"Part-time Faculty, Experimental and Foundation Studies"

Posting Details

Position Information

Title: Part-time Faculty, Experimental and Foundation Studies

Department: Division of Experimental + Foundation Studies

Division: Experimental + Foundation Studies

Employment Type: Part-Time

Critical Review Track (similar to tenure track): No

Position Description

The Division of Experimental and Foundation Studies, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) invites applications for Part Time Faculty to teach with appointments to begin spring 2026 and/or fall 2026.

RISD recognizes principles of social equity, inclusion, and diversity as fundamental to its mission as an art and design school. These principles require sustained attention to a multiplicity of differences and call for an expansion of the forms of knowledge that shape our curricula and pedagogy. RISD is committed to the collective work of institutional transformation and values applicants whose teaching, pedagogical and professional experiences have prepared them to foster and sustain equitable learning environments. We especially welcome faculty whose pedagogy engages diverse perspectives, expands forms of knowledge, and helps foster a culture of belonging where all students, staff, and faculty can thrive.

The Division of Experimental and Foundation Studies invites applications for part time faculty positions in courses for first year students. Artists and designers enthusiastic about teaching first-year students who will go on to major in one of eighteen design, architecture, and fine arts programs at RISD are encouraged to apply.

Candidates should have an original professional practice. The Division welcomes designers and artists from a range of practices whose primary mode of work includes innovative physical making. Faculty are encouraged to integrate both emerging technologies and analog processes in their teaching, supporting students in developing critical, accessible, and sustainable approaches to materials and making.

Candidates should demonstrate the ability to teach and engage effectively with a diverse student population, including but not limited to international students, students from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ students, first-generation college students, and students with disabilities and neurodiverse identities. Applicants should be prepared to design syllabi and lead classes and critiques that foster inclusive and respectful dialogue, supporting students’ creative and intellectual growth. A commitment to creativity in both professional practice and teaching is essential.

Required Qualifications

• Masters degree in a field relevant to teaching art and design, or commensurate professional experience.
• At least two years of teaching at the college level as an instructor of record.
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering equitable learning environments where a diverse student body can thrive, using inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible pedagogies to support critical engagement with design.
• A record of creative practice and dissemination of work as appropriate to the field.
• Demonstrated knowledge of digital and analog technologies relevant to the teaching of design.
• Demonstrated experience working with and/or teaching a range of traditional materials.

Preferred Qualifications

Demonstrated experience teaching first-year students or working with beginning students in a similar capacity is strongly preferred.

RISD/Department Description

RISD is a nonprofit college and museum of art and design founded in 1877 in the city of Providence, RI. Today 2,606 students from 62 countries engage in more than 40 full-time bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, supported by a committed faculty and worldwide network of more than 33,000 alumni.

By cultivating expansive and elastic thinking, RISD equips artists, designers and scholars to generate and challenge the ideas that shape our world.

Division of Experimental and Foundation Studies (EFS)
Spatial Dynamics and Drawing are two of three programs (Spatial Dynamics, Drawing, and Design) comprising the studio curriculum for all first-year undergraduate students at RISD. Each studio class meets one full day a week, in sections of approximately 20 students, with section groups preserved across programs.

EFS Spatial Dynamics courses: Spatial Dynamics consists of studio-based inquiry into spatial, physical, and temporal phenomena... [abbreviated for brevity, full details in original]

EFS Drawing courses: Drawing is approached as a meaningful way to investigate the world... [abbreviated]

Special Instructions to Applicants

Please attach the following to the appropriate links in the section labeled “Documents Needed to Apply”:

1. Letter of intent that addresses the qualifications for the responsibilities and expectations listed above
2. Curriculum vitae
3. Creative Work/Professional Work/Scholarship: Please provide a professional portfolio of no more than 20 images formatted into a single Adobe PDF...
4. Examples of student work: Please provide a student work portfolio of no more than 20 images formatted into a single Adobe PDF...

Applications may not be edited once they are certified and submitted. Only materials that have been requested will be considered. Names and contact information for two references are requested as part of the application process at the finalist stage. Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.

EEO Statement: RISD is an Equal Opportunity Employer...