apologies for posting something not directly related to curating, but
local colleagues of CRUMB are always welcome... and the Culture Lab is
a great place for the discussion of production and presentation of new
media work...
deadline 14 december
> TWO NEW POSTS AT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY
> FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
>
> PROFESSOR OF DIGITIAL MEDIA – Ref. G1591
> PROFESSOR OF FILM - Ref. G1590
> Information for Candidates
>
> I
>
> Newcastle University is continuing its substantial investment in
> Digital Media and Film with the appointment of two Chairs. The Chair
> of Digital Media will be based across the School of Arts and Cultures
> and the Culture Lab. The Chair of Film will be based in the School of
> English Literature, Language and Linguistics or in the School of
> Modern Languages, as appropriate, and the Culture Lab. We are seeking
> to appoint creative practitioners who have a strong international
> profile in any field of Digital Media research and Film research and
> who have a proven track record of working across disciplinary
> boundaries. These Chair appointments will harness, stimulate and
> develop interdisciplinary agendas in both teaching and research being
> developed in film, creative practice and performance across the
> Schools, Faculty and University.
>
> Working closely with, and partly based in Culture Lab the Chairs will
> contribute to the University’s fostering of ground-breaking,
> practice-based research through innovative research agendas and
> projects. The Chairs will attract external research funding (for
> example from research councils and industrial sources) at local,
> national and international level.
>
> Further appointments will be attached to the post in Digital Media.
>
> The posts are available from 1st January 2007 or as soon as possible
> thereafter.
>
>
> Further details about the Schools are available on their respective
> websites:
> School of Arts and Cultures http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sacs/
> Culture Lab http://www.ncl.ac.uk/culturelab/
> School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics
> http://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/
> School of Modern Languages http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sml/
>
> Informal enquiries concerning both Chair positions can be made to the
> Dean of Research, Professor Phil Powrie on +44 (0)191 222 8679
> [log in to unmask]; for the Digital Media position to
> Professor Peter Stone (Arts and Cultures) on +44 (0)191 222 7095/email
> [log in to unmask], and/or to Dr S J Norman (Director of Culture Lab)
> on +44 (0)191 246 4646 [log in to unmask]; for the Film
> position to Professor Linda Anderson (English Literature, Language
> and Linguistics) on +44 (0)191 222 8059 [log in to unmask], or
> to Dr Elizabeth Andersen (Modern Languages) on +44 (0)191 222 7526
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Closing date: 14 December 2006
>
>
>
>
> II
>
> CONTEXTS
>
> DIGITAL MEDIA AT NEWCASTLE
> Newcastle University has engaged with developments in digital media
> over the last decade or more and has begun to concentrate this general
> engagement in a number of specific academic initiatives linked to
> major capital investment programmes.
>
> The newly created Culture Lab focuses the University’s
> interdisciplinary research around a dynamic hub of networks that
> engage artists, researchers and scientists in contexts ranging from
> intra-university to international. It results from a £4 million pound
> investment by the University and the Government’s Science Research
> Investment Fund to build a multi-application, multi-user digital media
> facility, to challenge and enrich work methods and technologies
> integral to the shaping of new creative research. Culture Lab is a
> unique creative practice-driven interdisciplinary research platform
> and offers physical infrastructure (including state-of-the-art digital
> technology infrastructure) and networked expertise for
> interdisciplinary research grounded in digital technologies. Projects
> hosted by Culture Lab and initiated by any of the University
> faculties, tend to challenge conventional research boundaries and
> methodologies. Culture Lab also provides a foothold for external
> individuals and organisations seeking to engage in collaborative
> interdisciplinary projects with university researchers. Culture Lab
> promotes academically, socially and economically valuable synergies
> with artists, the creative industries, and cultural and scientific
> institutions which are developing innovative research with digital
> tools. Priority is given to partnerships offering high reciprocal
> added value through the possibility of joint showcasing. Staff within
> the School of Arts and Cultures already work closely with staff in
> Culture Lab and the Chair will develop and expand this relationship.
