Asst. Prof of Prac, EMA: Designing Experiences

This is a Full Time Job

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.

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.

Minimum 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.