Professor in Design and Social Justice

Design Academy Eindhoven is pleased to announce the search for a

Professor in Design and Social Justice (16 hrs / week)

Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) is one of the world’s leading design schools and firmly committed to research in its programmes. The various departments within the four-year Bachelor programme and the two-year Master programme educate students to become critical and socially involved designers. In addition to these teaching programmes, DAE has international readerships, which focus on collaborative, research driven and interdisciplinary projects.

Design Academy Eindhoven is home to a community of over 800 students from more than 40 different countries. The school considers its identity as a point of encounter between diverse cultural backgrounds and histories as a valued asset and a fundamental prerequisite to its ability to form designers to operate effectively in a global context. Being a University of the Arts that specialises in Design as part of the Universities of Applied Sciences, DAE is also a productive environment for debates, lectures and the production of discourse. This aspect of reflection is an important building block for both our curricula and our research agenda and enables DAE to train people who are able to make meaningful contributions to social developments worldwide.

For this reason, DAE is overhauling its programme of Professorships to underscore their position as the spearhead of its research activities, reaffirming them as a site of excellence and a source of pioneering knowledge that drives and inspires all other activities within the school, and furthering its community’s aspiration to achieve diversity, equality and justice at every level of society.

About working at DAE

The Academy’s community is its heart. From Studio Leaders to tutors, coordinators to workshop instructors, caretakers to catering team, students and staff, each individual plays an important part in shaping DAE.

With this in mind, the Academy aims to create a progressive environment for all of its employees, offering opportunities for both personal and professional development within a stimulating and safe working environment. The school’s personnel policy also places a strong emphasis on identifying and supporting talent and creating a healthy and engaging social atmosphere.

As we build our excellence on the diversity of our staff and student community, we pay continual attention to diversity and inclusion and provide a safe learning and working environment in a broader sense. We foster equality and inclusion, and promote respect and a sense of belonging for all. We therefore encourage proposals from all sections of society.

About the department

The new Professor will lead the Social Justice Lab, a research platform within Design Academy aimed at structurally rethinking the role of design in promoting an equitable, just and non-discriminatory society. Starting from the institutional architecture and policies of the Academy itself, it will be a driver in a cross-institutional effort within the Netherlands and beyond to question the implications of current educational practices in design and the arts, and rethink them with a focus on critical diversity and inclusion.

Initiated in 2020 in collaboration under the leadership of Dr Praveen Sewgobind, the Social Justice Lab aims to address at a theoretical level questions of racial, cultural and social discrimination and marginalisation within contemporary design practice. At the same time, working in close collaboration with the Academy’s Diversity Officer, it will engage with daily life within the Academy, transcending theoretical practice to confront the reality of institutional and educational practice. It is in other words envisioned as a catalyst for change and a path towards impact, rather than a site for the production of intentions.

What will you be doing

The Professor in Design and Social Justice will actively engage and expand the existing cycle of Professorships at DAE, connecting sectors, investigating strategies and ultimately help stimulate the necessary change. Through the individual Professors and Associate Professors we will cultivate a research climate that will permeate learning within the school at every level, fostering a culture of research and experimentation both among the student body. The Professorships at DAE are also expected to collaborate with the Executive Board and its teaching and administrative staff, guiding the development of a fertile, agile and forward-looking research culture throughout the school.

What you will bring to the team

You are a PhD graduate and you have broad and deeply rooted knowledge of the history and culture of social justice and its relation to design praxis.
You will be committed to developing, together with Prof. Ian Biscoe (Transdisciplinary Design Networks) and Prof. Annika Frye (The Non-School) a cutting edge research environment within DAE through frequent interaction with students, staff and the board, stimulating and supporting researchers, teachers and students of our academy in improving their research competences.
You have demonstrable experience in academic research in the context of higher education, along with knowledge transfer practices and fundraising activities.
You bring in a relevant network and are capable of weaving this network with other national and international knowledge institutions, as well as with regional and national professional fields.
Given the topic of research, you will understand the importance of frequent interaction with the school community and will be committed to regular and visible presence within the Academy.
You have good national and preferably international relations with relevant companies, governments and research institutions, and you are able to adequately activate this network for the benefit of the research group, the research agenda, as well as for the benefit of teachers and students.
You have demonstrable success in acquiring research grants in the second and third flows of funds and initiating, executing and delivering projects together with various parties.
You are able to address practical issues and answer them through research. You are able to initiate new developments in a new environment and lead the implementation of innovative, often complex, projects.
You are a connector and have good communication and social skills.
You have excellent oral and written skills in English. Mastering these skills also in Dutch is favoured.

Our offer

We are offering you a challenging position in an international and dynamic working environment. This concerns a parttime position for 16 hrs per week / 0,4 fte. Salary indication: within the band width of minimum € 5.452,- and maximum €6.949,- gross a month for fulltime employment (scale 14). The employment terms are in accordance with the collective labour agreement CAO-HBO, including a holiday allowance of 8% and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. We offer you a temporary contract for the duration of one year with the possibility of an extension.

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Professor in Design and Social Justice

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