> Potential areas for development include (but not exclusively) video,
> web, animation, realtime interaction, and networked performances
> and/or installations.
>
> Culture Lab has two key research goals. First, the development of
> interdisciplinary links in areas including performance and technology,
> narrative and interactive structures, digital tools and heritage
> studies, visual and auditory display technologies, pervasive
> computing, authorship and ownership in collaborative virtual
> environments. The impending appointment of this Chair and the Chair in
> Film are intended to help develop such interdisciplinary links, as
> will a recently advertised RCUK Fellowship.
>
>
>
> The second goal is to integrate the regional regeneration priorities
> of inclusiveness and widened participation with our research, using
> artistic experiments as a basis for public debate about our relations
> to technologies. Culture Lab’s holds a strategic position in
> Newcastle’s Cultural Quarter and is well placed to add value to
> research in the performing arts, creative writing and heritage
> sectors, which is jointly led by the University in conjunction with
> neighbour institutions including Northern Stage, Northern Writers’
> Centre, Great North Museum, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts and
> The Sage Gateshead centre for music. Culture Lab is positioned to act
> as a mediator and public interface for Science City developments,
> enhancing the visibility of pioneering interdisciplinary research
> through links to international media centres and networks.
> The University has also invested heavily in the provision of digital
> media facilities across the School of Arts and Cultures, including a
> newly refurbished digital media suite in Fine Art and, in partnership
> with the Music and Inclusivity CETL for which Newcastle is the lead
> partner, a number of new and refurbished sound studios. Further
> capital work is planned within the School for the creation of a
> multi-purpose flexible digital media teaching and exhibition space.
> These facilities complement existing state-of-the-art facilities
> across the University, such as the Newcastle VR suite, a multi-purpose
> virtual environment with a 3-sided automatically reconfigurable rear
> projection system, managed by the Informatics Research Institute and
> located in the new Environmental Sciences Building. High end digital
> infrastructure in the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computing
> Engineering is also proving relevant in the building of cross-campus,
> new media perspectives.
>
>
>
> FILM AT NEWCASTLE
>
> Teaching of, and research into, Film at Newcastle is located across
> three Schools, English Literature, Language and Linguistics; Modern
> Languages; and Education, Communication and Language Sciences.
> Together they maintain a film portal which documents the range of
> expertise, news and events and facilities: www.ncl.ac.uk/film/
> <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/film/> . Around 14 staff, one of the largest
> concentrations in film studies in the UK, belonging to the three
> Schools, deliver undergraduate and postgraduate teaching which include
> a wide range of specialisms in the study of film and visual media
> including classic and contemporary Hollywood cinema; genres including
> Film Noir, the Rom-Com, the Musical, Cyber-punk; national cinemas
> including British, French, Chinese, New Zealand; Spanish-speaking;
> documentary film-making; script-writing; media and communications.
>
> Film at Newcastle has strong links with the Tyneside Cinema, and the
> School of Modern Languages has recently won an AHRC collaborative
> postgraduate award with them to work on film audiences. There is both
> a University-based Research Group in Film and Media and a regional
> North East Regional Film Seminar, both of which meet regularly and
> have a visiting speakers programme.
>
>
>
> The understanding of visual media at Newcastle is emphatically
> transnational and, though weighted towards a reflective approach which
> intersects with history, critical theory and cultural studies, has
> recently expanded to include also practice-based work, in particular
> screen-writing and documentary film-making. We are aware of the
> exciting possibilities of creating links between film and the
> developments in digital media described above. The new appointment
> would be expected to make full use of the facilities in Culture Lab
> and to work closely with the new Chair in Digital Media to build up an
> innovative suite of postgraduate modules which could be shared across
> the degrees in film and digital media. The School of English
> Literature, Language and Linguistics also has cameras and editing
> suites which enable the teaching of practice-based film, as well a
> technician, and would expect to expand and strengthen these
> resources.
