Posting Details
Position Information
Title: Part-time Faculty, Experimental and Foundation Studies
Department: Division of Experimental and Foundation Studies
Division: Division Experimental and Foundation Studies
Division Experimental Found 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 • 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 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, 2606 students from 62 countries engage in more than 40 full-time bachelors and masters 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
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
Spatial Dynamics consists of studio-based inquiry into spatial, physical, and temporal phenomena. The phenomena studied include considerations of force-the consequence of energy-and its effect on three-dimensional structure, virtual conceptions of space, and part-to-whole relationships. Strategies include additive, subtractive, transformative, and iterative processes in both analog and digital media. Through research, analysis, and experimentation, students study the embodied experience of space and time. Using project-based learning, students explore constructs of time, space, culture, and the environment through abstraction. Critical analysis will include thorough discussions of ideas and intentions while understanding historical and contemporary references. The choice of materials and processes promotes responsible use of resources and environmental and social awareness. We create a studio community that supports inquiry, inclusivity, and curiosity.
EFS Drawing
Drawing is approached as a meaningful way to investigate the world and an essential activity for artists and designers. While distinct as a discipline, drawing permeates the boundaries among the three programs in the Division, Drawing, Design, and Spatial Dynamics. The classroom transforms into an intuitive and sensory-rich communal laboratory that delves into aspects of drawing such as idea generation, perceptual approaches, performance-based drawing methods, abstraction, materiality, three-dimensional structures, innovative visualization, expression, and time-based phenomena. In Drawing, students build the skills, criticality, and confidence to create works that reflect their interests, concerns, and aesthetic sensibilities. Through this expansive exploration, students are introduced to a variety of historical and cultural traditions to support their search for a personal visual dialect.
Faculty Responsibilities
Union Salary Information
Pre-employment Requirement
The successful candidate will be required to meet our pre-employment background screening requirements.
Special Instructions to Applicants
Please attach the following to the appropriate links in the section labeled "Documents Needed to Apply":
Please provide a professional portfolio of no more than 20 images formatted into a single Adobe PDF. Image file size should be consistent, medium to high resolution, is recommended, at least 1024 pixels wide. Video/audio If you would like to include sound or video media, upload media to a sharing platform that allows content to be viewed using a web link. Please copy that link into your PDF providing contextual information as appropriate. Video/audio files of any length can be submitted, but it may be beneficial to edit and limit submissions to 5 minutes unless there is a compelling reason to go beyond that limit.
Please provide a student work portfolio of no more than 20 images formatted into a single Adobe PDF. See directions above for including time-based work.
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. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, genetics, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.
Posting Detail Information
Posting Number: F00126P
Open Date: [Insert Date]
Close Date: [Insert Date]
Open Until Filled: [Insert Date]
Supplemental Questions
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk.
Documents Needed To Apply
Required Documents
Cover Letter
Curriculum Vitae
Portfolio of Professional Work
Portfolio of Student Work
Optional Documents