Job no: 531988
Work type: Faculty - Tenure Track
Location: Eugene, OR, Portland, OR
Categories: Journalism/Communication
Department: School of Journalism and Communication
Rank: Assistant Professor
Annual Basis: 9 Month
Application Deadline
October 31, 2023; position open until filled.
Required Application Materials
To ensure consideration, please upload the following with your online application:
• A letter of interest outlining how your knowledge, skills, and experience meet the minimum and/or preferred qualifications of the position. Must include a statement of your contributions and experience to diversity, equity, and inclusion in research, teaching, engagement, and/or service.
• Current CV or resume including dates of employment.
• Name and contact information for three professional references. The candidate will be notified prior to references being contacted.
To apply: https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/531988/assistant-professor-of-immersive-media-communications
Any application missing the above documents/information may be considered incomplete.
Position Announcement
The University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor with a research and teaching emphasis in the area of Immersive Media (IM) Communication and Game Studies. We seek to hire colleagues who will conduct research on and teach about IM technologies (augmented, virtual, and extended reality – AR/VR/XR) and/or digital gaming spaces through the lenses of strategic communication, design, marketing, and their impacts and effects on users and culture. IM sits at the intersection of a variety of emerging interactive and immersive social, entertainment, and communication technologies, ranging from artificial intelligence to live streaming, that require rethinking the professional and social boundaries of media industries, practitioners, etc. For example, the intersection of AI and Web3 platforms use XR technology, require novel interfaces and modes of communication, and are currently being explored to a large degree in massively multiplayer online games like Fortnite and Roblox.
Hires would bring the following key contributions to our faculty:
1. Expertise in theories and concepts pertinent to immersive media and game studies in regard to fields of communication, design, marketing, human-computer interaction, journalism, or affiliated fields.
2. A related specialty, such as the study of identity, digital cultures, emerging media industries and economics (XR, cryptocurrency), e-sports, fan studies, digital asset production, content creation, human-machine communication, strategic communication, and media psychology.
3. A capacity to teach in our new online Immersive Media Communication master’s program, our new Game Studies minor, and/or required coursework at the SOJC, such as media ethics, gender, media and diversity, and introduction to media studies.
This hire will join our growing body of scholars studying and teaching immersive media and game studies, including the launch of the Immersive Media Communications program in the fall of 2023, which will be conducted in collaboration with the Oregon Reality (OR) Lab and the Immersive Media Lab (IML), both of which focus on experiential learning and research regarding the ethical use of immersive media and their social, cultural and professional impacts. These positions would also directly serve the new Game Studies minor, which focuses on training media professionals in the culture and communication of games. These positions would have important synergies with the Strategic Communication MA program and the Public Relations and Advertising areas, with interest likely from MMJ and Journalism as well. Faculty members would also ideally strengthen SOJC’s ties to other units on campus, including existing collaborations with CAS (e.g., the annual Data|Media|Digital Graduate Symposium), the campus-wide New Media and Culture Certificate program for graduate students, the ethics minor in philosophy, and UO’s Data Sciences Initiative, through a practical orientation to ethical issues in society. Finally, ideal candidates will have strong potential to mentor undergraduate and graduate students as well as strong potential for and commitment to contributing to a culture of inclusive teaching and evidence of valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Equally important, this position will have the opportunity to collaborate with industry in the “Silicon Forest” of Portland, Oregon, where both corporations are already utilizing and innovating with these emerging technologies. The candidates would be encouraged to take advantage of the university's existing partnerships to bring the industry and storytellers into the classroom while driving thought leadership as immersive media and gaming evolve.
Positions may be based in Portland or Eugene.
Department or Program Summary
The School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC) is an accredited research and professional school serving approximately 2,450 undergraduates and 150 graduate students both on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene and at the George S. Turnbull Center in Portland. Degrees offered are the B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., and Ph.D., as well as minors in Media Studies and Science Communication. The School also includes an interdisciplinary major in Cinema Studies and interdisciplinary minors in Multimedia and Native Studies. The SOJC employs approximately 125 individuals as faculty and staff, more than 50 graduate employees, and approximately 50 student employees. Founded in 1916, the SOJC is one of the oldest journalism programs in the nation. The School recently opened the Experience Hub, bringing a range of new production facilities for social media, VR/AR, podcasting, and broadcasting. Our public relations program earned the Public Relations Society of America’s Certification in Education for Academic Programs in Public Relations.
The University of Oregon values and seeks diversity as a source of enrichment for our university community. We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. The School of Journalism and Communication is deeply committed to building an inclusive community, and particularly invites and welcomes applications from scholars who are from populations historically underrepresented or underserved in the academy. We encourage applications from candidates who, through their research, teaching, service, and community engagement demonstrably promote and contribute to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning and working environment for our students, staff, and faculty. Applicants are encouraged to highlight their experience and philosophy with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion within their cover letter.
Minimum Requirements
• Ph.D. in communication, advertising, strategic communication, media studies, journalism, information science/studies, philosophy, or another related field in hand by the time of appointment.
• Demonstrated potential for teaching excellence.
• Ability to execute independent and/or collaborative research that advances theory and bridges knowledge and practice.
• A record or promise of scholarly accomplishment that includes publication in high-quality academic journals in communication, media studies, journalism, information studies, media psychology, computer science and design, and/or related fields.
Preferred Qualifications
• Strong commitment to contributing to a culture of inclusive teaching; and evidence of valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Two years of professional experience relevant to immersive communication.
• Ability to teach across the required graduate curriculum and within at least one of the following additional graduate programs: Master’s in Strategic Communication, Master’s in Advertising and Brand Responsibility, Master’s in Immersive Media Communication, Communication and Media Studies Master’s and Ph.D.
• An interest in Master’s and doctoral student mentorship.
About the University
The University of Oregon is an AAU research institution and a member of the Pac-12 conference. Located 110 miles south of Portland, the University of Oregon has an enrollment of 24,600 and is located in Kalapuya Ilihi, the homelands of the Kalapuyan people. The Eugene metro area (pop. 375,000) is in a region noted for its dynamic quality of life and progressive cultural environment. We are about an hour’s drive from the Pacific coast and the Cascade Mountains.
The University of Oregon has a student population of 23,202 undergraduate and graduate students. Of these, 34% are students of color. The university makes institutional commitments to diversity and actively supports its goal with resources such as the Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, the Black Cultural Center, the Many Nations Longhouse, the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, the Multicultural Center, and the Division of Equity and Inclusion, among other initiatives.
The University of Oregon is proud to offer a robust benefits package to eligible employees, including health insurance, retirement plans and paid time off. For more information about benefits, visit http://hr.uoregon.edu/careers/about-benefits.