berea's tenure and promotion criteria. Teaching and Responsibilities: Teach core courses within the Dance Minor and General Education perspectives in the Arts. Potential coursework includes World Dance, Dance History, Dance Appreciation, and/or Dance Movement as a Therapeutic Practice. Instruct dance technique courses aligned with the candidate's area of expertise and departmental need (e.g., jazz, tap/percussive, ballet, improvisation, traditional, ballroom, musical theatre, social, folk, hip hop, street dance, or other popular dance genres). Direct a dance ensemble and mentor student dance groups. Maintain active creative engagement in composition and/or performance through participation in annual departmental dance concerts and/or external opportunities. The ability to teach general education Wellness is beneficial but not required. Qualifications: Required: Terminal degree (MFA or Ph. D.) in Dance. Faculty rank and salary will be commensurate with education, experience, and creative/scholarly record. Application Process and Materials: Candidates should submit a cover letter, a current curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts (unofficial transcripts are acceptable for initial review), a teaching philosophy, a research/creative project plan or artistic statement, and contact information for three references to: https://tinyurl.com/6vsu47a2 . Review of applications will begin October 23, 2026, and continue until the position is filled. About Berea College: Founded in 1855, Berea College is nationally recognized as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. Berea has a longstanding commitment to interracial education and is one of the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. With an emphasis on service to Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls more than 1,500 students from 44 states and U.S. territories and more than 60 countries. Berea College admits students who are unable to afford tuition and provides every enrolled student with a fully funded degree that covers 100% of tuition, housing, food, supplies, and fees without loans, for all four years. Berea's students excel in the College's supportive yet demanding academic environment, and most are the first in their families to attend college. As one of only 10 federally recognized Work Colleges, all Berea students work 10-12 hours weekly in various positions across campus, building professional skills in a real-world learning environment. Washington Monthly ranked Berea College the #1 Best College for your Tuition and Tax Dollars, 2025. Berea also ranks #1 in educational access by The New York Times, 2023 and #1 for lowest educational debt by U.S. News and World Report, 2025 and 2026. Berea College is also the only institution in Kentucky to receive the 5-Star Rating from Money Magazine, 2026. Located where the Bluegrass Region meets the Cumberland Mountains, the town of Berea (pop. 17,000) lies 40 miles south of Lexington and is approximately two hours from Cincinnati, Louisville, and Knoxville. More information about Berea College is available at www.berea.edu .
