Department of Drama Chair

The Department of Drama, Undergraduate, in the Institute of Performing Arts at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University seeks an accomplished, visionary Chair to lead our uniquely structured Bachelor of Fine Arts program beginning in Fall, 2022.

The Department of Drama prepares the next generation of leaders in theatre by offering an innovative, rigorous and ambitious artistic and academic education at the world’s first global network university, New York University. For information about the department please visit our website.

We educate our students through a unique blend of conservatory training, historical and critical studies, robust production work, and a thorough grounding in the liberal arts. The Department in affiliation with major New York professional theater institutions, has a unique structure of eight primary studios, with additional studios in advanced training, which offer artistic training in acting (including musical, contemporary, experimental, television, film, and classical  theater), directing, design, management and technical theater in conjunction with an expansive range of cutting edge courses in theater history, dramatic theory, dramatic literature, dramaturgy, applied theater and performance studies. Students have full access to courses in the humanities and sciences through NYU’s College of Arts and Science where they fulfill their liberal arts requirements. Additionally, students are offered an outstanding array of study abroad opportunities for an incomparable immersion into another cultural context. The Department annually presents over 150 professional and student directed productions.

This unparalleled combination of a methodologically diverse approach to artistic training, theater studies and production, exemplary liberal arts education, the cultural resources of New York City, a global network, and an extensive array of productions offers unique opportunities for innovative programmatic development that aims to expand the traditional boundaries of theory and practice in theatre.

Responsibilities
The Chair provides artistic and academic leadership for a large faculty and student body of 1500. In collaboration with the Associate Chair, the department’s area directors, studio leadership and the Director of Finance and Administration, the Chair oversees and helps to coordinate the creation, organization and implementation of curricular, administrative, development, and budgetary initiatives and procedures. The Chair oversees faculty recruitment and hiring, faculty reviews and development, enrollment targets, partnership oversights and complex facilities planning. The Department is about to add a group of studios and cabaret spaces as well as an impressive new performance space in the new NYU building at 181 Mercer Street so applicants with experience opening new facilities should indicate this in their CV’s. The Chair, with the department’s area directors, advocates and articulates the vision of the department within the IPA, the TSOA, the University and the professional theater community. As a member of the faculty, the Chair will teach in his/her/their area of expertise. The Chair reports directly to the Associate Dean of the Institute of Performing Arts (IPA) at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. 

Qualifications
Applicants should be highly accomplished professionals or scholars from academia, non-profit or commercial theater, who have strong administrative and teaching skills and a commitment to a diverse and well-rounded theater education. They should possess artistic and intellectual vision, proven leadership experience in administration and development, and strong collaborative abilities to work with a large and diverse department. We are actively seeking applicants who have a demonstrated commitment to equity-forward leadership practices and experience leading and encouraging the ongoing development of inclusive communities both inside the classroom and in the larger professional field. They should have a desire to help shape and lead the department’s next stage of development in artistic and academic curricular innovation, faculty and staff development, professional local and global collaborations, diversity planning and development, facilities management and expansion, and the further enhancement of our national and international prominence.

Application instructions
Candidates should provide a CV and/or resume/portfolio, a one-page (500 word) personal statement articulating your philosophy of theater, theater training and education, and a diversity statement, including a description of a situation involving equity, inclusion, and diversity in an academic or professional setting and your response to it. What did you learn from the experience? Detail any past successes, anticipated issues and possible strategies, etc. Application deadline is December 1, 2021. Applications can be submitted here.

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