Assistant Professor of Architecture or Landscape Architecture or Urban Design

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. We are a growing tier one research university of over 55,000 students and 5,700 faculty ranked among the top twenty universities in the world and the top three in Canada. The campus is recognized for its global leadership in planning, design, infrastructure, operations, research, teaching and learning related to sustainability and well-being.

About SALA

Within the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) is a close-knit and collaborative academic community of approximately 400 students and 24 faculty. We offer accredited graduate professional degree programs in architecture and landscape architecture, post-professional graduate programs in urban design and high-performance buildings, and a growing undergraduate program in design. The School is known for its commitment to quality design education that capitalizes on our inherent interdisciplinarity, which we direct toward the urgent human and environmental issues of our times, and to the integration of the built and natural environment across scales. The School engages these themes through many academic and research interactions with the 'living laboratories' of UBC campus, the Vancouver metropolitan region, and our professional communities.  SALA is the #1 ranked school of architecture and the built environment in Canada according to the 2021 QS World University Rankings.

Faculty Opportunities

The School seeks two full-time tenure track Assistant Professors to begin July 1, 2023. Applicants from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design are invited to apply. The two new positions will play a vital role in our School, with contributions to teaching and curriculum development in the new interdisciplinary undergraduate degree: the Bachelor of Design in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urbanism. Teaching assignments may include courses such as design studio, design representation and visualization, history and theory, and courses related to the candidate’s research agenda.

Successful candidates will also teach in relevant graduate programs in our school: Master of Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Urban Design, Master of Engineering Leadership in High Performance Buildings. The Assistant Professors will pursue a productive research and scholarship agenda, develop an innovative teaching portfolio that relates to their research and contribute to the core curriculum. The Assistant Professors will also contribute to service within the School, the University and to the academic and professional community. Joining the faculty at SALA offers the opportunity to engage with a robust network of scholars and practicing professionals, as well as opportunities to connect with other UBC departments and programs.

With these positions, SALA also seeks to address a significant gap between the race, ancestry, colour, and place of origin represented among our tenure track faculty, and that of our region. Through the new hires, we seek to bring the advantages of diverse lived experiences into the ideas and approaches to design within our School and to our students. 

Equity and diversity

The School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture recognizes that injustice and inequity are still holding back design pedagogy and practice. We also recognize the role we have played in upholding inequity, and endeavour to change our practices in order to be a better leader in the global fight for equity.

As a school, we have committed ourselves to create the systemic changes required to address the numerous forms of discrimination operating today. This encompasses racial injustice as well as other forms of oppression, including those related to gender, sexuality, religion, colonialism, and physical and invisible forms of disability. The School is working to address these challenges not just within the School but in the context of the disciplines we teach. The ‘pipeline problem’ of a lack of diversity in the professions is directly related, though not limited, to what happens in university education. 

SALA’s approach aligns with UBC’s Inclusion Action Plan, which operationalizes the theme of inclusion, and supports the themes of innovation and collaboration in Shaping UBC’s Next Century. Our university will continue to develop its potential as a ground-breaking 21st century institution, including its leadership in creating global influence through its equitable, diverse, and inclusive campuses. The Inclusion Action Plan supports UBC’s commitments to reconciliation, and recognition of our locations on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of Indigenous peoples. This history and relationship with these lands frames our efforts to understand decolonization in the context of all our inclusion efforts. Equity, diversity, and inclusion are the conditions for attracting and retaining the best and brightest students, staff, and faculty from around the world, and understanding how we best create the environments in which we work, learn, and live. 

Research and Teaching Leadership

We seek individuals who are committed to an innovative reimagination of how design serves the public interest. Ideal candidates have a research agenda or a design practice that addresses urgent challenges related to social justice and design and/or climate change and design. While this is a broad call for diverse areas of research and teaching expertise, we are particularly interested in teaching expertise in the following areas: the pedagogy of design, history and theory, urban design, ecological systems, fabrication and related technologies.

Qualifications

Preference will be given to candidates with a track record of or demonstrated potential for innovative approaches to research and teaching, including ones that advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the discipline or that leverage lived experience. Preference will also be given to those able to engage with and contribute to the design and interdisciplinary culture of SALA. 

Candidates will hold a terminal degree in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, or Urban Design (PhD, or Master of Architecture, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Urban Design) or relevant combination of education and experience. 

SALA recognizes that an open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. SALA will uphold an ethical framework for engaging systemically marginalised communities and will advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion within our disciplines, professions, and broader communities. Recruitment for this position has been approved as a Special Program by the British Columbia Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, for individuals who self-identify as possessing protected personal characteristics in the category of “race, colour, ancestry, and place of origin.” We actively encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity, including, but not limited to:

  • First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, and all other Indigenous peoples;
  • members of groups that commonly experience discrimination due to race, ancestry, colour, religion and/or spiritual beliefs, or place of origin.

Candidates from these groups who wish to qualify for preferential consideration will be asked to self-identify on the following survey: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bHj1gD3Inqr2OpM

We recognize that many of these identities intersect and that therefore, equity, diversity and inclusion can be complex. We value the contributions that each person brings and are committed to ensuring full and equal participation for all in our community.  All applicants will be asked to complete a voluntary and anonymous equity survey: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eYgKdmqnHgRcgbc.

Applicants who identify as possessing personal characteristics protected in the BC Human Rights Code outside of the category of race, colour, ancestry, and place of origin are also encouraged to apply and are asked to note this in the equity survey. 

Application

We welcome applications from qualified candidates. To be considered, the following information constitute a full application package:

  • cover letter
  • curriculum vitae 
  • research statement (up to 1,000 words) that describes how your research or design practice addresses urgent challenges related to social justice and design and/or climate change and design
  • a selection of research and/or teaching work (maximum 20 pages / 5 MB per attachment; 25 MB total). Files can be uploaded in the My Experience section under Application Documents. A total of 5 separate files with a max file size of 5 MB each can be uploaded.
  • a brief statement (up to 1,000 words) describing how your research or teaching has addressed historical conditions of underrepresentation, discrimination, or other forms of inequity and/or promoted equity, diversity and inclusion 
  • if applicable, up to three brief course proposals or examples of previously taught course syllabi 
  • contact information for three references

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; in accordance with Canadian Immigration requirements, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. 

Recruitment Timeline (tentative)

Applications deadline Sunday, July 31, 2022.
Applications reviews until mid/to end of August 2022.
First Interviews (via Zoom) will occur end of September / beginning of October 2022.
Second Interviews (in-person) will occur in early November 2022.
Final deliberations will occur into early January 2023.

Learn More

UBC advances and promotes respectful and inclusive relationships between UBC and communities of which it is a part. These values are embedded in the goals and themes of UBC’s 2020 strategic plan, an Indigenous Strategic Plan, and facilitated by an Office of Community Engagement Support.

You can learn more about UBC’s Inclusion Action Plan at: Inclusion Action Plan - UBC Equity & Inclusion Office

About Vancouver

UBC is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, a dynamic growing urban region of approximately 2.5 million on the west coast of Canada. A gateway to the Pacific Rim, Vancouver is recognized for its quality of life and environment, commitment to sustainability, and related progressive practices in architecture, urban design, and landscape architecture. The region offers a dramatic natural context of urban and suburban settlements and landscapes that offer provocative laboratories for the study of architecture, landscape architecture and urban design.

Apply here

Contact

For further information about the School and the search process contact: 
Daljeet Meet, SALA Human Resources Specialist 
dmeet@sala.ubc.ca