Job Description

In order to alleviate the under-representation of racialized and Indigenous faculty, this position is open only to qualified racialized and Indigenous persons who self-identify as such in the application process. This initiative is a special program under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
OCAD University (OCAD U), Canada's university of the imagination, provides a vibrant and stimulating environment for its faculty and students. Committed to excellence and contemporary approaches to education, OCAD U offers seventeen undergraduate programs, seven graduate programs, and a variety of continuing education courses in art, media and design. OCAD U is currently seeking outstanding, creative researchers/practitioners and gifted, collaborative teachers to augment its professoriate in this opportunity. It is an exciting time to join the OCAD U community as the University is at a key stage in its institutional transformation, with the implementation of its Academic Plan with six guiding principles: decolonization, diversity and equity, sustainability, valuing faculty, interdisciplinarity and health and wellness.
TIER 1. CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR Indigenous Creative Practice
OCAD University invites applications from researchers and creative research/practitioners in the area of Indigenous Creative Practices and Pedagogy to be the University's nominee for a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in this field. This is an internal competition and only tenured/tenure-track faculty currently employed at OCAD U are eligible to apply. The University is seeking an outstanding Indigenous researcher recognized by their peers as an international leader and cross-disciplinary scholar/practitioner who has demonstrated significant contributions to knowledge production and scholarship in one or more areas of Indigenous Visual Art, Curatorial Practice, Media, Performance, and Design and Design Thinking as well as having generated a substantial, internationally celebrated record of work at both national and international levels. The CRC in Indigenous Creative Practices will be expected to build research capacity in keeping with the OCAD U Strategic Research Plan, as well as support and facilitate the integration of Indigenous research into the curriculum across OCAD University.
This position is intended to encompass scholarship in Indigenous contemporary art, media and design practice in Canadian and International contexts. With Indigenous creative practice becoming increasingly important in research contexts, the candidate will have an opportunity to contribute to what is becoming a major strength within contemporary research agendas. Indigenous creators, makers, and curators are increasingly producing exhibitions that foreground work previously excluded from exhibition and collection. OCAD University has expanded its galleries and thus the successful candidate will be afforded an exemplary opportunity to experiment, test and implement exhibition research. As a Canada Research Chair the incumbent will engage with the training of a new generation of scholars in these fields, and share and develop specialized knowledge and methodologies through the teaching and research supervision of students. The successful candidate will teach in undergraduate and graduate programs, supervise graduate students in their Major Research Project / Thesis work, engage in student and faculty research projects and facilitate the realization of OCAD University's Academic and Research Plans.
Building on innovative and hybrid research methodologies that promote cross-cultural exchange, Indigenization and decolonization, the successful CRC will connect their field of research with and within Indigenous communities, as well as provide leadership that will strengthen institutional collaborative research and secure new research funding and institutional partnerships. The CRC will engage in the development of innovative forms of knowledge transfer, ensuring that research produced at OCAD University is made widely available to academic, non-academic and Indigenous communitieA major goal at OCAD U is to foster debate and research in Indigenous visual culture, art, media, and design that will greatly expand critical and creative production in this vital aspect of Indigenous identity, and social and economic development. Identified areas of research and critical commentary include:
Indigenous visual culture and history, contemporary art, design, digital, media studies and curatorial practice at regional, national, and global levels;
Traditional and contemporary art, media, and design innovation in Indigenous communities and their impacts;
Sustainable practices and the application of these to Indigenous design, architecture, art and ethics in contemporary Canada;
Gender identity in Indigenous cultural expression; and
Educational impact on Indigenous youth and peoples in Canada and internationally.
The CRC Program s part of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development. The goal is to support Chairholders who: "aim to achieve research excellence in engineering, the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, or social sciences. They improve our depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen Canada's international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of highly skilled people through student supervision, teaching, and the coordination of other researchers' work."
The Tier 1 CRC in Indigenous Creative Practice should:

• Hold a graduate degree (Masters or Ph.D.) appropriate to their field of research (or equivalent);
• Have a minimum of 10 years relevant teaching experience at the post-secondary level (or equivalent experience)
• Be an outstanding and innovative world-class researcher whose accomplishments have made a major contribution to the expansion and dissemination of knowledge about Indigenous Creative Practices;
• Have held as principal investigator Tri-agency and other research and arts council grants
• Be recognized internationally as a leader in their field
• Have a superior record of attracting and supervising graduate students (or equivalent mentorship experience);
• Have an extensive record as a graduate supervisor and be expected to attract excellent graduate students and future researchers as well as play a leadership role in developing new talent and increasing the research capacity of OCAD University;
• Have lived experience and a solid theoretical/conceptual understanding of intersectional racialized and/or Indigenous epistemologies;
• Engage in the formation of research and creative capacity for undergraduate and graduate students;

Propose an original and innovative research program of the highest quality.
The successful candidate will be nominated by the University for a Tier 1 CRC position and, if approved by the CRC Program, is intended to be appointed at the rank of Full Professor. The faculty position is contingent upon a successful CRC nomination.
Canada Research Chairs are subject to review and approval by the CRC Secretariat.
RENUMERATION:
Salary and rank will be commensurate with experience and qualifications with access to full benefits and pension contribution after one year of service. The successful candidate will be nominated by the University for CRC support and, if approved, may be appointed at the rank of Full Professor, with Tenured status (or another rank commensurate with qualification and experience).
APPLICATION DEADLINE:

• Applications should include:
• Letter of intent stating the candidate's interests in the position;
• Curriculum vitae;
• Statement of teaching philosophy;
• Research plan which may include project development and constructing research centres or institutes;
• Supplementary materials such as a digital portfolio of work/publications;
• The names and contact information of three referees.

The review of applications will begin on Aug 1, 2025, and will continue until the position is filled. The successful candidate will be nominated by OCAD University to the CRC Secretariat in 2025/26 and if approved by the CRC Secretariat, the nominee will begin a tenure-track/tenured professorship on July 1, 2026.
Please submit electronic applications in confidence to:
Dr. Ashok Mathur, Vice-President of Research and Dean, Graduate Studies.,
OCAD University
100 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON M5T 1W1
As an institution committed to art, design, digital media and related scholarship, OCAD University (OCAD U) recognizes the profound and essential value that diversity brings to the creation, reception and circulation of creative practices and discourse. OCAD U understands that valuing diverse creative practices and forms of knowledge are essential to and enrich the institution's core mission and vision as an art and design university with a local and global scope.
As an employer committed to employment equity, we encourage applications from members of equity- seeking communities including women, racialized and Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, and persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.
We encourage members of designated equity-seeking groups to self-identify within the voluntary Applicant Questionnaire.
In order to alleviate the under-representation of racialized and Indigenous faculty, this position is open only to qualified racialized and Indigenous persons who self-identify as such in the application process. This initiative is a special program under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
OCAD U is committed to providing an inclusive and barrier free experience to applicants with accessibility needs. Requests for accommodation can be made at any stage during the recruitment process. Please the Office of People & Culture for more information or refer to
All qualified persons are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority. While we thank all candidates for their interest, only those short-listed will be contacted.