Teaching Assistant Professor or Clinical Assistant Professor, Computer Animation

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign•Urbana, IL

11d•Onsite

About The Position

The School of Art & Design (A&D) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is seeking a full-time, non-tenure-system Teaching Assistant Professor or Clinical Assistant Professor in Computer Animation. This role is within the Studio Art Program and focuses on animation as an artistic expression, storytelling, image-making, and contemporary studio practice. The successful candidate will contribute to and expand animation-related teaching and creative practice within an interdisciplinary Studio Art program, fostering connections between animation and other art forms like drawing, illustration, painting, 3D practice, interaction, and game development. Animation at Illinois is integrated into a broad studio-art environment, emphasizing its role as both a technical and artistic practice. The position offers opportunities for collaboration with the School of Information Sciences through interdisciplinary Game Studies & Design programs, providing students with avenues to explore animation in interactive and game-related contexts while maintaining a primary home in Studio Art.

Requirements

Terminal degree or equivalent expertise and experience in animation, studio art, illustration, digital media, game development, computational media, or a related field (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Substantial professional experience in animation, digital media, games, visual effects, film, television, or a related creative field (for Clinical Assistant Professor).
Demonstrated professional, artistic, or creative practice in animation or a closely related field.
Demonstrated experience teaching or mentoring students in academic and/or professional settings.
Demonstrated expertise in at least one major area of animation production, such as 2D animation, 3D animation, motion graphics, visual effects, or related time-based media.
Demonstrated technical fluency with relevant animation, digital, and/or post-production workflows.

Nice To Haves

Depth in 2D and/or 3D animation with the ability to teach animation production at the undergraduate level (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Professional or production experience working through animation workflows that extend into post-production, including compositing, editing, visual effects, rendering, or related processes (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Technical fluency with contemporary animation and digital production tools and workflows (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Experience connecting animation practice to broader artistic, conceptual, cultural, technological, or critical contexts (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Ability to teach and mentor students within an interdisciplinary studio-art environment (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Experience working across animation and related areas such as illustration, 3D practice, interactive media, games, or emerging technologies (for Teaching Assistant Professor).
Professional production experience in 2D and/or 3D animation, particularly within studio, commercial, independent, freelance, or other collaborative production environments (for Clinical Assistant Professor).
Experience with animation post-production processes, including compositing, editing, visual effects, rendering, or related workflows (for Clinical Assistant Professor).
Ability to translate professional production expertise into an effective, inclusive, and exploratory educational environment (for Clinical Assistant Professor).
Experience connecting professional animation practice to related areas such as illustration, 3D practice, interactive media, games, or emerging technologies (for Clinical Assistant Professor).
Demonstrated ability to situate professional and creative practice within broader artistic, cultural, technological, and critical contexts (for Clinical Assistant Professor).
Creative and pedagogical practices that expand or challenge dominant narratives in animation and related media, including work that engages underrepresented histories, global perspectives, emergent media, experimental practices, or innovative modes of storytelling and image-making.
Sensitivity to a wide range of cultural frameworks, lived experiences, and ways of knowing.
Experience with software and platforms such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, Unity, Unreal Engine, or comparable tools.
Practices that engage emerging technologies and evolving forms of digital image-making.

Responsibilities

Teach existing interdisciplinary studio courses.
Contribute to animation-related curriculum and course development.
Mentor students across different levels of experience.
Contribute to the intellectual and creative life of the School.
Balance technical and production knowledge with artistic development, conceptual thinking, critical inquiry, and experimentation.
Create learning environments where students can experiment, take creative risks, engage in critique, and understand animation within broader contexts of art, culture, technology, and contemporary life.