>
> Northern Film and Media, NESTA, One North East and Skillset are all
> interested in how the region might build capacity in film-making and
> provide funding for film. The City has two independent cinemas, The
> Tyneside Cinema, currently undergoing major refurbishment, which shows
> movie classics, experimental and foreign language films, and The Star
> and Shadow Cinema, which will screen classic, independent and
> experimental films and shorts.
>
> SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CULTURES
>
>
>
>
> The Chair of Digital Media will be based in the School of Arts and
> Cultures and will work in Culture Lab. The School of Arts and
> Cultures, comprises the International Centre for Music Studies, Fine
> Art and the International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies. It
> is part of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). It
> offers undergraduate degrees in Music and Fine Art, and a wide range
> of postgraduate programmes across the visual arts, music and wider
> cultural heritage sector. At present the School consists of 43
> academic staff, with a strong admin, clerical and technical support
> team. Details of staff research interests and degree programmes in
> the School can be found at www.ncl.ac.uk/sacs
> <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sacs> .
>
> SACS uniquely assimilates its focus on world class research and
> teaching within the wider cultural heritage sector and cultural
> industries outside the University. This interaction with the cultural
> community - in the region, nationally and internationally - provides
> the School with its coherence, its key strength, and the significant
> external profile of its constituent parts. This coherence, strength
> and profile makes SACS a fundamental part of the University’s Cultural
> Quarter.
>
> The School aims to:
>
> · Recruit, retain and support staff of the highest calibre
> · Encourage and facilitate research to the highest standard of
> international excellence
> · Recruit and retain high-quality students
> · Enable its students to achieve their full academic potential
>
>
>
> SCHOOL OF ENGLISH LITERATURE, LANGUAGE AND LINGUSITICS
>
>
> The School of English Literature Language and Linguistics is a
> strong, research-led School which was awarded a 5 at the last RAE. It
> has a well established interest in film studies and film appears in
> both dedicated courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level
> and as part of other areas of critical and cultural study. The School
> currently has 43 members of staff, as well as a strong administrative
> and technical support team. A full list of staff and their interests
> can be accessed through our website: www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/
> <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/elll/> .
>
> The School has in recent years expanded into practice-based areas,
> including creative writing, drama and performance, and film. Our
> creative writing programmes are some of the most successful in the
> country, and are staffed by such eminent practitioners as W.N.Herbert,
> Sean O’Brien and Jackie Kay. The MA in creative writing, which
> currently recruits over 40 students, has been recently divided into 3
> pathways: poetry; fiction; script and screen-writing. We have recently
> appointed a Chair in Theatre Studies, who works closely with Northern
> Stage, and a Lecturer in Film and Digital Media who has pioneered the
> teaching of both screen-writing and documentary film-making. We hope
> the person appointed, as well as contributing to Culture Lab, would be
> able to work alongside this creative team, building up
> interdisciplinary projects and furthering the rich intersection of
> theory and practice already established in the School. The School
> hopes to make a strong contribution to the new MA in Digital Media, as
> well as expanding its contribution to Film Studies, both through
> theoretical research and the kind of interdisciplinary project already
> undertaken by our film-maker, Tina Gharavi, with Informatics on
> interactive cinema.
>
> SCHOOL OF MODERN LANGUAGES
>
> The School of Modern Languages comprises four Sections: Applied East
> Asian Languages, French Studies, German Studies and Spanish,
> Portuguese and Latin American Studies. The School operates as a single
> administrative and academic unit. It currently has 39 full-time
> members of staff and 4 fractional contract holders and has a strong
> administrative and technical support team. The School houses
> film-specific facilities in the form of the Merz Room - a film archive
> and study room. Housed in the same building as the School is the Open
> Access Centre. Opened in 1997, this purpose-designed Centre is
> fully-equipped with computers, audio, video and satellite television
> viewing facilities and has an extensive library of film recordings
> (see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/langcen/htm). For further information about
> the School please see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sml/.
