Assistant or Associate Professor, Experimental and Foundation Studies

The Rhode Island School of Design, Experimental and Foundation Studies Division invites applications for a critical-review track Assistant or Associate Professor position with an appointment to begin fall of 2026. Rank will be dependent on professional status and teaching experience.

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 faculty positions in design 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.

EFS faculty approaches to teaching design courses (and other first-year studios) have broadened in recent years, yet the program remains grounded in the study and critical exploration of form, composition, and perception, with a focus on two-dimensional work. The successful candidate should demonstrate a deep understanding of design as both a material and conceptual practice, and an ability to engage with diverse histories, philosophies, and cultural perspectives that shape visual organization, spatial relations, and color. Candidates should approach design as a means of investigating visual and spatial phenomena, fostering critical and philosophical thinking, and situating artistic practice within its broader social and cultural contexts. Design is approached as a dynamic mode of inquiry, speculation, and reflection that connects formal experimentation with critical engagement and creative research across disciplines.

We seek candidates whose knowledge, creative practice, and/or teaching center on a range of disciplines, materials and approaches to design across a range of media including, but not limited, to photography, animation, painting, printmaking, graphic design, sound, biomaterials, interdisciplinary practices, computation and technology including artificial intelligence. Candidates should have a distinctive vision and pedagogical approach and be prepared to teach Design as an innovative practice. Fostering inclusive learning environments grounded in universal design principles is central to this role, ensuring that teaching supports accessibility and engages diverse learning styles.

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, and 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 three 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 and/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