Position Description
NYU Tulsa is seeking a local, part-time instructor for the Spring 2025 semester to teach Expressive Culture: Topics—Native Arts in Contemporary America sponsored by NYU’s College of Arts and Science. Language of instruction is English, and there are 15 in-person instructional weeks, mid-January through mid-May. As a part of the College Core Curriculum, the course is aimed at a mixed demographic of non-specialist, general education students. Days and times for the course will be set in consultation with the finalist candidates. Responsibilities include course design, preparation for and teaching of all classes, grading student work, and availability to meet with students in office hours or by appointment at least one hour per week. We are especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute to the diversity of intellectual life at the NYU Tulsa campus.
Curriculum Background
The Core Curriculum of the College of Arts and Science provides a foundational academic experience of general education in the liberal arts for undergraduates at NYU. Courses in the Core Curriculum are designed to give students the skills and breadth of intellectual perspective to flourish in their major programs of study and in their later careers, and to equip them well for lives as thinking individuals and members of society.
Expressive Culture
Expressive Culture courses introduce students to modes and methods for the interpretation and appreciation of human artistic creation, including both formal approaches and concern for social, political, and historical contexts; expose students to a wide range of creative work in one or a number of media; critically examine the definition and autonomy of the cultural forms under consideration and how their meaning is constructed by their creators, their intended recipients, and their reception into other traditions of collection, interpretation, use, and study; and help prepare students to pursue a life-long engagement with the arts.
Course Details
An introduction to contemporary Native art and artists approached through Oklahoma’s distinctive concentration of Native communities and contemporary Indigenous artways. Explores current and enduring questions of how Indigenous expressive practices interact with dominant historical understandings; community practices and needs, such as cultural and language preservation; social issues; museum and curatorial practices; art markets; and the entertainment industry. A popular conception of Native American arts presents them as being powerful only insofar as they can be construed as explicitly linked to traditional practices that have persisted, often in attenuated form, into the present. This idea has often relegated Indigenous expression to the realm of historical artifact, with expectations of an earlier, pre-contact “authenticity.” Conceptions such as this were buttressed by anthropology and musicology, not to mention Hollywood, which all established ideas of “primitive” peoples’ cultural value as being stored exclusively in the uses to which “modern” institutions put them. We take a critical approach to these understandings by focusing on the vibrant contemporary Native arts scenes of North America. These scenes cut across and blend disciplines from painting and photography to textiles, dance, music, film, literature, digital art, and interactive and community forms. Students engage with local artists and their work, visit museums and galleries exhibiting contemporary and experimental Native art, and participate in community events, placing local work in dialogue with broader transnational scenes.
About NYU and NYU Tulsa:
Founded in 1831, New York University is the largest private university in the United States. The University has degree-granting campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai and operates 11 global academic centers and research programs in more than 25 countries. NYU Tulsa is NYU's 12th undergraduate study away program. A dynamic and diverse city with a rich and complex history, Tulsa offers an abundance of opportunities for NYU students and faculty alike, whether as a destination for a study away semester, a summer internship, a short-term program, or research and creative work. If you would like to learn more about our program please visit NYU Tulsa.
Applicants should have a PhD in Native American Studies, History, Anthropology, or a related field; and we are particularly interested in candidates whose teaching integrates interdisciplinary perspectives. Candidates should have two to three years of experience teaching at the university level, as well as experience with U.S. institutions of higher education, either as a student or instructor. In some instances, significant professional expertise and experience in the relevant field may be a suitable substitute for teaching experience. Salary will be based on equivalent part-time faculty rates for the course and location, and other terms and conditions will be discussed with the successful applicant. The successful candidate should have the right to live and work in the United States prior to appointment.
NYU's Global Programs & University Life organization is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to being a welcoming campus community that reflects and enacts the values of inclusion, diversity, belonging, equity, and accessibility that inform academic excellence. Employees in this organization are expected to contribute to diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible learning and working environments for our students, staff, and faculty
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