>
>
>
> The research landscape of the School is mapped onto the following
> Fields of Study: Cultural Studies; Film, Media and Visual Arts;
> History, Politics and Society; Linguistics; Literature Studies;
> Translating and Interpreting Studies. At the last RAE the sub-group of
> Film Studies was flagged as a 5* within the French Studies Unit of
> Assessment. Film Studies are taught in all the constituent Sections of
> the School in a variety of programmes. Research and teaching interests
> in this field within the school include genre, gender representation,
> national cinemas, cinema and landscape, and film audiences. Teaching
> is currently primarily focused in the areas of film theory and
> history, across a broad range of national contexts. There is also a
> dedicated BA Honours degree in Modern Languages and Film Studies, an
> MA in International Film: History, Theory and Practice (shared with
> the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics) and a
> partially taught Integrated PhD in Film Studies. The journal Studies
> in French Cinema is co-edited by School staff. In conjunction with the
> Tyneside Cinema, Dr Sarah Leahy has recently been successful in
> winning an AHRC collaborative postgraduate award to work on a project
> entitled “Newsreel Memories: Audiences, Consumption and Newsreel
> Cinema”. In 2002 the School was awarded an AHRB grant for “The Carmen
> Project” (Prof Phil Powrie, Prof Chris Perriam and Dr Ann Davies)
> which led to a number of major publications.
>
>
> III
>
>
> POST RESPONSIBILITIES
>
>
> CHAIR OF DIGITAL MEDIA
>
> We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic interdisciplinary creative
> practitioner of international standing who can identify and deliver
> new synergies between research, teaching and external collaboration
> across the wide spectrum of digital media. The appointee will take the
> lead role in the development of an ambitious interdisciplinary focus
> for digital media drawing on the recognised strengths already existing
> in Newcastle across both the arts and humanities and the science
> communities. The Chair will take a leading role in the establishment
> of the University as an international teaching and research centre for
> innovative connections between theory and practice in the
> interdisciplinary application of digital media providing a focus for
> such work in Culture Lab.
>
> The new focus on digital media will harness and build upon existing
> work at School, Faculty and University level. The applicant will
> initially primarily focus on the opportunities provided by research
> and teaching in the creative and performance arts within the School of
> Arts and Cultures, but should also engage with other parts of the
> Faculty with an interest in digital media (cultural and communications
> studies, sociology, politics, ICT/ urban impact studies, architecture,
> e-business, media history, etc.). Wider links are encouraged with the
> Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering (where collaboration
> might include research on digital signal processing and sensors with
> potential live performance and games applications, and work on
> ubiquitous computing, interactive interfaces, and virtual
> environments) and the Faculty of Medicine (where collaboration might
> include development of online visualisation tools for specialised
> imagery, and bioinformatics challenges to traditional borders and
> concepts of life).
>
> The appointee will provide leadership for bids for external research
> funding in digital media while at the same time encouraging coherence
> and leadership within the School of Arts and Cultures, and wider
> Faculty, with respect to digital media provision at UG, PGT and PGR
> level. S/he will also foster and encourage collaborative
> interdisciplinary projects between external individuals and
> organisations and university researchers while taking full advantage
> of, and developing opportunities for, the investment already made in
> Culture Lab and the University’s plans for its Cultural Quarter
> (www.ncl.ac.uk/culturalquarter <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/culturalquarter>
> ) including in particular opportunities provided by the developments
> of the Northern Stage (www.northernstage.co.uk
> <http://www.northernstage.co.uk> ) and Great North Museum
> (www.greatnorthmuseum.org <http://www.greatnorthmuseum.org> ) . S/he
> will also need to be aware of and be instrumental in developing links
> between the Faculty and the University’s major initiative in Science
> City, the latest, and by far the largest, potential opportunity to
> translate the University’s teaching and research excellence for the
> benefit of the health, wealth and quality of lives of people through
> interactions with business and other world-leading basic and applied
> research initiatives
> http://www.ncl.ac.uk/internal/sciencecity/background/
>
>
>
> In recognition of the strategic importance of this appointment a
> junior lectureship and technician post will be attached to the
> position.
