Assistant Professor in Design: Interaction Design
Washington University in St. Louis – Danforth Campus: Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts: College of Art
The College of Art in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of assistant professor in Interaction Design. We are looking for a promising designer who seeks to develop their own creative practice within a collaborative school of design and art, all within the context of a Research-1 university. Our faculty work with undergraduate and graduate students in human-computer interaction, interaction design, graphic design, social design, and illustration. We anticipate many opportunities ahead to build and reshape curricula.
We are interested in candidates whose research aims to shape how people interact with contemporary and emerging technologies. Projects could include websites, apps, games, interfaces, wearables, immersive environments, and more. Creative practices might be organized in other ways—for example, around sustainability, medicine, public health, and urban technology. We embrace many forms of research, including scholarly, collaborative, client-driven, or self-generated. Overall, we seek people who build critical inquiry and a strong sense of craft and methodology into their design practice. Candidates should demonstrate capacity for excellence in teaching.
Our new colleague will conduct research, teach five courses per academic year, advise students, and provide service to the School, University, and profession. A terminal degree in design or a related field is required. Rank and salary for the position is commensurate with experience. The appointment begins August 2025. For fullest consideration, apply by January 6, 2025.
Our new faculty member will teach in the undergraduate communication design program. We offer BA and BFA Degrees in Communication Design, with the option to concentrate in Interaction Design, and a minor in Human-Computer Interaction—jointly offered with the McKelvey School of Engineering. This minor is projected to grow into a forthcoming major.
The successful candidate will also join a core group of faculty at the intersection of design, technological innovation, and social impact in the recently launched Master of Design (MDes) for HCI and Emerging Technology aiming to produce the next generation of design leaders and socially innovative digital products. The program’s first cohort enrolls in the fall of 2025. It is offered in partnership with the McKelvey School of Engineering, the School of Arts & Sciences, and the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Expected expanded partnerships include the College of Medicine, the Brown School of Social Work, and the forthcoming School of Public Health. The MDes program will ultimately reside in the planned Design Futures Hub in Weil Hall and is projected to be a significant component of both the Sam Fox School and the broader university’s strategic plan to make WashU an intersection for digital transformation, social innovation, and global impact.
Context
Housed in the College of Art, these programs also collaborate with Illustration, Graphic Design, Studio Arts, and Fashion Design. Faculty across these programs are collaborative, energetic, accomplished, and community-centric. We are a group of designers, illustrators, and historians who prioritize artifact and human-centered design pedagogies; write in scholarly, critical, and expressive forms; design socially engaged processes; design human-computer interaction; and study the history and culture of design. Specific areas of expertise include user experience and interface design, typography, data visualization, socially-engaged design, brand identity, motion graphics, design research and image-making including children’s books and editorial illustration.
Undergraduate design majors mix gateway courses like Typography, Interaction Foundations, and Word and Image with specialized electives and concluding capstones to construct their specialties and portfolios. Our undergraduate minor in Creative Practice for Social Change builds on a partnership with the Brown School of Social Work. Across all our programs, Communication Design faculty teach in team and individual settings, simultaneously reinforcing their research and seeding collaboration.
Design faculty have access to ample university resources across the University to conduct their work including the Kranzberg Studio for the Illustrated Book (with letterpress and risograph), University Library Special Collections, and the Dowd Illustration Research Archive (DIRA), that features illustration holdings, rare books, and print history collections. The School and University also host conferences, forums, and funding opportunities for faculty in a variety of formats.
The Sam Fox School strives to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in our community. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to nurture an inclusive learning and work environment and to promote a culture and ethos that values diversity, inclusion, and equitable success.
Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. It is the University’s policy to recruit, hire, train, and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, veteran status, disability, or genetic information.
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INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND
SAM FOX SCHOOL
The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis is a unique collaboration in architecture, art, and design education within the context of an internationally recognized research university. Comprising the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, the College of Art and Graduate School of Art, and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, the Sam Fox School offers a depth of professional education in conjunction with one of the premier university art museums. Our unique tripartite structure affords opportunities in advanced history and theory scholarship, curatorial opportunities, and collaborative art and design practices advancing work in visualization, media and technology. A new 10-year strategic plan outlines the School’s commitments to leadership in sustainable practices; digital transformation in art, architecture, and design; local and global engagement; and core commitments to sustain excellence across our academic programs. The School and its state-of-the-art facilities are home to a vibrant community of makers and scholars.
