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Description
The University of Virginia's Department of Drama and its Dance Program invite applications for an Assistant Professor of Drama on the academic general faculty. This is a three-year, tenure-ineligible appointment with the possibility of renewal, expected to begin August 10, 2026. The teaching load is three courses per semester (six per academic year, typically including two first-year seminars in UVA's Engagements Program and one course in the Dance Program.
We seek an active dance artist-scholar and educator with a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching whose creative practice and research address curricular needs and expand current offerings in the Dance Program.
The department welcomes applicants whose work engages dance forms and cultural practices, including, but not limited to, Hip Hop, Jazz, West African, House, Capoeira, North American percussive traditions, Latin American social dance, and movement practices rooted in the Indian diaspora. The successful candidate will teach introductory and upper-level movement practice classes; develop courses that integrate theory and practice in their areas of specialization; and may create work with students for the Dance Program's semesterly concerts.
We invite candidates committed to situating their practice in inventive, inter- and transdisciplinary courses that support experiential learning and expand the curriculum. We are particularly interested in candidates whose work and teaching might intersect with dance and technology/digital media, critical dance studies, somatic and contemplative practices, inclusive pedagogy, arts advocacy, and community engagement.
As part of their course load, the successful candidate will teach first-year student seminars in UVA's Engagements Program, a defining component of the College of Arts & Sciences' general education curriculum. Engagements courses are two-credit, half-semester seminars organized around four pillars-Engaging Aesthetics, Empirical & Scientific Engagement, Engaging Differences, and Ethical Engagement-and introduce students to essential ways of thinking across the arts, sciences, and humanities.
Faculty in these hybrid roles are anchored in a home department while also serving as College Fellows, joining a cross-disciplinary cohort that shapes the first-year academic experience. Fellows design and teach a repeating 7-week course in the Engagements curriculum and participate in regular program meetings and professional development. The successful candidate will also advise approximately 35 undergraduate students. Every other fall semester, the teaching load includes a one-course reduction in recognition of these advising responsibilities. More information about the Engagements Program can be found at: https://gened.as.virginia.edu/engagements.
The ideal candidate will demonstrate excellence in undergraduate teaching and advising within a collaborative liberal arts environment; enthusiasm for working with students from beginner to advanced levels; and a commitment to creative research and artistic practice as integral to teaching and learning. Experience with inclusive pedagogical practices, strong interpersonal skills, and an interest in engaging undergraduate students across the university and within the dance minor in creative practice and research are essential.
Duties also include departmental service. Professional development funding is available to general faculty members, although research leave is not.
The Dance Program in the Department of Drama
The successful candidate will be joining a robust Dance Minor Program facilitated by two full-time Dance faculty and 1 to 2 part-time Lecturers per academic year. As part of the Department of Drama, you will be joining colleagues in performance, performance studies, design, dramaturgy, and directing.
The Dance Minor Program at UVA grounds students in interdisciplinary embodied practices and research through coursework, creation, production, and individual mentorship. We emphasize and value dance practice and scholarship's interconnectedness with other disciplines as well as with broader social and political contexts. Through somatic investigations and creative inquiry, students deepen their awareness and listening skills, question inherited structures, and explore movement as a way to respond to and shape a variety of contexts and environments.
The Department of Drama fosters a vibrant community dedicated to making, studying, and sharing theatre, dance, and performance. Our programs nurture artistic discovery, critical inquiry, and imaginative collaboration across the university and beyond.
Our community recognizes the diverse experiences of all its members and supports each individual in their creative and intellectual journey. We value compassion, transparency, difference, critical dialogue, and mutual respect.
We regularly collaborate across the many disciplines within Drama and Dance as well as with national and international guest artists, and local community in creative and scholarly partnerships throughout the Humanities, Architecture, Engineering, the sciences, at UVA and beyond. Our collaborations encompass faculty, staff, and students of theatre and dance; guest artists from around the globe; community participants and audiences; and partners across the arts, architecture, humanities, engineering, and sciences at UVA and beyond.
We are committed to listening, learning, and redefining theatre and dance in light of new knowledge and practices, and to integrating arts and artists into the research mission of the university and the cultural fabric of Charlottesville and central Virginia.
The theatre and dance programs seek to ignite a lifelong pursuit of curiosity, empowerment, and social transformation.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
Terminal degree is required by the start of the appointment.
Preferred Qualifications
We will give strongest consideration to candidates with evidence of an active and sustained creative, research, and teaching practice and a range of undergraduate teaching experience. The ideal candidate will bring a distinctive perspective that expands conversations and practices within the Dance Program and demonstrate the ability to teach and mentor students from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.
Application Instructions
Application Instructions:
Visit https://apply.interfolio.com/182231 to apply. Review of applications begins on April 20, 2026 and will continue until the position is filled. We will only consider complete applications.
To apply, please submit the following:
1. A cover letter addressing the candidate's interest in the position and describing current creative practice and teaching experience.
2. CV
3. A statement of teaching philosophy, including experience relevant to UVA's goal of preparing students to be leaders in a diverse and globally connected world.
4. Links to samples of creative practice and research (finalists will be asked to provide 2 sample syllabi).
5. Names, titles, and contact information for three references.
Questions about this position should be directed to Kim Brooks Mata, chair of the search committee, kbm2n@virginia.edu. The university will perform background checks on all new hires prior to employment.