[Air-L] Tenure-Track Position at University of Oregon in Immersive Media Communications

[Maxwell Foxman]

Greetings!

We're hiring an immersive media communications and game studies assistant professor here at the University of Oregon. Lots of great research and collaborative opportunities here! I wanted to briefly repost the job description (below) and link to job, as we entering the final weeks of applications!

Check it out here: https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/531988/assistant-professor-of-immersive-media-communications

And please feel free to reach out to me with questions about the position.

Sincerely,
Maxwell Foxman
Assistant Professor of Media Studies and Game Studies
University of Oregon | School of Journalism and Communication
mfoxman at uoregon.edu


Description:


The University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication seeks a tenure-track Assistant Professor with a research and teaching emphasis in the area of Immersive Media (IM) Communication and Game Studies. We seek to hire colleagues who will conduct research on and teach about IM technologies (augmented, virtual, and extended reality – AR/VR/XR) and/or digital gaming spaces through the lenses of strategic communication, design, marketing, and their impacts and effects on users and culture. IM sits at the intersection of a variety of emerging interactive and immersive social, entertainment, and communication technologies, ranging from artificial intelligence to live streaming, that require rethinking the professional and social boundaries of media industries, practitioners, etc. For example, the intersection of AI and Web3 platforms use XR technology, require novel interfaces and modes of communication, and are currently being explored to a large degree in massively multiplayer online games like Fortnite and Roblox.

Hires would bring the following key contributions to our faculty:
1. Expertise in theories and concepts pertinent to immersive media and game studies in regard to fields of communication, design, marketing, human-computer interaction, journalism, or affiliated fields.
2. A related specialty, such as the study of identity, digital cultures, emerging media industries and economics (XR, cryptocurrency), e-sports, fan studies, digital asset production, content creation, human-machine communication, strategic communication, and media psychology.
3. A capacity to teach in our new online Immersive Media Communication master's program, our new Game Studies minor, and/or required coursework at the SOJC, such as media ethics, gender, media and diversity, and introduction to media studies.


This hire will join our growing body of scholars studying and teaching immersive media and game studies, including the launch of the Immersive Media Communications program in the fall of 2023, which will be conducted in collaboration with the Oregon Reality (OR) Lab and the Immersive Media Lab (IML), both of which focus on experiential learning and research regarding the ethical use of immersive media and their social, cultural and professional impacts. These positions would also directly serve the new Game Studies minor, which focuses on training media professionals in the culture and communication of games. These positions would have important synergies with the Strategic Communication MA program and the Public Relations and Advertising areas, with interest likely from MMJ and Journalism as well. Faculty members would also ideally strengthen SOJC's ties to other units on campus, including existing collaborations with CAS (e.g., the annual Data|Media|Digital Graduate Symposium), the campus-wide New Media and Culture Certificate program for graduate students, the ethics minor in philosophy, and UO's Data Sciences Initiative, through a practical orientation to ethical issues in society. Finally, ideal candidates will have strong potential to mentor undergraduate and graduate students as well as strong potential for and commitment to contributing to a culture of inclusive teaching and evidence of valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Equally important, this position will have the opportunity to collaborate with industry in the "Silicon Forest" of Portland, Oregon, where both corporations are already utilizing and innovating with these emerging technologies. The candidates would be encouraged to take advantage of the university's existing partnerships to bring the industry and storytellers into the classroom while driving thought leadership as immersive media and gaming evolve.

Positions may be based in Portland or Eugene.