COLLEGE OF ART
One of the founding members of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the College of Art offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Communication Design, Fashion Design, and Studio Art; Bachelor of Art degrees in Studio Art and Design (with concentrations in Communication Design or Fashion Design); and second majors in Studio Art or Design. The Graduate School of Art offers the Master of Fine Arts in Illustration & Visual Culture, which combines studio practice in illustration and writing with the study of visual and material culture. The Graduate School also offers the Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art through an academically rigorous, individualized course of study that encourages creative activity and collaboration across disciplines and media. In addition, the College is launching the previously discussed MDes in HCI and Emerging Technologies. Together, the College and Graduate School of Art enroll approximately 350 undergraduate and 60 graduate students.
COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
One of the founding members of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the College of Architecture enrolls approximately 200 students and offers a four-year undergraduate degree leading to a Bachelor of Science in Architecture or a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture. This flexibility allows students to pursue other academic interests within the University. The nationally ranked Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design enrolls approximately 200 students and offers design-centered programs of critical inquiry and professional preparation, including international venues. The School offers professional degrees in Architecture and Landscape Architecture, along with post-professional degrees in Urban Design. Additional post-professional degrees include: Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design and Master of Science in Architectural Studies. Along with dual degree options between the three programs, there are joint degree options with Business, Computer Science & Engineering, Construction Management, Public Health, and Social Work.
ENVIRONMENT
The Sam Fox School is housed in a six-building complex that includes the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, home to one of the finest university collections of paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper by 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American and European artists. In 2019 the School opened Weil Hall, a LEED Platinum center for graduate art and architecture education with an innovative digital maker space for the entire School.
The Sam Fox School hosts a lively series of lectures, symposia, and exhibitions and enjoys strong collaborations with the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Laumeier Sculpture Park, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Saint Louis Art Museum. The Sam Fox School has a commitment to social justice, environmental justice, and community-based work housed in the Office for Socially Engaged Practice.
UNIVERSITY
Washington University is an independent, R1 research university dedicated to challenging its faculty and students to seek new knowledge and greater understanding of an ever-changing, multicultural world. The University is counted among the world’s leaders in teaching and research and draws students and faculty from all 50 states and more than 80 nations. The University is highly regarded for its commitment to excellence in teaching, research, and service to society.
RELEVANT LINKS
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
Facilities
College of Art
College of Architecture
Master of Design for HCI and Emerging Technology
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
10 Year Strategic Plan
Events
Office of Socially Engaged Practice
Washington University in St Louis
Qualifications
For this position we are interested in candidates whose research aims to shape how people interact with contemporary and emerging technologies. Projects could include websites, apps, games, interfaces, wearables, immersive environments, and more. Creative practices might be organized in other ways—for example, around sustainability, medicine, public health, and urban technology. We embrace many forms of research, including scholarly, collaborative, client-driven, or self-generated. Overall, we seek people who build critical inquiry and a strong sense of craft and methodology into their design practice. Candidates should demonstrate capacity for excellence in teaching.
Our new colleague will conduct research, teach five courses per academic year, advise students, and provide service to the School, University, and profession. A terminal degree in design or a related field is required. Rank and salary for the position is commensurate with experience. The appointment begins August 2025. For fullest consideration, apply by January 6, 2025.
Application Instructions
How to apply
Applications should include:
- letter of intent describing your interest in our program and the nature of your research/creative practice
- CV
- approximately 15 samples of your visual and interactive work
- brief summary of your teaching philosophy including your approach to diversity
- if available, samples of student work
- names and contact information of three references including how you are acquainted
- Note: references for finalists only will be contacted
Materials are submitted through Interfolio. For full consideration, materials should be received by January 6, 2025, however, applications will be reviewed until the search is concluded. Questions may be directed to Jonathan Hanahan, chair of the search committee, at jhanahan@wustl.edu.