"Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Architecture and the Built Environment"

Job Details

Description

Swarthmore College seeks applicants for a Visiting Assistant Professor (VAP) for the 2026-27 academic year to sustain teaching in the Art Program’s Architectural Studies major. The VAP will teach two studio-based courses per semester and advise Senior Capstone students on final year projects.

Scheduled courses for 2026-2027 include Experiments in Drawing, Dwelling and Inhabitation, Collective Living, and Full-Scale Fabrication. The VAP will be expected to teach these courses to their interests in order to prepare students with analytical and design skills across a range of scales, materials and methods of inquiry. The VAP will also support the senior capstone projects for our approximately 4 final year Architectural Studies majors. Responsibilities include individual weekly tutorials with capstone students and organizing mid-term and final reviews with invited critics each semester. Capstone students have dedicated studio spaces amongst the larger cohort of seniors in the Art Program. The VAP will also advise Architectural Studies majors.

The faculty at Swarthmore are expected to be exceptional teachers while maintaining an active research and/or artistic practice agenda. For the duration of the position, the VAP will have access to a dedicated studio space and an office as well as access to the College’s MakerSpace and other campus resources. The Art Program comprises a small cohort of tenure, tenure-track, and visiting faculty from painting, sculpture and photography, as well as a dedicated administrative team that form a collegial and supportive working environment. The Architectural Studies program emphasizes the development of critical perspectives, technical command, and social and environmental responsibility through spatial and material analysis and making.

Located in the suburbs of Philadelphia and near Wilmington DE, Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility. Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity. We welcome applications from all candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable experience effectively supporting, teaching, and engaging a highly diverse student body. For more information available to all faculty at Swarthmore, see https://www.swarthmore.edu/provosts-office/welcome-to-provosts-office

Qualifications

We seek a built-environment practitioner or a researcher from architecture, landscape or urban design. Applicants should hold a terminal design degree or a PhD in one of these fields. Whether coming from practice or research, candidates should have a strong teaching portfolio and be interested in studio-based Architectural Studies education in a pre-professional, undergraduate setting.

Application Instructions

Applicants should include a brief cover letter describing their interest in Swarthmore College, a curriculum vitae, teaching, and research statements of no more than 500 words each and a portfolio comprising examples from studio teaching, creative/professional practice and/or research and writing (100MB / 20 pages maximum).

The teaching statement should describe the applicant’s interests in teaching at an undergraduate institution, previous teaching experience, and approach to teaching and mentoring students from diverse backgrounds. The research statement should describe the applicant’s practice or research and its potential to engage undergraduate students.

Candidates should also include the names of three references who can write on the candidate's behalf. Letters will be solicited only if a candidiate is short-listed.

Please address any questions to Sony Devabhaktuni, Assistant Professor, Architectural Studies, Art Program, sdevabh1@swarthmore.edu.

Applications should be submitted via Interfolio at : apply.interfolio.com/178238

All applications received by January 15, 2026, will receive full consideration, and applications will be reviewed until the position is filled.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to non-discrimination and equal opportunity. We welcome applications from all candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitments to working effectively supporting, teaching, and engaging a highly diverse student body.