Lecturer in Photography

About the Role

This is an exciting opportunity to join The Open University as a Lecturer in Photography in the School of Creative Industries. We are looking for a dedicated individual to join a team developing innovative and vocational online learning resources in Photography and digital image making.

You must be enthusiastic about our unique mission and about working in teams to develop a new curriculum which embraces the opportunities of distance learning. We welcome applications from those with teaching and industry experience who understand the various needs of students looking to study and work within Photography and wider digital media industries.

The successful candidate will demonstrate contemporary knowledge in Photography across analogue, digital, moving image and emerging media platforms. They will have the experience and ability to integrate AI-assisted creative methods, digital and visual literacies and future-facing photographic practices into an inclusive and industry-relevant curriculum.

You can live anywhere in the United Kingdom, but the role is based contractually at the Open University’s Milton Keynes campus and involves attendance there at academic community and module team meetings, for which travel and subsistence are not provided.

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS)

FASS is the largest and most diverse faculty at The Open University, with some 50,000 students studying our modules with excellent completion rates and consistently outstanding student satisfaction ratings. Noted for the strength of our interdisciplinary approaches, our researchers and scholars of international standing, teach and research a very wide range of topics and themes in specific subject areas, recognised as world class or internationally excellent in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2021, and having a direct and profound influence on our undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.

FASS is organised into four schools:

• School of Arts and Humanities
• School of Creative Industries
• School of Psychology & Counselling
• School of Social Sciences and Global Studies

Students are supported by Student Support Teams. These teams offer specialist study support to students undertaking qualifications across the University. Members of academic staff, including academics based in all four nations of the UK, form part of these teams in sustaining and improving student progression and retention.

The Faculty works closely with major and influential organisations and institutions in the UK (most notably the BBC) and other parts of the world in a range of validated partnerships and collaborations, and is engaged in world-class, agenda-setting research tackling the most difficult challenges facing us in the 21st Century, with work in numerous subject-based and interdisciplinary research groups and projects.

With around 1800 members of staff, comprising academics, associate lecturers, support staff and full-time research students, working across the locations of the University, and combining originality and innovation in research and curriculum, FASS is a vibrant and exciting place to study and work.

To find out more about the Faculty’s teaching, learning and research, please visit: http://fass.open.ac.uk/

Key Responsibilities

Teaching

• contribute to the delivery of high quality, distance-learning curriculum in photography at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
• develop engaging and accessible online module content across a range of photographic practices and visual communication theories.
• support student learning activity through the preparation of assessment materials and participation in Quality Assurance and examination processes.

Industry & research experience

• draw upon professional experience to develop vocational learning materials with an emphasis on digital techniques and future-facing workflows.
• enhance the School and Faculty research culture through the development and delivery of traditional and/or practice-based research.
• strengthen the school’s links with the creative industries to enable collaborations and facilitate knowledge exchange.

Administration, Management and other duties

• engage with appropriate academic administrative tasks and play an active role within the School, Faculty and wider University, as required by the Head of School.

About You

Essential Criteria:

• An honours degree in a relevant subject.
• Experience of developing and delivering photography curriculum in an HE setting.
• Experience of professional practice in photography as demonstrated by a portfolio of creative work.
• A professional network which can be mobilised to develop collaborations, enhance curriculum design and support research and knowledge exchange.
• Evidence of excellent communication and organisational skills, including the ability to work to deadlines.
• An understanding of the ethos and values of The Open University including the principles and practice of equality and diversity, and the ability to work in a manner which aligns to these.

Desirable Criteria:

• A PhD or MFA in Photography or a related subject
• Evidence of working with, and producing, innovative distance learning materials that demonstrate practical and vocational skills.
• Experience of building ethical and sustainable photography practices across a range of genres.
• Understanding of AI-assisted and synthetic image creation and digital post-production workflows.