Assistant Professor of Movement & Acting

University of Florida; Gainesville (FL); On-site; USD 68,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Florida invites applications for an Assistant Professor of Movement & Acting in the School of Theatre + Dance on the Gainesville campus. The role centers on movement training, actor training, and teaching stage combat across undergraduate and graduate programs.

The candidate mentors MFA/BFA students and contributes to a dynamic, collaborative theatre training environment. The position offers a 9-month tenure-track appointment with a competitive salary of $68,000–$70,000 and a

Qualifications

• Terminal degree in Theatre or closely related field, or equivalent qualifications based on professional experience.
• Potential for national/international achievement aligned with tenure criteria.
• Evidence of collaboration with faculty, students, and staff.
• Ability to design and facilitate academic work that advances curiosity, respect, open discourse, and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Develop, revise, and deliver undergraduate and graduate curricula, with primary responsibility for movement and physical training.
• Teach movement training and undergraduate/graduate stage combat courses in various weapon styles.
• Advise graduate and undergraduate capstone projects.
• Contribute to recruitment and retention of graduate and undergraduate theatre students.
• Participate in School productions through movement coaching, fight direction, and/or theatrical intimacy direction.
• Possibly teach acting courses and non-majors courses such as Oral Interpretation of Literature and Quest program courses.
• Maintain an active national/international creative research profile in movement/acting, contributing to the School’s training environment.
• Engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and professional engagement.

Skills

Movement training

Stage combat

Collaborative teaching

Education

Terminal degree in Theatre/related field

Job description

Assistant Professor of Movement & Acting

Job no: 541717
Work type: Tenure-Track Faculty
Location: Main Campus (Gainesville, FL)
Categories: Education/Training/Instructional Design, Humanities
Department: 13040100 - COTA-THEATRE-CHAIR

Classification Title:

Ast Prof in Movement

Candidates for this rank must hold the highest degree appropriate to their field or possess equivalent qualifications based on professional experience. A candidate shall be expected to demonstrate successful experience pertinent to the position they are being recommended and have demonstrated qualities relevant to the goals of the academic unit in which they will be employed.

Job Description:

Assistant Professor of Movement & Acting

Position: Full-time, 9-month tenure track, promotion-accruing faculty position

Date of Expected Hire: August 16, 2027

Salary: $68,000-$70,000 with a comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package

The School of Theatre + Dance seeks an Assistant Professor of Movement & Acting with a specialization in movement and physical approaches to actor training. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate and graduate students, with primary responsibility for movement training that develops the actor’s physical, expressive, and embodied skills. The candidate will also teach undergraduate and graduate stage combat courses in a variety of theatrical weapon styles and may teach acting courses and professional development labs. Additional teaching responsibilities may include non-majors courses such as Oral Interpretation of Literature, and courses in the University of Florida Quest program. The successful candidate will also provide mentoring to BFA and MFA students to prepare them for successful careers in the industry.

The School is especially interested in candidates who bring a progressive perspective to actor training and who integrate movement, embodiment, and physical approaches into contemporary performance training. We seek an individual who will contribute to a student-centered community committed to professional development and scholarship, innovation and flexibility, and teamwork and collaboration.

The successful candidate will contribute to the recruitment and retention of BFA and MFA acting students within a vibrant professional theatre training program at one of the nation’s leading public research universities. Additional creative responsibilities include movement coaching for School productions, as well as fight direction and theatrical violence and/or intimacy direction for approximately four productions each academic year. There is also an opportunity to direct School productions.

The position also includes participation in school, college, and/or university service and other related duties as assigned. Typical teaching loads for tenure-line faculty in Theatre Studies & Performance are 5–9 credits per semester, generally distributed as 5–6 credits in one semester and 7–9 credits in the other. Most courses in the School are 2 or 3 credits.

The University of Florida College of the Arts intends to be a transformative community, responding to and generating paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond. As artists and scholars, we embrace the complexity of our evolving human experience and seek to empower our students and faculty to shape that experience fearlessly through critical study, creative practice, and provocation. We seek a colleague who identifies as a change-maker. We seek a colleague who will position emerging artists and researchers as catalysts for justice on local and global levels.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution.

• Develop, revise, and deliver undergraduate and graduate curricula, with primary responsibility for movement and physical approaches to actor training.
• Teach undergraduate and graduate stage combat courses in a variety of theatrical weapon styles.
• Advise graduate and undergraduate capstone projects.
• Contribute to curricular efforts in performance-related areas.
• Contribute to the recruitment and retention of graduate and undergraduate theatre students.
• Participate in School productions through movement coaching, fight direction, and/or theatrical intimacy direction.
• Responsibilities may also include teaching acting courses, professional development labs, non-majors courses such as Oral Interpretation of Literature, and/or courses in the University of Florida Quest program, as appropriate to the candidate’s expertise and the School’s curricular needs.
• Creative Research and Professional Engagement
  • Maintain an active national and/or international creative research profile in movement, physical approaches to acting, stage combat, or related areas of specialization, consistent with expectations for tenure and promotion.
  • Contribute to the School’s vibrant professional theatre training environment through creative practice, collaboration, and professional engagement.
  • Engage in innovative approaches that connect theatre and the performing arts to critical discourse and research across disciplines.
• Service and Community Engagement
  • Actively participate in the School’s learning community and contribute to a student-centered environment committed to teaching excellence, professional development and scholarship, innovation and flexibility, and teamwork and collaboration.
  • Participate in the organizational and administrative activities of the Theatre Studies & Performance Area
  • Participate in shared governance through service to the School, College, and University.
  • Contribute to recruitment, outreach, and other activities that support the School’s academic and artistic programs.
  • Perform other related duties as assigned.

