About the Program

The Arts & Consciousness mentorship program at John F. Kennedy University provides a transdisciplinary model for self-directed students to investigate, research and develop specialized techniques, skills and capacities in conjunction with a creative practice or project. Mentorships may include experiential exercises, supervised research, assigned readings, studio visits, critiques and/or individualized training, as determined by the student's artistic and/or professional objectives.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

TA Opportunity with Seth- 3D!

Position Description for Teaching Assistant
Berkeley City College
Spring 2011
Instructor: Seth Eisen

Art 44- Three Dimensional Design/ A sculpture practicum


The teaching assistantship with Seth Eisen at Berkeley City College has proven to be an exciting and unique experience for A&C students. It is a great complement to our Teaching Practicum or to gain teaching experience. Several JFK students have been able to take advantage of this rare opportunity to teach at the community college level, which is a crucial step towards becoming an adjunct or tenured college professor. As a TA you will gain many skills including planning, lecturing, demonstrating, mentoring, guiding and grading. Depending what your goals are, you can take this in any number of directions and come away with a very solid set of skills and experience that can be applied to any teaching experience. Many students have been able to try out new teaching techniques and come up with innovative and engaging lectures and presentations that have enriched their studies at JFK. I do give preference to students currently enrolled at JFK so it can support their studies while in school.

This is a 2-unit class that meets 1 evening a week for 3 hours over the 17-week semester at Berkeley City College. The class times are Tuesday 6-9:50 pm. The class will be starting Jan 24th and running through Thursday -May 24th.  You will need to take between 2 to 4 JFK mentorship units for the TA position. It will run over two quarters since we are on the semester calendar at BCC.

The class teaches the fundamentals of three-dimensional design: form, space, line, texture, color and time as preparation for constructed sculpture and/or 3D computer modeling. The T.A. will be present for most of the classes (or arranged to accommodate your schedule in advance.)

You will assist the instructor in the following ways:
  1. Give one on one support to the students for each lesson. The class has been very full in recent years. This part is crucial to be able to meet most of the student’s needs.
  2. Helping to plan and prepare some of the lessons.
  3. Support on weekly class critiques.
  4. Give prepared lectures on a few specific topics related to drawing. We will decide together which topics you would like to present on.
  5. Help with set up and break down of still life arrangements.
  6. Help with set up and clean up of classroom.
  7. Help maintain class website/wiki. (Optional)
  8. Go on class outings and trip and helping to organize those during class time.

Skills and qualifications

  1. T.A. must have a solid background in 3D design/sculpture with experience with various media and techniques.
  2. Must have good skills in composition and a basic knowledge of materials and techniques.
  3. Must have basic skills in giving critiques- meaning that you have been through the process yourself and have an interest in facilitating this process.
  4. Must have a good knowledge of the creative process.
  5. Must be patient, direct and have excellent skills in communication.
  6. Must be able to work with the very diverse range of students at Berkeley City College. Their skill levels and learning styles vary widely. Students’ ages range from age17 to 75. They are from many diverse ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds.
  7. T.A. will be willing to collaborate with instructor creatively on the class and help strategize how to work with the challenges that come up during the semester with students and class cohesion.

I will interview interested students at JFK by appointment. Please send me an email describing your interest and relevant experience and include 5-10 examples of your sculpture or installation art skills and current work on CD, web site or low-res jpegs emailed to seisenbcc@eyezen.org.
I will make a decision about the position by early January 2012.

For any questions about the position or to make an appointment for an interview please contact Seth at seisenbcc@eyezen.org