Seeking Practice-oriented Research Professor—Commercial Practices in Art and Design

Willem de Kooning Academy, part of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (WdKA/RUAS) is looking for a practice-oriented transdisciplinary Research Professor (Lector) for Commercial Practices in Art and Design. An academic with excellent design-driven or artistic qualifications in the field, substantiated by a PhD.

We are looking for a candidate that can join us from September 1, 2021. Apply here.

About Willem de Kooning Academy​ (WdKA)
Willem de Kooning Academy (WdKA) is a leading international and culturally diverse academy for Bachelor and Master programmes in art, design, media, leisure management and education.

WdKA educates creative makers whose work is driven by artistic and design research. Our alumni help to strengthen visual and material culture in Rotterdam and beyond, and develop creative work that contributes to greater societal change.

One half of WdKA’s Bachelor curriculum currently consists of traditional art and design disciplines, the other half of interdisciplinary study programs in Autonomous, Social, and Commercial Practices where students of all disciplines mix. The Stations (advanced workshops focused on Research through Making) complete the three core building blocks of the school.

At WdKA, education, research and practice are thoroughly interwoven with each other.

About Commercial Practices
The Commercial Practices are one of three interdisciplinary graduation profiles at the Willem de Kooning Academy. They can be studied by students from all majors currently offered at WdKA including among others fashion, audio-visual design and fine art.

The Commercial Practice curriculum is fundamentally a design research curriculum, while WdKA’s Autonomous Practices depart from contemporary art and Social Practices from social engagement and pedagogy. As opposed to a conventional framing of design as a Commercial Practice, our curriculum focuses on design research in relation to the world as an ecosystem consisting of complex interdependencies. The art of a Commercial Practitioner is to simultaneously recognize, and work on, the details of their design commission and the larger systemic whole, even if the latter means to radically change the product or service expected by the commissioning party. WdKA’s Commercial Practices are therefore based on an ethics according to which the existing consumer society paradigm can no longer continue, and creatives need to contribute to a global collaborative effort of improving the state of our world and shaping a sustainable future. The complex interdependencies of our globalized world and social, economic and ecological systems require new forms of large-scale collaboration, innovation and change, with design playing a crucial role in these processes. This is what we want to research and develop in WdKA’s Commercial Practices. (See also: positioning paper, this paper can be requested through email).

Position
Your tasks include: research; development; teaching; continued education of teachers; sharing knowledge with and contributing expertise to the professional field of artists and designers and to society at large; obtaining external project funding for research.

Research
You are familiar with and see the value of design research and/or artistic research methods. A key focus of your work will be the incorporation of art- and design-driven experiments in efforts to create systemic change.

As a practice-oriented Research Professor you work in close collaboration with the Program Leader of Commercial Practices, (annually appointed) research lecturers, teacher teams and students. Together, you develop multi-year research programs that are strongly embedded into the curriculum and produce meaningful projects with educational, systemic and sustainable impact. As a Practice-oriented Research Professor you will be part of WdKA’s Research Centre. You will work in close coordination with the two Practice-oriented Research Professors (Lectoren) for WdKA’s Autonomous and Social Practices and seek collaboration with them.

Would you like to learn more about the position and conditions? Please click here.

For more information about this position and the selection procedure, please contact Charlotte Bik, Head of School Research in Art & Design, T +31 (0)10 794 4845.