Pratt Institute launched its first cluster hire, “Diverse Voices Creating Just Futures,” which creates five new tenure-track faculty positions at the level of assistant professor, one in each of the Institute’s five degree-granting schools.
“The Institute has a longstanding commitment to nurturing and sustaining a diverse community—from its founding in 1887, when it welcomed students from all walks of life, through the present day, when hiring and supporting a diverse faculty is an explicit commitment of our strategic plan. This cluster hire is both a resounding affirmation of that commitment and an extension of it,” said Pratt Institute Provost Donna Heiland.
The “Diverse Voices Creating Just Futures” cluster-hire initiative encompasses the schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Information, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. School-specific recruitment will focus on the areas of Film/Video, Undergraduate Architecture, Interior Design, and the History of Art and Design, as well as any of the program areas within the School of Information (Library and Information Science, Information Experience Design, Data Analytics and Visualization, and Museums and Digital Culture). Each of the five faculty members will be appointed to a school as their primary home.
Pratt strives to foster transformative learning environments through its All-Institute Learning Goals. Issues such as justice, sustainability, and global citizenship are woven into curriculum and throughout a student’s educational journey, equipping them with skills and perspectives to make a positive impact on the world.
The new faculty members will work to help students achieve these goals, as well as the larger Strategic Plan. They will also be supported in their individual scholarship and creative work and will have the opportunity to collaborate on multidisciplinary research and projects, working together to envision just futures at Pratt and beyond.
“One of my favorite parts about teaching at Pratt is the community we build as faculty—one that is supportive and nurturing,” said Uzma Rizvi, associate professor of social science and cultural studies and president of the Academic Senate. “It is a community that is moving together towards a future that we all want to see that is just, equitable, and one full of care. It is exciting to think about how this cluster hire is going to add to our community not just in terms of people coming in, but also in terms of their research and creative practices.”
Learn more about the “Diverse Voices Creating Just Futures” positions.