Skip to main content

Music: Assistant Professor, Composer w/secondary specialization in Indonesian/ Asian/Pacific Islander Traditions/Practices (Initial Review 10/17/22)

We are no longer accepting applications for this recruitment. Browse open recruitments

Position overview

Position title: Assistant Professor, Composer w/secondary specialization in Indonesian/ Asian/Pacific Islander Traditions/Practices
Salary range: Commensurate with qualifications and experience; academic year (nine-month basis)
Anticipated start: July 1, 2023, with the academic year beginning in September 2023.
Degree requirements must be met by June 30, 2023 for employment effective July 1, 2023. Position contingent on budgetary approval.

Position description

The Music Department (http://music.ucsc.edu) at the University of California at Santa Cruz seeks a composer with significant breadth of accomplishment and recognition to join the music faculty at the assistant professor rank, with expertise in theories, histories, and practices associated with Indonesian, Asian, or Pacific-Islander traditions, preferably with some study of contemporary, popular, diasporic, or cross-cultural musical practices. The UCSC Music Department would welcome applicants who define composition broadly and inclusively and who engage with emerging media, performance, and innovative concepts of authorship. The successful applicant will demonstrate a record of successful teaching in composition and in one or more areas including but not limited to music theory, history, or cultural musicology, or cultural studies. We anticipate the candidate’s strengths in research and teaching will complement existing departmental investments and curricular priorities, including a strong tradition of teaching Asian and Indonesian musics, a gamelan studio in a dedicated building that has Sundanese and Balinese gamelans with associated student (and community) ensembles, and a legacy of hosting the UC Santa Cruz Pacific Rim Music Festival.

We welcome and encourage national and international applicants working in any of a wide range of creative practices, including one or more of the general areas described above, but not limited to them. The Department of Music thrives in a long-standing commitment to support intersections of scholarly work, performance, and innovative technology. The successful candidate will demonstrate strong potential in the leadership of our Doctorate of Musical Arts in composition; the selected candidate will also support our PhD program emphasizing cross-cultural and interdisciplinary studies, and the MA in music, which emphasizes composition, ethnomusicology, or performance practice. The successful candidate will be prepared to provide instruction in both large and small classroom environments, capable of contributing significantly to graduate education and mentoring students of varied backgrounds and practices, and qualified to contribute to the Music Department’s newly redesigned undergraduate curriculum, which offers three concentrations of study--Global Musics, Western Art Music, and Contemporary Practices--as well as three minors--Electronic Music; Jazz, Spontaneous Composition and Improvisation; and Western Art Music.

We seek candidates who understand the barriers facing traditionally underrepresented, marginalized, and historically excluded groups in the classroom and in higher education, who can contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community, and who have engaged in teaching, research, professional and/or public service contributions that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. These can include pedagogical strategies that contribute to the advancement of access and equal opportunity in education and participation in activities that support the recruitment, retention, and success of scholars and students.

The Department of Music at UC Santa Cruz has declared ongoing and active commitments (https://music.ucsc.edu/news/initiatives-and-commitments-toward-racial-justice) to the promotion of racial justice, both within our community and across our disciplines. We welcome candidates who can demonstrate a commitment to supporting and advancing the scholarship and creative work of Black, Brown, Indigenous communities, women, and that of other groups historically marginalized and under-represented in the classroom and in higher-education careers. Through our curriculum, student recruitment efforts, and our hiring priorities, we strive to cultivate diverse knowledge, social and cultural equity, and a more just and representative university environment.

In addition to encouraging participation in robust departmental, divisional, and campus mentoring, the campus offers a Faculty Community Networking Program. UC Santa Cruz is a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution with a high proportion of first-in-family undergraduate students.

The Arts Division supports faculty research through the Arts Research Institute http://artsresearch.ucsc.edu/ari/; the campus supports research and teaching with grants awarded by the Committee on Research, the Committee on Teaching, and other groups.

This recruitment is supported by the UC Office of the President’s Advancing Faculty Diversity program and includes enhanced funding for faculty projects that contribute to diversity and to creating an inclusive climate.

The campus operates on a schedule of three 11-week quarters per academic year. In accordance with the department's workload policy, music faculty members are required to offer the equivalent of 4 five-unit courses per year; advise and mentor students; actively engage in creative work and research; and actively undertake administrative service for the department, affiliated college, and University.

