Assistant Professor of Practice - Emerging Media Arts
University of Nebraska Lincoln
Application
Details
Posted: 06-Feb-25
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska
Internal Number: 95435
Requisition Number: F_250012
Department: Johnny Carson School-Theatre & Film-1033
Description of Work:
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln invites applications for a Professor of Practice position in Emerging Media Arts. This position comes with a stipend to support innovative teaching and creative practice.
The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, established with a $57M investment from the Johnny Carson Foundation and the University, is an interdisciplinary center and creative research facility that is re-envisioning the university for the 21st century and how students co-create and learn. Situated inside the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, current areas of research interests include interactive + immersive storytelling; experience + generative design; XR + VR + AR; games, play + performance; embodied cognition; machine learning technologies; sonic + data arts; virtual production + real-time filmmaking; cinematic arts; and entrepreneurship + innovation.
The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts has proven itself as a premier destination for a faculty and student body committed to fostering an innovative social vision beyond today's media environments. The Center values inclusivity and diversity, taps into the innermost recesses of our imaginations, addresses human-scale challenges, and tells breathtaking stories that stimulate, provoke, and inspire. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the expansion of the Center's mission as it seeks to broaden its reach across the campus, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in the arts.
The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts opened its doors in the Fall of 2019. We are a pre-eminent interdisciplinary program in the emerging media arts that attracts and supports visionary creative leaders who transform our world through technology and powerful storytelling in order to ensure a brighter and sustainable future. We have world-class faculty and international industry connections. We inspire people to dream bigger.
Position Overview
We seek a creative individual with strong dedication to craft, technical expertise, and professional agility in a constantly changing field. We welcome applicants with backgrounds in industry, gallery/museum, or festivals. The successful candidate will have expertise in rigging, 3D animation workflows (narrative, game, and visual effects), games engines, and motion capture, and be able to creatively integrate traditional techniques with emerging technologies and platforms.
This position involves teaching courses in 3D Animation, Rigging, Motion Capture, Game Engines, and Visual Effects. We are seeking a candidate with a strong technical background, ideally with expertise in Python, MEL, and/or C++ (for Unreal Engine). We are seeking a dynamic artist/teacher who is committed to training and inspiring the next generation of emerging media artists and professionals.
We are looking for a colleague who continually re-invents the curriculum as an ongoing part of their own commitment to professional research and development.
We focus on interdisciplinarity, experimentation, and production both inside and outside of the classroom. Our approach to learning emphasizes collaboration to cultivate a creative environment where exploration, analysis, risk, and failure can freely occur. Classes are conducted in a workshop-like setting that facilitates active learning and encourages discussions of concept, content, technique, and impact. All faculty are expected to engage with students beyond the classroom through a culture project consultation, mentorship, and community.
Key Responsibilities
Teach undergraduate courses, including Animation, Introduction to Game Engines, Visual Effects, Motion Capture for Real-time Performance, and others as required.
Develop new courses and curriculum with a focus towards interdisciplinarity.
Provide mentorship to students.
Recruit artist/industry partners and assist students' transition into their careers.
Remain agile and keep current with advancements in rigging, digital animation workflows, motion capture, game engine technologies, AI, virtual production, and creative applications.
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska, is more than a quintessential college community. The University is situated in a dynamic downtown area that includes the state capital and a growing tech industry as well as restaurants, coffee houses, movie theaters, clubs, bike trails, and urban residences. Lincoln has notably excellent public schools, a low cost of living, and has been nationally recognized for its high quality of life. It is a friendly, creative, intellectual, and vibrant community that loves the arts and is home to the Lied Center for Performing Arts, the Sheldon Museum of Art, the International Quilt Museum, the Nebraska State Museum with collections including anthropology, botany, and zoology, and the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, an art house cinema that is part of the College, as well as numerous alternative spaces and venues for visual art and music.
As an EO/AA employer, the University of Nebraska considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation. See https://www.unl.edu/equity/notice-nondiscrimination.
Minimum Required Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree with at least five (5) years of professional experience in rigging and digital animation for film, television, game, or live performance workflows.
Experience with game engines (Unity or Unreal) or other real-time performance systems.
Preferred Qualifications:
A graduate degree in a related field.
Experience in rigging for XR, motion capture, virtual production.
Experience with emerging forms of digital animation workflows, including AI and Machine Learning.
Experience with AI/ML creative applications in the arts.
Significant teaching experience at the university level.
Experience with virtual production (LED capture volumes/walls, real-time chromakeying, in-camera visual effects, etc.).
Proficiencies in Python, MEL (PyMEL), C++, C#, Java/JavaScript (p5.js, Processing).
Familiarity with the intersection of creative coding, immersive media, machine learning, and interactive design.
Experience in project-based learning pedagogical design.
A strong network of contacts with other professionals and employers.
Demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional development and the ability to stay at the edge of industry developments.
With over 25,000 students, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a diverse educational insitution with international stature. The intellectual center for the state of Nebraska and beyond, we are a land-grant, top tier national research-extensive insitution. Part of the Big Ten conference, Big Ten Academic Alliance, our mission includes growing relationships and resources that enable the University of Nebraska to change lives.