Employment

Faculty Positions

Tenure Track Faculty Position in Theatre & Performance  

The School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position in Theatre & Performance, at the rank of Assistant Professor, starting July 15, 2025.

In 2023, the School for the Contemporary Arts (SCA) launched its newly redesigned Theatre & Performance program with a stronger, experimental focus on contemporary practices in live art and performance. We seek an interdisciplinary working artist with demonstrated expertise in the broad fields of theatre and performance. Applicants must have significant creative output and experience teaching in one or more of the following areas:

• contemporary performance and live art
• experimental and devised theatre
• performance based social practice
• site responsive practice
• movement and body-based practice
• text for performance
  

The successful candidate must be able to design and teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. These curricula should provide practical, artistic and theoretical contexts for the school’s expansive vision of contemporary and interdisciplinary performance. We encourage applications from individuals working in unique, emerging and underrepresented areas within the broad field of contemporary performance.

SCA Theatre & Performance

At the School for the Contemporary Arts, (SCA) we study performance as a worldmaking art practice; as a frame for encountering the past, present, and future; and as open questions we ask through rigorous studio experimentation: What can performance do? Why make performance now? What new forms can performance take within a contemporary context? What is the future of live performance? At SCA, we empower students to collaborate across disciplines, become versatile artists, and expand the field of live performance. In the Performance BFA track, students explore a broad range of genres and forms, including devised theatre, live art, site-specific/responsive work and social practice. Our program deviates from traditional theatre training by experimenting with contemporary processes of performance, unconventional narrative styles, expanded dramaturgy, experimental forms, new media and creative research. We examine how the fundamentals of performance—time, space, body, text, movement—help us stage our burning political questions, enact necessary social interventions, and advance the broad aesthetic fields of contemporary art.

We seek a colleague to expand the pedagogic aim and scope of our program by supporting performance practices and research beyond traditional theatre training. Our emergent studio and hybrid studio-seminar courses serve five core-curricular groupings in the newly conceived Performance program: Live Acts (a wide range of studio courses on live forms and genres); Body (studio courses on embodiment and movement); Social (exploring collaboration and participation; integrating social practice and activist artmaking); Environment (from site specificity to staged ecologies); Context and Creative Research (courses that train students in experimental methods of artistic research, from local and international contexts; from expanded dramaturgy to practice based research).

For more information about course offerings within in the program, visit: https://www.sfu.ca/sca/programs/theatre-performance.html

Candidate Qualifications

• MA, MFA, or PhD in a field or discipline of relevance.
• A vibrant and continuing performance practice with significant creative output in one or more of the following areas: live art, devised/post dramatic theatre, social practice, digital/multimedia, immersive/site specific, expansive choreographic practice and/or time-based practices.
• An ability to combine creative practice with critical inquiry in teaching and researching contemporary performance.
• Experience combining a wide range of methodologies and artistic disciplines beyond traditional theatre; commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration.
• A capacity to share, clearly and effectively, the theoretical, practical, and technical methodologies and historical/social contexts of their creative research with undergraduate and graduate students.
• Experience working effectively, flexibly, collaboratively, and ethically with diverse communities of artists, educators and students across the university and local groups.
• Established interest and capability in self-sufficient, hands-on making, and the ability to guide and unify full-scale public-facing works with modest resources.

Position Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be expected to maintain a workload comprised of teaching, research and service to the area and school.

Teaching: Teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students within and across programs at the SCA. The development of public facing, student-involved projects in rotation with other full-time faculty is included as part of their teaching load. The normal teaching load for a faculty member is four courses (or their equivalent) annually. In each academic year, the normal trimester workload for research faculty is two semesters of teaching, two courses each semester and one semester dedicated to research in which no teaching duties are assigned.

Research: Research responsibilities require faculty to maintain a program of active artistic practice at local, national, and international levels outside of the university. Research at the School for the Contemporary Arts within SFU is defined as the generation of knowledge and innovation through artistic expression, experimentation, and/or scholarship.  

Service: The SCA is committed to an open, collegial, and inclusive style of governance. The position will contribute to this shared governance and advancement of the SCA mission through service and committee participation including student recruitment activities. Under the SFUFA/SFU Collective Agreement, service also refers to “the annual contributions that faculty make to university governance, to their profession, to the development of their discipline nationally, internationally or locally, and to the furthering of good relations between the university and the local community.”

About the School for the Contemporary Arts

At Simon Fraser University, we live and work on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

The SCA, situated in downtown Vancouver, offers a unique curriculum in which studio classes are integrated with the historical and theoretical study of the arts. This is rooted in attention to critical contemporary issues as well as our commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration both within the classroom and beyond. The SCA offers BFAs in Dance; Film; Music & Sound; Theatre-Performance; Production and Design; Visual Art; a BA in Art, Performance and Cinema Studies; as well as an interdisciplinary MFA, and an MA and PhD in Contemporary Arts.

