Position Title: Adjunct Faculty - MFA The Archive
No. of Positions to Fill 1
Department/Program: Writing & Poetics 12090
Work Location: Online AND Arapahoe Campus
Reports to: Valerie Hsiung
FLSA Classification: Exempt/Salaried
FTE: 15% (6 hrs/week)
Compensation: $6000 per semester for 4 credit course ($1500 per credit)
Application Deadline: 7/1 or until filled
Job Summary:
The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics seeks a talented adjunct faculty member to teach WRI 793: The Archive during the Fall 2026 semester.
WRI793 The Archive (3 Credits)
This unique course introduces MFA students to the rich archival holdings of the Jack Kerouac School and engages them in the study of the School's distinctive literary, artistic, and pedagogical lineages. Through sustained engagement with archival materials—including recordings, videos, interviews, performances, manuscripts, correspondence, publications, and other primary source materials—students will explore the history and ongoing evolution of the School's communities, traditions, and cultural contributions.
The instructor will guide students in critically and creatively engaging archival materials, helping them develop an understanding of lineage, influence, transmission, and innovation within the context of the Jack Kerouac School and contemporary experimental writing communities.
This course is taught in a hybrid format that includes a weekly asynchronous online component serving both low-residency and residential MFA students, as well as a weekly 90-minute in-person seminar for residential students. The instructor will be responsible for developing and facilitating both components of the course.
Course Description:
WRI 793: The Archive is a seminar-style course that introduces students to the archival holdings and living histories of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Through sustained engagement with archival materials, students investigate the literary, artistic, and pedagogical lineages that have shaped the School and continue to inform contemporary experimental writing practices.
Drawing upon recordings, interviews, videos, performances, publications, correspondence, and other archival artifacts, students will examine how literary communities are formed, how traditions are transmitted, and how artistic practices evolve across generations. The course asks students to engage archival materials both critically and creatively, considering questions of history, memory, influence, preservation, and cultural inheritance.
Students will develop research, analytical, and creative methodologies for working with archival materials while gaining a deeper understanding of the figures, movements, communities, and conversations that have contributed to the School's ongoing legacy. Particular attention is given to the relationship between archival inquiry and contemporary creative practice.
Job Duties & Responsibilities:
• Develop a rigorous and coherent syllabus with a full semester-long arc.
• Design and facilitate both the asynchronous online and in-person components of the course.
• Teach and facilitate weekly in-person seminar meetings for residential MFA students.
• Develop and manage weekly online learning modules and discussions for both low-residency and residential students.
• Guide students in the critical and creative analysis of archival materials.
• Introduce students to the history, lineages, communities, and pedagogical traditions of the Jack Kerouac School.
• Facilitate discussions around literary history, artistic influence, cultural memory, and archival practice.
• Provide written and verbal feedback on student assignments, research projects, and creative responses.
• Assess student work and submit grades in accordance with university policies.
• Maintain regular communication with students and respond to questions in a timely manner.
• Collaborate with School staff as needed regarding access to and use of archival materials.
Minimum Qualifications:
• Terminal degree (MFA or PhD) in Creative Writing, English Literature, Poetics, Archival Studies, Cultural Studies, or a related field.
• At least one full-length book with a reputed press published or under contract. Self-published books do not count.
• Demonstrated knowledge of contemporary literary culture, particularly innovative, experimental, and avant-garde writing traditions.
• Graduate-level teaching experience.
• Demonstrated ability to engage historical, literary, and cultural materials in an academic setting.
• Experience teaching in online, hybrid, or multimodal learning environments.
• All job candidates must demonstrate their level of understanding of the dynamics of privilege and oppression, and the impact these have on equity, access, and opportunity.
• All job candidates must demonstrate an appropriate level of understanding of and appreciation for the values of Naropa University and the capacity to demonstrate an integration and embodiment of these values as evidenced in work, communication, collaboration styles, and other general workplace behaviors.
Preferred Qualifications:
· Demonstrated expertise in contemplative education.
· Familiarity with the history, faculty, literary communities, and pedagogical traditions of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics.
· Experience working with literary archives, special collections, oral histories, recordings, or other primary source materials.
· Experience designing and teaching hybrid courses that combine asynchronous online learning with in-person instruction.
· Scholarly, creative, or curatorial experience engaging questions of literary lineage, cultural memory, archival practice, and artistic inheritance.
Physical Requirements & Environmental Conditions
Faculty members spend most of their time in their classrooms or in virtual meetings with some time in offices. In the classrooms and on campus may experience: interruptions, distractions, heat, cold, dust and/or dampness. As a faculty member, you may spend extended periods in front of students and speaking as well as:
• Reading academic texts and materials, student papers, etc.
• Operating personal computer and audio-visual equipment.
• Standing or sitting for hours at a time.
• Moving around campus for classes and meetings.
Naropa recognizes the following holidays throughout the year: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Fall Break, 4th Thursday and Friday in November, and Winter Break, the last two weeks in December encompassing the Christmas holiday as well as New Year’s.
Naropa’s health and welfare benefits include the following: medical, dental, vision, FSA, HSA, employer-paid short-term and long-term disability, employer-paid life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment, an employer-sponsored pre-tax retirement savings plan, which includes up to 2.5% employer matching, and a variety of voluntary, employee-paid supplemental insurance plans.
A comprehensive benefits package is available to full-time employees who work a minimum of 30 hours each week. Employees who work 20 – 29 hours each week are eligible for only the employer-paid short-term & long-term disability, employer-paid life insurance & accidental death and dismemberment, and the retirement plan, which includes up to 2.5% employer matching.
Employees who work fewer than 20 hours per week are eligible to participate in Naropa’s retirement plan only, which includes up to 2.5% employer matching.
All regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff, including student workers, accrue sick leave benefits. Full-time and part-time staff positions accrue vacation and personal time. All leave accrual rates vary based on the position, hours worked, and years of service.
The University recognizes the importance of including its employees in its organizational mission and values and welcomes employees into the classroom to “touch the magic.” Specifically, regular employees are provided generous tuition remission opportunities for themselves and their family members.
Naropa University participates in the Council of Independent Colleges Tuition Exchange Program (CIC-TEP). CIC-TEP is a network of CIC colleges and universities willing to accept, tuition-free, students from families of full-time employees of other CIC participating institutions (full-time as designated by the employer/institution). Additional information can be found here: https://www.cic.edu/member-services/tuition-exchange-program.
Naropa University is an equal opportunity, non-discriminatory employer and Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits gender discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual and relationship violence. This law applies to all students, faculty, and staff.