Job Description

Job Description

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Practice – Emerging Media Arts: Designing Experiences.

We seek a designer, or creative technologist professional whose practice explores human experience across emerging media systems — from spatial experience and interactive design to spatial computing and sensory design. The ideal candidate creates work that merges concept, form, and technology to produce meaningful, participatory, or embodied experiences — whether through games, sound, light, movement, or data-driven interaction. The Designing Experiences faculty encompasses teaching and professional practice that engage sensory design, interactivity, and emergent systems. We are interested in candidates whose work examines how media and technology shape perception, presence, play and participation.

Possible areas of expertise include (but are not limited to):

·     Interactive and immersive environments design.

·     Spatial computing and interactive systems design.

·     Sound, light, and motion as design media.

·     Experimental interface design.

·     Embodied and participatory experience design.

·     AI-driven storytelling, performance, or design.

·     Game design.

The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts is an interdisciplinary center and creative research facility within the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, established with a $57M investment from the Johnny Carson Foundation. Research areas include filmmaking, interactive and immersive storytelling, experience and generative design, XR, machine learning, sonic and data arts, virtual production, and innovation and entrepreneurship. The Carson Center brings together world-class faculty and students to reimagine the future of media through inclusive, imaginative storytelling that addresses human-scale challenges, provokes, and inspires. As the Center expands its international reach and collaborations, this is a unique opportunity to shape its growing mission.

Nebraska offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, commensurate with the successful candidate’s background and experience. Faculty status with opportunities for promotion in rank and sabbatical opportunities for continued learning and professional development are additional key benefits. This position comes with resources to support innovative teaching and creative practice.

Key Responsibilities

·     Teach courses across interactive systems, spatial experience, and computational or foundational visual practice.

·     Lead project-based studios that integrate technology, design, and experimentation.

·     Collaborate with colleagues across film, theatre, design, art, graphic design, music, computer science, and architecture.

·     Mentor students to develop critical, technical, and creative skills in experiential media.

·     Contribute to undergraduate and graduate curriculum development and service at the School and College levels.

Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln, Nebraska, is more than a quintessential college community. The University is situated in a dynamic downtown area that includes the state capital and a growing tech industry, as well as restaurants, coffee houses, movie theaters, clubs, bike trails, and urban residences. Lincoln has excellent public schools, a low cost of living, and has been nationally recognized for its high quality of life. It is a friendly, creative, intellectual, and vibrant community that loves the arts and is home to the Lied Center for Performing Arts; the Sheldon Museum of Art; the International Quilt Museum; the Nebraska State Museum with collections including anthropology, botany, and zoology; and the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, an art house cinema that is part of the College, as well as numerous alternative spaces and venues for visual art and music.

Minimum Required Qualifications                

·     Bachelor’s degree with at least five years of professional experience in experience design and/or interactive media, including work in areas such as spatial experience design, interactive systems, immersive media, and user-centered experience prototyping.

·     Working career as an experience designer or creative technologist, represented through a body of work that has received national or international exhibition in festivals, museums, public installations, live events, or digital and immersive media platforms showcasing experiential and interactive arts.

Preferred Qualifications      

·     Terminal degree (MFA, Ph.D., or equivalent professional experience) in experience design, media arts, or a related field; OR in exceptional cases, significant professional credentials and experience in lieu of a terminal degree.

·     Evidence of teaching effectiveness or the potential to develop innovative pedagogy.

·     Experience with creative coding, or prototyping methods (e.g., Unity, Unreal, TouchDesigner, Arduino, and other creative coding platforms).

·     Knowledge of AI/ML frameworks applied to creative practice.

Application Process

The search committee will begin formal review of applications on March 2, 2026, and will continue until an appointment is made. Interested applicants must apply online at requisition F_250089. Click “Apply for this Job,” complete the faculty information form, and upload the following required documents:

1.   A letter of interest addressing your qualifications specific to this job description.

2.   A current Curriculum Vitae.

3.   Teaching statement (1-2 pages). Attach as “Other Document.”

4.   A link to an online portfolio of work.

5.   The names and contact details of three professional references.

The University of Nebraska does not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and/or political affiliation in its programs, activities, or employment. See - nondiscrimination/.

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