Faculty and students of the Theater and Performance Studies department convened in the Keck Theater Room Feb. 3 to listen to a tenure-track candidate for an assistant professor in Theater and Performance Studies position as they gave a lecture for the department.
According to Cognitive Science Professor and Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at Occidental College Carmel Levitan, these candidate lectures are held about 50 times a year and occur every time a tenure-track candidate visits campus.
Levitan said teaching demonstrations are useful for discerning a candidate’s soft skills, like keeping students engaged.
“People can look great on paper, and a lot of people do, but to me, it’s super important to be around [when] students ask questions,” Levitan said. “You shouldn’t feel like you’re watching a YouTube video.”
According to Psychology Professor Andrew Shtulman, not all universities hold teaching demonstrations, only research presentations, and Occidental’s requirement to give a teaching demonstration speaks to its emphasis on pedagogy.
“At many institutions, there are no teaching talks,” Shtulman said. “It’s just research talks. So here, the added talk is the teaching talk because teaching is a big part of being a faculty member at Oxy.”
Samantha Lam (sophomore), who is a Theater and Performance Studies and Media Arts and Culture (MAC) double major, said the qualities she looks for in a new professor are confidence, organization and, specifically for the Theater and Performance Studies department, willingness to collaborate.
“You’re going to be working on shows with so many people and a bunch of students, and if there is a disagreement, you can’t expect to have everything go your way,” Lam said.
David and Mary Gamble Professor of Religious Studies Kristi Upson-Saia, who is also the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, said via email that teaching demonstrations are the last stage in a hiring process that narrows from a pool of around 50-150 applicants.
“The search committee will review all applications using the evaluation criteria to winnow down to the top 10-12 applicants whom they will then interview,” Upson-Saia said. “And then they will invite the top three candidates to campus for a one- or two-day campus visit.”
Upson-Saia said student feedback on teaching demonstrations provides valuable information for the hiring process.
“Although students are not in the room when decisions about who to hire are made, their comments are referenced directly in that deliberation process,” Upson-Saia said.
Shtulman said Occidental College is particularly attractive for its small size, which allows professors to be involved in both research and student engagement. Shtulman, who taught at Harvard before Occidental, said Occidental’s model creates greater student attendance.
“What amazes me about Oxy students is that they really all come to class all the time, and if they don’t, they let you know they’re not coming to class,” Shtulman said. “That never happens at a big school — like the lecture hall will be half-filled.”
Lam said she is very active in forming helpful relations with her professors and sees a lot of broad student-professor engagement within the Occidental community.
“I feel like Oxy students in general do a good [job] at keeping their responsibilities and communicating with professors,” Lam said. “I think that’s why we all choose to come to a small school to have that connection with our professors.”
Like Lam, Theater and Performance Studies Department Chair Professor Sarah Kozinn said that since the department also has its own separate theater company, creative collaboration is key for new candidates.
“The faculty collaboration isn’t just curricular faculty meetings where we’re reviewing curriculum,” Kozinn said. “It’s also building a show with the faculty.”
Kozinn said she believes the quality of Occidental students is a draw for professors because students at Occidental are more likely to be varied in their interests due to their liberal arts background.
“The students at Occidental [are] passionate about theater and performance and also about their chemistry classes, biology classes, their UEP [Urban and Environmental Policy] classes,” Kozinn said.
According to Levitan, Occidental attracts many potential professors, but the cost of living in LA can lead some candidates to hesitate.
“It’s a good place, but it’s also an expensive place,” Levitan said. “So, I think it helps and hurts us a lot.”
Levitan also said teacher pay at Occidental is not as strong compared to comparable institutions, which can deter applicants.
“Our pay is not as high as in other places,” Levitan said.
However, Levitan said she believes the quality of Occidental’s students is a big part of why candidates work for the school.
“Oxy students actually want to participate,” Levitan said. “I think teachers come to Oxy because of the students.”
According to Shtulman, Occidental is attempting to follow through on a goal to have 170 tenure-track faculty on staff, a pledge made under President Elam from the Occidental Promise. Shtulman said hiring initiatives are ongoing but faculty turnover makes positive progress difficult.
“The faculty has maintained the same size for many, many years,” Shtulman said. “And every year we hire more faculty, but at the same time, faculty leave.”
According to Kozinn, faculty turnover is a difficult obstacle to overcome, but there have been increases in new hires as of late.
“There [are] something like 17, and that’s an increase from previous years,” Kozinn said. “When I came in, I think [there were about] five or six tenure-track hires.”
She said Occidental’s unique makeup makes it a great place to work.
“It’s a small place where people get to teach what they’re passionate about,” Kozinn said. “I think that’s incredibly desirable.”
Contact Noah Kim at nkim4@oxy.edu
