Five College Assistant Professor of Sustainable Architecture

Hampshire College, an independent, innovative liberal arts institution, in collaboration with Mount Holyoke College, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the Five College consortium, is accepting applications for a Five College Assistant Professor of Sustainable Architecture.

Position Overview:

We seek an architect and educator to teach studio architecture courses that foreground sustainability-as both a practice and a philosophy. We are searching for experienced and diverse applicants who are able to combine engaged teaching with creative inquiry within the context of an experimental, rigorous liberal arts education.  The ability to work cooperatively with faculty, students and staff of various backgrounds is essential; cross-cultural considerations are expected.

We seek an architect with a clearly articulated specialization in sustainability-although the range of disciplines and arenas in which sustainability is positioned might range broadly-from environmental design, landscape or urban studies, to historic preservation and adaptive reuse, and from cultural studies to eco-criticism, and/or aesthetic theory. Our ideal candidate will teach design from the position that sustainability is a critical mindset and a methodological principal, as much as a set of technical practices; he/she must be committed to approaching their teaching from this perspective-at all studio levels from foundational to advanced. This full-time professor will approach sustainability as an integrated process that embraces many arenas of theoretical investigation and design practice, and that intersects with economics, history, planning, engineering, politics, the physical, cognitive and biological sciences, as well as other image, object, spatial, or text-based arts.

Responsibilities:

This position will be based in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies at Hampshire College, and shared with the Architectural Studies Program at Mount Holyoke College and Architecture + Design Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The teaching load is 4 courses per year, plus theses committees and advising; all faculty are expected to maintain their design and scholarly practices, and to contribute to college and program governance. This is a regular faculty position, with a generous sabbatical leave policy as well as start up funds from the Mellon Foundation.

The successful candidate will work closely with faculty members and students at all five of the consortial campuses, which are located within 12 miles of each other in western Massachusetts.  Programs include a combined undergraduate certificate in Sustainability studies and coordinated offerings in Architectural Studies and the built environment. There are campus-based programs in architecture, landscape, and environmental studies at Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst along with graduate programs in Architecture + Design and Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass Amherst. Our combined resources are extraordinary-including five integrated library collections, outstanding museums and galleries, and farm and agricultural centers. The Five Colleges are also home to a number of technologically advanced studios and laboratories, including (for example) The Miller Worley Center for the Environment at Mount Holyoke College, the Hampshire College Creativity Center, and the Center for Design Engagement and the Environmental Institute at UMass.

Qualifications:

A master's degree in architecture or design (or its equivalent) is required; M.Arch and/or PhD are preferred. Expertise in sustainability issues is also required, demonstrated through graduate study or through publication and/or practice. Teaching experience and an active professional record are expected.

To Apply:

We will begin reading applications January 13, 2012. Please submit: a letter of application describing your approach to teaching sustainable architecture, and outlining your design, research and scholarly interests; a CV; names/contact information for 3 professional references; samples of professional work; and representative syllabi or course proposals via our website.  

Hampshire College is an equal opportunity institution, committed to diversity in education and employment.