We are looking for a visionary faculty member with a passion for public programming to collaborate with the Exhibitions team to organize the fall 2024 CCA@CCA Creative Citizens Series, with a focus on creative citizenship and democratic engagement.

The Creative Citizens Series is a core program of Creative Citizens in Action (CCA@CCA), a college-wide initiative promoting creative activism and democratic engagement through public programs, exhibitions, and curriculum connections. The Creative Citizens Series connects the CCA community and members of the public via intellectually rich programming that spans the disciplines of art, design, architecture, and writing.

In fall 2024, CCA@CCA is focusing energy on democratic engagement in relation to the U.S. General Election and supporting dialogue related to ballot issues with all members of the CCA community, regardless of their voting status. As the college evolves, we are actively engaging with internal partners to weave citizenship and democratic engagement into the college’s vision of becoming a 21st century campus and living, learning laboratory where a creative community unites to spark social and ecological change.

The role includes:

• Proposing and developing the CCA@CCA semester-long theme focused on voting and democratic engagement
• Serving as lead organizer of a minimum of 3 public programs that are included in the Creative Citizens Program Series, in collaboration with CCA Exhibitions
• Overseeing of a $5000 programming budget
• Liaising with CCA@CCA Faculty Grantees to connect appropriate projects to the theme
• Serving on the selection committee for an open call for work from the CCA community related to voting and civic engagement
• Serving as an advisory member to the CCA Voting Coalition and helping connect CCA’s 2024 Voting Action Plan to events and curriculum
• Developing a teaching module that connects the concept of democratic engagement to the classroom
• Helping promote the Creative Citizens in Action initiative and the Creative Citizens Program Series across CCA

Individual tasks include participating in biweekly planning meetings, event planning, selecting featured event speakers/practitioners, communicating with event participants, providing feedback to the CCA@CCA Design Fellow related to promotional materials, and collaborating with the CCA Exhibitions team and college stakeholders to deepen student and faculty engagement with the Creative Citizens in Action initiative.

Time and Pay:

Fall 2024 semester, August–December 2024, with the possibility of prep work in summer 2024 and/or an additional coordinatorship in spring 2025. This position is a half coordinatorship. Work would be more heavily weighted in August–October 2024. All faculty actively teaching in fall 2024 are eligible.

• Half coordinatorship: $3250
• Time Requirement: ~75 hours

Criteria:

• Applicant is actively teaching in fall 2024
• Evidence of engagement with and/or interest in creative activism, voting, democratic engagement and contemporary political discourse
• Prioritization of junior faculty

Next steps:

1. Send a brief statement of interest to Jaime Austin, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programming, at jaustin2@cca.edu including your name, title, list of courses you’re teaching in fall (if known), and a few sentences about what interests you about the opportunity.
2. A follow-up conversation will be scheduled via Zoom.
3. Applicants will be considered in the order they are received until the position is filled. Statements of interest received by June 5, 2024 will be given priority consideration.
4. Target hiring date: August 1, 2024.

The Deborah and Kenneth Novack Creative Citizens Series is the centerpiece of the Creative Citizens in Action initiative at CCA, which also includes faculty grants, voting work, and teaching resources focused on creative activism. This program is funded by an endowment gift to support The Deborah and Kenneth Novack Creative Citizens Series, an annual series of public programs focused on creative activism.

• Creative Citizens in Action Website
• Creative Citizens in Action Portal Resources
• CCA@CCA Teaching Resources (featuring modules developed by past faculty coordinators)
• CCA Voting Resources on Portal (including Voting Action Plans and Reports)
• Example event series from spring 2023 (note: this semester included a collegewide symposium, Coordinator is not expected to plan this number of events)
• Past CCA@CCA themes have included: Creative Activism, Fluid Mutualism, Get Out the Vote!, Belonging, and The Materiality of Resistance
• About 40% of CCA’s total student body is international or undocumented, and therefore ineligible to vote in the United States. When discussing elections, it is important to acknowledge this population and emphasize that U.S. election issues and results can have personal, bureaucratic, and global ramifications that affect them too. All students can organize and mobilize their peers. View 5 Steps to Understanding U.S. Elections as an International Student as an example of content we’ve created to support our diverse population of students.

Dates to be aware of:

• August 28, 2024: Fall semester begins
• September 17, 2024: National Voter Registration Day and Constitution Day
• October 18–19, 2024: Opening celebrations for Double Ground
• November 5, 2024: U.S. General Election

About the CCA Voting Coalition:

The CCA Voting Coalition, which is a key initiative within CCA@CCA, is made up of staff, faculty, and students and has been actively working to grow institutional commitment for democratic engagement since 2018. CCA has served as an official polling location since spring 2018, and we submitted our first democratic engagement action plan to the Campus Vote Project and Voter Friendly Campus program in 2020. Since 2020, the CCA@CCA initiative continues to level up the college’s commitment toward voter engagement with campus-based voter registration drives, “get out and vote” events, curriculum connections, and support for inclusive student activities focused on voter education and outreach.