Application Instructions

Candidates are asked to submit:

• a cover letter of application outlining creative research and practice, and whether you are legally eligible to work in Canada. (1-2 pages);
• a current curriculum vitae;
• statement of teaching and/or mentorship philosophy that includes your commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the classroom and beyond (2 pages);
• a statement of creative research (1-2 pages);
• links to 3-5 samples of creative works. Samples may include specific video or photo documentation. Please provide URLs with brief descriptions of each submission;
• the names and email addresses for three confidential referees (letters of reference may be requested at a later date).

Submit all applications by email to: Peter Dickinson, Director, c/o Suze Shore, scasec@sfu.ca.

Review of applications will begin on November 4, 2024, and continue until the position is filled. To ensure full consideration applications should be submitted by this date. Please note that materials submitted will not be returned.

Simon Fraser University is an institution whose strength is based on our shared commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. Diversity is an underlying principle of our Strategic Vision, which pledges SFU to “foster a culture of inclusion and mutual respect, celebrating the diversity reflected among its students, faculty, staff and our community.” SFU is committed to ensuring no individual is denied access to employment opportunities for reasons unrelated to ability or qualifications. Consistent with this principle, SFU will advance the interests of underrepresented members of the work force, including Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized persons and women; embrace gender and sexual diversity; ensure that equal opportunity is afforded to all who seek employment at the University; and treat all employees equitably. Candidates that belong to underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

Faculty salaries at SFU are based on the salary scales bargained between the University and the SFU Faculty Association. A reasonable estimate of the salary range for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor is $104,700 - $133,322.  Note, the expected salary range does not include the value of benefits.

SFU offers several benefits and services aimed at creating a more inclusive and accessible campus community for faculty, please see the Faculty Relations, Benefits and Service page for more details. SFU is also committed to ensuring that the application and interview process is accessible to all applicants; if you require accommodations or have questions about SFU benefits, services, accommodations policies, or equity considerations, please contact the Specialist, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Faculty Relations.

The position is subject to availability of funds and final approval by the SFU Board of Governors. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority.

Personal information that forms part of an application is collected under the general authority of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, applicable University Policies, and the SFUFA/SFU Collective Agreement. For further details see the full Collection Notice.

For more information about our School and our university, please visit: https://www.sfu.ca/sca.html

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TEACHING ASSISTANT JOB POSTINGS

TEACHING ASSISTANT JOB POSTINGS #1 – Spring 2025 SEMESTER

The School for the Contemporary Arts is now accepting applications for Spring 2025 Teaching Assistant and positions. (Appointment period: January 2, 2025 to April 30, 2025)

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Please apply online at: internal.fcat.sfu.ca/appointments

The qualifications necessary to conduct the work and upon which the posting will be awarded are as per the TSSU Collective Agreement and a background and experience in the course area. (Check the course calendar for further information for each course: http://www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/courses/ca.html). Detailed qualifications for each course are available on the online application system listed above.

Salary ranges: www.sfu.ca/human-resources/tssu

*One of the offers in this course is conditional based on enrollment number.

**The offer is conditional based on enrollment number.

TEACHING ASSISTANT JOB POSTINGS #2 – Spring 2025 SEMESTER

The School for the Contemporary Arts is now accepting applications for Spring 2025 Teaching Assistant and positions. (Appointment period: January 2, 2025 to April 30, 2025)

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Please apply online at: https://internal.fcat.sfu.ca/appointments/

The qualifications necessary to conduct the work and upon which the posting will be awarded are as per the TSSU Collective Agreement and a background and experience in the course area. (Check the course calendar for further information for each course: http://www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/courses/ca.html). Detailed qualifications for each course are available on the online application system listed above.

Salary ranges: https://www.sfu.ca/human-resources/tssu.html

Important Links

• Teaching Assistant / Tutor Marker Appointment Priorities
• Course Descriptions
  
• Previous Course Outlines
  
• TSSU Pay Scales
• TSSU Collective Agreement
  
• Sessional Handbook
• Grade Reference

Hiring Policies

Equity

The University is committed to the principle of equity in employment. (See Policy GP 19.)

Privacy

The information submitted with your application is collected under the authority of the University Act (R.S.B.C. 1996, c.468, s. 27(4)(a)), applicable federal and provincial employment regulations and requirements, the University's non-academic employment policies and applicable collective agreements.

The information is related directly to and needed by the University to initiate the employment application process. The information will be used to contact references supplied by you, evaluate your qualifications and complete the employment process by making a hiring decision. Applicant information may also be disclosed to the Teaching Support Staff Union in accordance with Article XIII F.3.1.b of the Collective Agreement.

If you have any questions about the collection, use and disclosure of this information please contact the Associate VP, Human Resources, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6. Telephone 778-782-3237.