Assistant Professor, Game Studies & Interactive Media
Requisition Number 13587BR
Summary
The College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University seeks a visionary scholar and teacher to lead our efforts in developing emerging curriculum, industry connections, and world-leading research in game studies and interactive media.
Required Qualifications
Candidates must possess a Ph.D. in a related field at the time of appointment, which may be either Fall 2018 or Spring 2019. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of research publication, professional accomplishment, and/or substantial teaching experience. Candidates should demonstrate ability to secure external funding for their research and have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to serving diverse student populations. Successful candidates must be eligible to work and take a tenure track position in the United States at the time of appointment. Faculty interested in joining multidisciplinary teams seeking external funding are especially welcome.
Preferred Qualifications
Demonstration of an integrated approach to research, professional activity, and teaching in game design, writing for interactive media, gaming cultures, game production industries and ecosystems, interpretive approaches to gaming texts, and/or psychological, social, or cultural impacts of interactive play environments; experience mentoring graduate students; and a strong portfolio of professional interactive media production work. Since this position will take the lead in developing and overseeing a Game Design and Production certificate program available to students across departments at Texas Tech University, we especially value experience working effectively with colleagues across departmental and disciplinary boundaries. Experience working with diverse student populations and first-generation students is highly desirable.
Teaching, Research and Service
Successful candidates must be able to teach in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses in gaming and interactive media related to their research expertise. Our intent is to bring outstanding and collegial faculty who value our focus on excellence in teaching, research, service, and outreach and engagement. Service duties include program-building, as well as commitment to extra-curricular activities. Service to the department, college, and university is expected. The standard teaching load is four courses per academic year with the opportunity to teach additional courses during summer or intersessions for additional compensation. The appointment will comprise 40% teaching, 40% research, and 20% service.
College of Media & Communication
The College of Media & Communication (http://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/) at Texas Tech University offers bachelor’s degrees in Advertising, Communication Studies, Electronic Media, Journalism, Media Strategies, and Public Relations. It offers master’s degrees in Mass Communication, Communication Studies, and Strategic Communication (online), and a Ph.D. in Media and Communication. The college serves approximately 1,800 undergraduate majors, 235 MA students in three programs, and 35 Ph.D. students. Recent graduates of the doctoral program have begun their careers at universities in the Big 10, Big 12, ACC, and SEC, as well as applied research positions with media companies such as the Disney MediaScience Research Lab.
CoMC ranks among the nation’s top colleges in media and communication. It is home to the Center for Communication Research (CCR) (https://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/research/ccr/), one of the world’s premier, state-of-the art research facilities in media and communication research. It features labs useful for audience testing, content analysis, surveys, eye-tracking, focus group, and psychophysiology. These research facilities provide a great environment for further advancing an exciting and productive research agenda. The college is also home to the Outpost Social Media Lab, a major center for the study of new and emerging media (https://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/research/outpost), and the Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication, a center of teaching, research, and community outreach in Hispanic and International Communication (https://www.depts.ttu.edu/comc/research/hihic). Additionally, the college has launched the Communication Training Center (http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ctc/), a facility focused on training university faculty and graduate students how to enhance oral and visual communication skills.
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University is a public research university with an enrollment of over 35,000. It offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 100 masters and 50 doctoral degree programs. Texas Tech is the largest comprehensive higher education institution in the western two-thirds of Texas and is the state’s only campus with an adjoining research university, law school, and medical school. Texas Tech students come from almost every county in Texas, all 50 states and more than 100 different countries. Significant to the Harris Institute’s mission, the university recently surpassed the Hispanic student population threshold necessary for designation as a Hispanic Service Institution (HSI) and Texas Tech’s current Quality Enhancement Plan is “Bear Our Banners Far and Wide: Communication in a Global Society.” (www.depts.ttu.edu/globalcommunications). Texas Tech University is recognized as a Carnegie Tier 1 Research University and is a member of the Big 12 Athletic Conference. The university is located in Lubbock, Texas, a vibrant city of over 250,000.
Application Procedure
Review of applications will begin on April 15, 2018. Applicants should apply on line at www.texastech.edu/careers, referencing the Requisition Number 13587BR. They will be asked to provide a letter of application describing their research interests, teaching experience, and professional experiences, a current curriculum vita, graduate transcripts, and a list of three references with names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers. The successful candidate must be eligible to work in the United States. The search committee co-chairs are Dr. Robert Peaslee, Chair, Department of Journalism & Creative Media Industries and Dr. Eric Rasmussen, Department of Public Relations. Questions may be addressed to them at robert.peaslee@ttu.edu; eric.rasmussen@ttu.edu or by calling Dr. Peaslee at (806) 834-2562, or Dr. Rasmussen at (806) 834-6870.
EEO Statement
As an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer, Texas Tech University is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse faculty committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. We actively encourage applications from all those who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic community at Texas Tech University. The university welcomes applications from minorities, women, veterans, persons with disabilities, and dual-career couples.
Please visit the college’s website for more information: www.depts.ttu.edu/comc