>
>
>
> The salary is negotiable within the professorial range.
>
>
>
> Duties and Responsibilities
>
> The responsibilities of the successful candidate will include the
> following:
>
> 1) Provide leadership for bids for external research funding in
> digital media across the University;
> 2) provide coherence and leadership within the Faculty of Humanities
> and Social Sciences (HASS) with respect to digital media at UG, PGT
> and PGR level;
> 3) provide specific leadership in the development of a new Faculty
> MA in Digital Media to be offered from September 2008;
> 4) enable the University to exploit the potential creative synergies
> between research in the sciences, and creative arts;
> 5) provide a clear opportunity for developing links between HASS and
> Science City;
> 6) provide support for the investment already made in Culture Lab;
> 7) establish Newcastle as a leading, international teaching and
> research centre for innovative connections between theory and practice
> in interdisciplinary application of digital media;
> 8) explore opportunities for harnessing additional income over and
> above research council income ( third strand income).
>
>
>
>
>
> CHAIR OF FILM
>
> We are looking to appoint a highly creative person who has an
> international profile, ideally across both film-making and the
> academic critique of film, though candidates whose research fell
> predominantly on either side of the practice/theory divide would be
> considered. S/he should be interested in the innovative possibilities
> of practice-based research and the opportunities for
> multi-disciplinary research opened up through Culture Lab. S/he should
> also be committed to the international agenda of the MA.in Film
> Studies.
>
> The person appointed should be able to provide both vision and
> leadership and help to establish Newcastle University’s distinctive
> role in regional initiatives around film. S/he should also be in a
> position to help to shape future national debates about theoretical
> and practice-based research in film, and lead funding initiatives.
>
>
> The proposed Chair is expected to:
>
> · Add extra dimension to MA in Film Studies;
> · Recruit PhD students in film, ideally on practice-based side;
> · Provide the vision and expertise which will link MA in Film
> Studies and MA in Digital Media;
> · Apply for external funding for research and be open to the
> possibility of interdisciplinary research collaborations through
> Culture Lab.
>
>
> The appointment, it is hoped, will help to link the new investment in
> Culture Lab to existing expertise in Film within HASS. The growing
> interest in practice-based work, and the desire of AHRC and other
> government funded bodies to link arts research to the cultural
> industries, makes it important that Newcastle be able to exploit fully
> its increasing strengths in this area and produce from the exciting
> mix of expertise a nationally distinctive programme which will aid
> postgraduate recruitment and lead to internationally recognised
> research. Film is a truly international language, and developed in
> terms of practice, will provide a rich site for international
> recruitment and collaboration. The person appointed should be able to
> gain national and international recognition for this area and be able
> to explore interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary initiatives which
> will add to the rich mix of cultural media which are currently
> represented within the Cultural Quarter.
> .
