Senior Lecturer in Craft specializing in Crafting Futures, PAR 2024/848

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

The University of Gothenburg tackles society’s challenges with diverse knowledge. 56 000 students and 6 600 employees make the university a large and inspiring place to work and study. Strong research and attractive study programmes attract researchers and students from around the world. With new knowledge and new perspectives, the University contributes to a better future.

The Artistic Faculty consists of the departments HDK-Valand – School of Art and Design and School of Music and Drama.

Our vision

With the challenges facing society today, education and research in the artistic field are more important than ever. One of the strengths of art is that it creates perspectives and critical tools, as well as meaning and hope. The Artistic Faculty is a driving force in issues of art, culture and learning, as well as in creativity and innovation in a broader sense. We are a locally rooted and globally oriented place for art, knowledge, critique, vision and transformation. Art and culture are for everyone, and we are a meeting place for cultural actors, cultural institutions, creative industries and civil society at large. Our goal is to be a house with many entrances and even more exits.

HDK-Valand Adacemy of Art and Design undertakes research and education in design, film, photography, fine art, craft and literary composition. We also educate school teachers in artistic subjects. We offer highly specialized degrees in an outward looking and international environment. Our unique breadth of subjects gives students and staff the opportunities for working with a wide range of artistic approaches and to explore new forms of practice and research.

HDK-Valand is now looking for a senior lecturer in Crafts with a focus on Crafting Futures to be based at Campus Steneby, a unique environment for education and research in craft and design at Gothenburg University. Nestled among the lakes and forests of Dalsland midway between Gothenburg and Oslo – we are an international community of makers, artists and designers who are attracted by our philosophy of education that involves total immersion in the workshop experience. In our educations, we seek to develop knowledge of material and technique as a basis for pushing the boundaries of material-based craft and design. With a strong focus on artistic exploration and design methods, we provide students with the tools to enable the application of their skills to new contexts in a rapidly changing world.

We offer degrees in BFA in Crafting futures, Wood Oriented Furniture Design, and Metal Art, where we focus on the development of technical skills, material knowledge, project planning, as well as history and theory. Our MFA in Applied Art and Design is a two-year programme that invites practitioners to develop their own approach to practice in one of our material disciplines.  We also offer a range of independent course online and on campus.

Craft at HDK-Valand Campus Steneby is also part of wider networks within the University. The University of Gothenburg has a strong tradition of interdisciplinary collaboration in craft, engaging in craft education and research across Västragötaland Region: At HDK-Valand’s Campus Steneby, at the department for Craft and Fine Art in Gothenburg, and at the Craft Laboratory at the Department of Conservation on their Mariestad Campus. We also share an educational environment together with Stenebyskolan, who provide preparatory artistic education and vocational training in craft related subjects.

Read more about HDK-Valand Campus Steneby here.

Subject area

Craft with a specialisation in Crafting Futures

Subject area description

Crafting Futures is a new specialism at Campus Steneby that is an environement that fosters interdisciplinary education and research within craft. We have recently validated our new BFA programme Crafting Futures which will take in its first cohort of students in Autumn 2025. Our aim is to build a research environment that can reflect and inform the content of the education.

The BFA is a craft-led artistic education where students learn to develop a craft practice that bridges a variety of materials and media. By using the term craft-led, the programme emphasise the way in which craftsmanship leads a knowledge creation that contributes to a broader discourse of contemporary artistic expressions and theories.

The programme is designed for students who want to develop artistic work focused on craftsmanship, material knowledge, and method. The courses within the programme are directed towards various artistic and social contexts where the approach is investigative, creative, and reflective. Emphasis is placed on how the choice of media, materials, and methods can position craft as co-creator of resilient ecologies.

With focus on the geographical position and rural identity of Campus Steneby, students develop artistic methods that seek to preserve and develop local ecologies, places, and community environments – an educational effort that integrates place as a resource in artistic practice.

The students examine the foundational components of an artistic craft practice where recurring and established concepts will be challenged in relation to current norms within the field of Craft. This includes material choices, methods as well as expected artistic results.

Upon completion of the programme, students have developed the ability to work with artistic craft methods that apply tools, processes, methods, and theories in an investigative manner, taking into account and contributing to the creation of community-oriented resilience.

Students are prepared for a wide range of professional activities in the arts, including innovation, cultural heritage, conservation, community development, studio crafts, and public art.

Duties

We are looking for a colleague who wishes to inspire and engage others, leading the development of the new program and subject specialism Crafting Futures. As a senior lecturer and program responsible you will lead a team of teachers and undertake teaching and examinations. Part of the assignment includes time for your own research, community collaboration or artistic development work, in accordance with the University of Gothenburg´s working hours agreement.