The chosen candidate will be expected to sign a statement representing that they are not the subject of any ongoing investigation or disciplinary proceeding at their current academic institution or place of employment, nor have they in the past ten years been formally disciplined at any academic institution/place of employment. In the event the candidate cannot make this representation, they will be expected to disclose in writing to the hiring Dean the circumstances surrounding any formal discipline that they have received, as well as any current or ongoing investigation or disciplinary process of which they are the subject. (Note that discipline includes a negotiated settlement agreement to resolve a matter related to substantiated misconduct.)

Department: http://music.ucsc.edu

Qualifications

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

Ph.D. or D.M.A. (or an equivalent foreign degree) in Music or a related field, or six years’ professional experience that consists of a national or international record of performances, recordings and exhibitions in music venues or alternative venues engaging the general public. Degree requirements expected to be completed by June 30, 2023.

Application Requirements

Document requirements
  • Research and Artistic Statement*

  • Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion* - Statement addressing your understanding of the barriers facing traditionally underrepresented groups and your past and/or future contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion through teaching and professional or public service. Candidates are urged to review guidelines on statements (see https://apo.ucsc.edu/diversity.html) before preparing their application.

    *Our first round of review will be solely based on (1) the Research and Artistic Statement and (2) the Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We welcome candidates who understand the barriers facing historically oppressed groups in higher education, and who have engaged in teaching, research, professional and/or public service contributions that promote equity, justice, and antiracist, decolonial theory and practices. We seek candidates who demonstrate effective strategies in support of the recruitment and success of underrepresented scholars and students, which may take a variety of forms. The rubric that we will use to evaluate the statement of contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion is available here: https://apo.ucsc.edu/docs/ucsc-rubrics-c2deistatements.pdf

  • Cover Letter - Letter of application that briefly summarizes your qualifications and interest in the position

  • Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

  • Statement of Teaching - Teaching Statement that clearly outlines your teaching experience and teaching interests

  • Work Sample (1 of 3 required) - Sample (score, recording, writing) uploaded as a PDF with a description and link to the sample work

  • Work Sample (2 of 3 required) - Sample (score, recording, writing) uploaded as a PDF with a description and link to the sample work

  • Work Sample (3 of 3 required) - Sample (score, recording, writing) uploaded as a PDF with a description and link to the sample work

  • Work Sample (1 of 2 optional) - Sample (score, recording, writing) uploaded as a PDF with a description and link to the sample work
    (Optional)

  • Work Sample (2 of 2 optional) - Sample (score, recording, writing) uploaded as a PDF with a description and link to the sample work
    (Optional)

Reference requirements
  • 3-5 required (contact information only)

Applicants must provide the names and contact information of their references. The hiring unit will request confidential letters** from the references of those applicants who are under serious consideration. Please note that your references, or dossier service, will submit their confidential letters directly to the UC Recruit System.

**All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. For any reference letter provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service, career center), direct the author to UCSC’s confidentiality statement at http://apo.ucsc.edu/confstm.html.

Apply link: https://recruit.ucsc.edu/JPF01351

Help contact: rilomeli@ucsc.edu

About UC Santa Cruz

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. UC Santa Cruz is committed to excellence through diversity and strives to establish a climate that welcomes, celebrates, and promotes respect for the contributions of all students and employees. Inquiries regarding the University’s equal employment opportunity policies may be directed to the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 or by phone at (831) 459-2686.

Under Federal law, the University of California may employ only individuals who are legally able to work in the United States as established by providing documents as specified in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Certain UCSC positions funded by federal contracts or sub-contracts require the selected candidate to pass an E-Verify check (see https://www.uscis.gov/e-verify). The university sponsors employment-based visas for nonresidents who are offered academic appointments at UC Santa Cruz (see https://apo.ucsc.edu/policy/capm/102.530.html).

UCSC is a smoke & tobacco-free campus.

If you need accommodation due to a disability, please contact Disability Management Services at roberts@ucsc.edu (831) 459-4602.

UCSC is committed to addressing the spousal and partner employment needs of our candidates and employees. As part of this commitment, our institution is a member of the Northern California Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (NorCal HERC). Visit the NorCal HERC website at https://www.hercjobs.org/regions/higher-ed-careers-northern-california/ to search for open positions within a commutable distance of our institution.

The University of California offers a competitive benefits package and a number of programs to support employee work/life balance. For information about employee benefits please visit https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

VISIT UC Santa Cruz: https://www.ucsc.edu

Job location

Santa Cruz, California