SCHOOL OF THEATRE + DANCE: The light-filled Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion is home to the School of Theatre + Dance (SoTD). The School’s international full-time faculty of 35 recognized artists and researchers, complemented by adjunct and guest faculty and staff, including full- and part-time professionals. The School offers MFA curricula in acting and in design, which includes scene design, lighting design and costume design; BFA programs in acting, musical theatre, and theatrical production with concentrations in costume, digital media, lighting, scenic, and sound; and a BA with concentrations in general theatre, stage management, and theatre management. The School features two degree programs in dance designed to develop the individual voice of the dance artist, a BFA and a BA. Approximately 200 students major in the artistically diverse curricula of the School of Theatre + Dance. Through its production program, outreach and innovative programming, the School of Theatre + Dance provides multiple cultural opportunities annually to thousands of members of the University and the greater community. The University of Florida is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance and the National Association of Schools of Theatre.For more information, visit www.arts.ufl.edu/theatreanddance .

THE COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: The College of the Arts is an engine of transformation that generates paradigmatic shifts in the arts and beyond, while nurturing adaptability, innovation, and excellence. We foster an environment where novel creative practice, leading research, and experiential learning thrive. Our students, faculty, and staffinterrogate and respond to the ever-changing relationship between technology and the human spirit.Wepreparefuture leaders in artistic professions and creative industries, while developing student capacity for interdisciplinaryscholarshipthatservesandengageslocal and global communities.The College offers baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral degrees. Approximately 1,600 students are pursuing majors in degrees offered by the College of the Arts under the direction of 150 faculty members in its three accredited schools— the School of Art + Art History, the School of Music, the School of Theatre + Dance, and in the Center for Arts in Medicine, the Digital Worlds Institute, and the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship. In addition, the college comprises the University Galleries, and the University level of the New World School of the Arts in Miami.

The University of Florida: The University of Florida is a comprehensive learning institution built on a land grant foundation. We are The Gator Nation, a diverse community dedicated to excellence in education and research and shaping a better future for Florida, the nation and the world. Our mission is to enable our students to lead and influence the next generation and beyond for economic, cultural and societal benefit. UF is a graduate research institution with more than 50,000 students and membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. Gainesville, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s most livable cities, is located midway between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Together, the University and the community comprise the educational, medical and cultural center of North Central Florida.

In addition to salary, the University of Florida (UF) offers low cost State Health plans, a number of Dental plans to fit you and your family’s needs, and Vision. Domestic partner coverage through GatorCare is also available. Optional plans such as life, disability, legal and accident insurance are also available.

$68,000-$70,000 with a comprehensive and highly competitive leave and benefits package

Required Qualifications:

The successful candidate must meet all of the following:

• Terminal degree (MFA, PhD, or PhD ABD) in Theatre or closely related field, or equivalent qualifications based on professional experience.
• Potential for record of achievement in the field at a national or international level, in alignment with the unit’s tenure and promotion criteria.
• Evidence of successful collaboration and collegiality with faculty, students, and staff.
• Evidence of skill in designing and facilitating academic work that advances curiosity, respect, open intellectual discourse, and the welcome incorporation and well-being of all in an environment of complex differences.

Preferred

• Teaching experience of 3 years minimum beyond graduate assistantship at the university level, or equivalent.
• Demonstrated experience integrating movement, physicality, and embodied practices into actor training.
• Specialization, experience, and/or certification in one or more established movement-based approaches to actor training, such as Michael Chekhov Technique, Margolis Method, Laban Movement Analysis, Black Acting Methods, Grotowski-based training, Theatrical Biomechanics, or other recognized physical approaches. Candidates who demonstrate an eclectic or interdisciplinary approach to physical actor training are also encouraged to apply, with evidence of effectiveness in practice.
• Credentials and demonstrated experience teaching stage combat and/or conducting skills proficiency tests through recognized stage combat organizations.
• Evidence of leadership potential and/or a national or international professional reputation in movement, physical actor training, stage combat, or related area.
• Evidence of a commitment to innovative and cross-disciplinary curricula.
• Demonstrated commitment to teaching practices that reflect current and evolving professional practices and prepare students to navigate a changing field.
• Experience navigating a multi-disciplinary higher education setting.
• Evidence of success in collaboration toward creative and curricular goals.

The search committee does not utilize AI or other software to provide any level of applicant assessment.

The selected candidate will be required to provide an official transcript to the hiring department upon hire. A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible. Degrees earned from an educational institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES).

If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call [phone]or the Florida Relay System at [phone] (TDD).Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US. Searches are conducted in accordance with Florida's Sunshine Law.

Health Assessment Required:

Health Assessment Required: No

Advertised: 15 Oct 2026 Eastern Daylight Time

Applications close: Open until filled

• Education/Training/Instructional Design 1

The University of Florida is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

Inquiries may be sent to:
Tim Altmeyer
Chair, Assistant Professor of Movement & Acting
Email: [e-mail]