>
>
>
> IV PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR BOTH CHAIRS
> ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE HOW MEASURE*
> EDUCATION AND TRAINING (academic and vocational) Postgraduate
> qualifications 1,3.5
> EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS (paid/unpaid) The existence of a
> successful research trajectory in any field of digital media/ film
> studies. Outstanding record of excellence in research and
> publication Successful experience of winning externally funded
> research, and of managing research grants a significant record of
> achievement in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and
> supervision Successful experience of recruiting, supervising, and
> examining PhD students Experience in the development of graduate
> modules and/ or programmes Experience in working in cross-
> disciplinary research teams Successful experience of degree
> programme management Record of transformational engagement with
> national and international research networks Knowledge of current
> developments in creative and performance-based practices
> Awareness of current discourses in the area of humanities and
> digital media/ film studies 1,2,3,5
> SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL QUALITIES Ability to engage in
> high quality research that commands international recognition
> Excellent teaching skills at undergraduate and particularly
> postgraduate level Ability to provide leadership in research,
> teaching and third strand Capacity/willingness to play a role in
> degree programme management Excellent communication and
> organisation skills Willingness to engage with and explore
> innovative teaching and learning methods 1,2,3,5
> OTHER RELEVANT FACTORS (eg able to work rota system/driving
> licence/ car owner)
> Key
> 1) Application 3) References 5) Evidence
> 2) Interview 4) Testing
>
>
>
>
>
> V
>
>
>
>
> APPLICATION AND APPOINTMENT PROCEDURE
>
>
> To apply for this position, you should submit your written
> application, quoting the appropriate reference number, giving full
> details of your qualifications and experience to Mrs Judith Jackson,
> Senior Appointments Co-ordinator, Human Resources Section, Newcastle
> University, 1 Park Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, to arrive no
> later than 14 December 2006. It would be very helpful if you could
> submit a covering letter and CV on A4 paper which is only printed on
> one side, together with a completed Employment Record Form. This may
> be downloaded from the University web page:
> www.ncl.ac.uk/vacancies/employ.rtf
> <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/vacancies/employ.rtf> .
>
> Candidates are asked to note that it is the University’s normal
> procedure to approach candidates’ referees prior to interviews being
> held. This can mean that referees will be contacted either at the
> time a short-list is drawn up or, in some instances, referees comments
> will be sought in advance to enable a short list to be finalised.
>
> Candidates who do not wish any of their referees to be approached
> before receiving an invitation for interview, must inform the
> University at the time of submitting their applications.
>
> All applications will be acknowledged and considered for
> shortlisting. Short-listed candidates will be invited to a formal
> selection process at the University. This will involve a presentation
> to invited members of academic staff in the relevant School, an
> opportunity to meet informally members of staff and the Head of
> School, and a formal panel interview.
>
> When the successful candidate has accepted the post, all other
> candidates will receive
> notification of the outcome of their applications.
>
> The appointment will be subject to the standard conditions of
> service. Further information on these topics will be issued with any
> invitation to interview and may also be obtained on request from the
> Human Resources Section.
>
> Equal Opportunities Policy Statement
>
> The University welcomes applications from all sections of the
> community including candidates with a disability.
>
> The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines disability as:
>
> ‘A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term
> adverse affect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day to day
> activities.’
>
> You no longer have to be registered disabled. You may obtain further
> information from Disability on the Agenda, telephone 0345 622633.
>
> Applications
>
> The Employment Record Form and job details are available on tape or in
> large print. To request a copy please contact the Human Resources
> Section.
>
> If you have a disability which prevents you from completing the
> documentation, please contact the Human Resources Section to discuss
> other acceptable methods of application.
>
> Arrangements for interview
>
> Please indicate on a separate sheet any special arrangements or
> adjustments we may need to make to our recruitment procedures to
> ensure that you are not placed at a disadvantage because of your
> disability, for example the provision of an accessible interview
> location, a sign-language interpreter or supportive person, disabled
> car parking space etc.
>
> Arrangements if appointed
>
> It would also be helpful to us if you are able to indicate what
> adjustments we may need to consider to enable you to do the job, if
> you are appointed.
>
> General
>
> If you would like an informal discussion to consider any adjustments
> or special arrangements that may need to be made in relation to your
> application or appointment please do not hesitate to contact the
> relevant Human Resources Officer via the contact details for this
> vacancy.
>
> Newcastle University is committed to securing equality of opportunity
> in employment and to the creation of an environment in which
> individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise
> treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. The
> Vice-Chancellor oversees the effective operation of the policy and the
> responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of it rests with
> the Director of Human Resources. All new employees are provided with
> a copy of the Policy on appointment. Further copies may be obtained
> from the Human Resources Section of the Registrar's Office.
>
>
>
>
>
> The University also has a comprehensive entry on the World Wide Web.
> The address is:
>
>
> http://www.ncl.ac.uk/
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