Florence - Spring 2014
- Position available: Affiliated Scholar
- Appointment for: Spring 2014
- Program: London & Florence: Arts in Context
- Location: Florence, Italy
- Application deadline: March 31, 2012
- See the program pages for London & Florence: Arts in Context
General framework of the program
The ACM London & Florence: Arts in Context program offers students a singular opportunity to live and study in two of the world's most important and exciting cultural capitals. This interdisciplinary program focuses on the arts that have made these two cities central to the heritage of the West: the visual arts, on the one hand, in architecture, painting, sculpture; and the literary arts, on the other, in theatre and literature.
Students will live and study in two urban environments that have continued to fascinate visitors and scholars alike for their ongoing vitality over many centuries. While they learn about the past and how each city came to foster such extraordinary creativity in the arts, students will become temporary residents of a living, thriving urban environment. Students will see how each city works, day to day, even while they investigate how each city has functioned in the past as an artistic center.
By traveling its cityscape, patronizing its theatres, visiting its museums, its public spaces and marketplaces, students will develop a sense of the ongoing vitality of both London and Florence. Each city will become for students a living laboratory, a text to be read and understood. Emphasizing arts in context, the course offerings at each site provide an interdisciplinary panorama of the arts and history as well as contrasts between the two cities.
The program enrolls approximately 20 students in each of two seven-week segments, with one group beginning in London and the other in Florence, then switching sites at the end of the seven weeks. Standard course offerings include history, Italian language, and art history (in Florence) as well as theater and drama and urban history (in London).
The overall learning goals of the program are:
- To convey to students an understanding of the cultural heritage and present-day complexities of two European cities, London and Florence;
- To enhance students' critical thinking skills and specifically their ability to "read" a city through its artistic media;
- To develop students' intercultural awareness in both an English-speaking milieu and in a culture where English is not the medium of communication.
Specific duties of the Visiting Faculty
The Affiliated Scholar in Florence is expected to teach one course in each of the two segments. This course should relate to some aspect of the program's overall focus on arts in context, address specifically the opportunities afforded by study in Florence, and reflect the faculty member's own interests and disciplinary expertise. Classroom instruction should be closely integrated with a variety of out-of-class activities. He/she is expected to work in close cooperation with the on-site Director and Florentine faculty to plan and participate in program-sponsored site visits and excursions and to be available to students outside of classroom hours. Applicants should discuss how their proposed course contributes to the program's mission and learning goals set out above.
The Affiliated Scholar will attend the ACM annual conference for program directors and faculty as well as an orientation session in preparation for his/her time abroad.
Compensation
The faculty member will continue to receive his/her salary and benefits through the home college. In addition, ACM will provide round-trip airfare between the home school and Florence as well as shipping and housing allowances. Candidates may also apply to ACM for additional travel funds to cover the transportation expenses of a spouse/domestic partner and up to two dependent children (under 18) who will accompany the faculty member and live with him/her for the duration of the program. (ACM will reimburse the home college at the rate of one-half the salary of the faculty member for the period of the assignment.)
Application criteria
Any ACM faculty member is eligible to apply, although priority will be given to a faculty member whose regional expertise is Western Europe. It is also useful to have some experience with off-campus study, as the faculty member may be consulted by the on-site Director on a variety of student-related issues as students become adjusted to their surroundings.
Application procedures
Interested faculty should contact Carol Dickerman, ACM Director of International Study Programs.
Applications should include:
- A letter describing the applicant's background and interest in the program, outlining goals related to teaching, working with students, and undertaking personal projects in Italy, and detailing how the applicant would contribute to achieving the program's overall mission and learning goals.
- A brief description of the proposed course and how it too would contribute to the program's mission and learning goals.
- Summary of teaching evaluations.
- A curriculum vitae.
- A letter from the chief academic officer endorsing the application.
Faculty members who wish to be considered for both the fall semester Florence Program and the spring semester London & Florence: Arts in Context program should apply separately for each.
Selection will be made in consultation with the London/Florence Program Faculty Advisory Committee. The application deadline is March 31, 2012. The letter of application and supporting materials should be sent, in electronic form, to acm@acm.edu.