Duties and responsibilities include:

• Program responsible for our Crafting Futures BFA programme and delivery together with teachers, technicians and students, and with staff across Campus Steneby.
• Lead the work to formally establish curricula and syllabi for the Crafting Futures specialism at MFA level. This will be done with the support of the director of studies and the programme director at MFA level
• Play a leading role in the development the research environment at Campus Steneby
• Undertake teaching and examinations on Crafting Futures BFA, in the master program Applied Art and Design and independent courses.
• Taking part in regular meetings on unit and department level.
• Undertaking research, artistic or pedagogical development

The language of instruction is English.

The tasks will be performed at Campus Steneby in Dals-Långed, Sweden.

Assignments within the department and faculty may also be included in the employment.

Responsibilities and tasks may change over time.

Distance learning may take place in accordance with the University of Gothenburg’s regulations.

Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for employing teaching staff are set out in Chapter 4 of the Higher Education Ordinance and in the Appointment Procedure for Teaching Posts at the University of Gothenburg.

To be eligible for appointment as a senior lecturer within disciplines in the fine, applied or performing arts, the applicant is required to have demonstrated teaching expertise and been awarded a doctorate in fine, applied or performing arts, has demonstrated artistic expertise or has some other professional expertise that is of value in view of the subject matter of the post and the duties it will involve.

A PhD in a relevant subject is a requirement for this role.

Assessment criteria

Artistic excellence means that the applicant has:

• A well-documented practice relating to the subject area crafting futures
• Documented artistic expertise in collaboration projects involving a range of craft materials
• Documented experience in developing artistic projects
• Documented visibility and relevance in craft/design life and professional contexts nationally (home country) and internationally

Pedagogical competence means that the applicant has:

• Documented skills and experience in development of curricula and syllabi
• Documented experience of university-level teaching at bachelor and master level
• Documented experience integrating research practices within education
• Highly skilled in conveying knowledge and committed to and interested in the subject

Scientific excellence means that the applicant has:

• PhD in a field related to Crafting Futures

• Experience of successful research grant applications
• A track-record of research related to the subject area

In making the appointment, emphasis will also be placed on the applicant having:

• Experience of organizing conferences and symposia
• Engagement with international networks in the field
• Very good team leading skills
• Good organizational ability
• Good administrative skills
• General experience with digital systems and softwares

Employees that have not previously completed pedagogic courses for higher education provided by a university (or equivalent) are expected to take these within two years.

As knowledge of Swedish is often a prerequisite for collegial cooperation, teachers, researchers and doctoral students who do not have a good knowledge of Swedish should be offered the opportunity to learn the language.

We will make an overall assessment and hire the candidate considered to have the best potential for conducting and developing the duties described above. Great emphasis is placed on individual suitability.

Employment

• Permanent position
• Part time position at 80% of full time
• Position is placed at Campus Steneby, in Dals-Långed, Sweden
• Start date is day July 1st 2025 or the date we later agree upon

Probationary employment may be applied for permanent employment.

Contact information

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Head of department Klara Björk, klara.bjork@gu.se

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact the HR function at HDK-Valand, hr@hdk-valand.gu.se

Unions

Union representatives at the University of Gothenburg can be found here: https://www.gu.se/om-universitetet/jobba-hos-oss/hjalp-for-sokande

Application

Your application may be reviewed by international experts and it is desirable that the application and its attachments are written on English. If the application is written in Swedish, it may be translated. In the event of any discrepancy between the translated document and the Swedish original, the institution takes no responsibility for translation or for direct, indirect or other forms of error that may occur in the translation.

Submit your application via the University of Gothenburg’s recruitment portal by clicking the “Apply” button. It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is complete as per the vacancy notice, and that the University receives it by the final application deadline.
Publications that cannot be attached to the application in digital format should be sent to HDK-Valand
HDK-Valand
HR, ref PAR 2024/848
Box 131
405 30 Gothenburg
Sweden

and should be received no later than last application date.

Applications must be received by: 2 December 2024

Information for International Applicants

Choosing a career in a foreign country is a big step. Thus, to give you a general idea of what we and Gothenburg have to offer in terms of benefits and life in general for you and your family/spouse/partner please visit:

https://www.gu.se/en/about-the-university/welcome-services
https://www.movetogothenburg.com/

The University works actively to achieve a working environment with equal conditions, and values the qualities that diversity brings to its operations.

Salaries are set individually at the University.

In accordance with the National Archives of Sweden’s regulations, the University must archive application documents for two years after the appointment is filled. If you request that your documents are returned, they will be returned to you once the two years have passed. Otherwise, they will be destroyed.

In connection to this recruitment, we have already decided which recruitment channels we should use. We therefore decline further contact with vendors, recruitment and staffing companies.