Working Title: Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Music: Music Theory
State Role Title: Instructional Faculty - Full-time
Position Type: Instructional / Teaching Faculty
Position Status: Full-Time
FLSA Status: Exempt: Not Eligible for Overtime
College/Division: College of Visual and Performing Arts
Department: 100028 - School of Music
Pay Band: N/A
Pay Rate: Commensurate with Experience
Specify Range or Amount:
Is this a JMU only position? No
Is this a grant-funded position? No
Is this a Conflict of Interest designated position? No
Beginning Review Date: 5/18/2026
About JMU:
Mission
We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.
Vision
To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.
Who We Are
Situated in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is a vibrant community with a population of approximately 52,000. Harrisonburg is conveniently located approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA.
JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and supportive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 21,000 undergraduate and 1,800 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.
JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.
General Information:
James Madison University's School of Music seeks applicants from outstanding teacher-scholars for a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor of Music in Music Theory in JMU's College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)
Duties and Responsibilities:
Teaching aural skills and music theory courses at all levels of the curriculum, contributing as a leader to curricular revision in aural skills, teaching upper-level electives that may focus on the candidate’s areas of scholarly interest, and maintaining an active research agenda and service profile.
Candidates’ integrative work will also be supported with a biennial course release to collaborate with cohort colleagues and interested currently faculty members to develop integrative arts courses that enroll students within and beyond their academic unit.
Qualifications:
Applicants will have a terminal degree in music theory or a relevant discipline, and the potential for vibrant, collaborative teaching and scholarship at our primarily undergraduate institution. Consideration may be given to ABDs at the advanced dissertation stage who exhibit particularly compelling records. Unless otherwise indicated in the position-specific required qualifications for each position, applicants with extensive professional experience in lieu of a relevant terminal degree may be considered, with the expectation that any successful candidate not holding a terminal degree must complete a relevant terminal degree prior to achieving tenure.
Position-Specific Required Qualifications:
Hold PhD or be ABD in music theory or a related field. ABD candidates should have an expected graduation date within one year after the start date of the position.
Evidence of ability to contribute as a leader to the aural skills program through both teaching and ongoing curricular revision and to expand course offerings in our written modular theory curriculum, which includes Western classical music, popular music, and jazz, by teaching courses that differ from those currently available. We particularly encourage applications from teacher-scholars who specialize in music outside the Western classical tradition.
Potential to offer graduate and undergraduate seminars in areas of interest that differ from that of our current faculty. Topics such as postcolonial theory; critical theory; accessibility; and/or repertoires outside Western classical and popular traditions are strongly desirable.
Evidence of ability to perform research in an area that differs from that of current faculty and which will inform course offerings at all levels of the curriculum.
Demonstrated enthusiasm for developing and maintaining collegial, effective relationships with colleagues who care deeply about providing an education that contributes to a more positive and welcoming society.
Position-Specific Preferred Qualifications:
Success teaching collegiate aural skills and music theory courses involving repertoire outside Western classical and popular traditions.
Evidence of, or potential to develop, an active record of research in music theory that differs from the interests of current faculty. Topics such as non-Western music, jazz, 20th- and 21st-century music, cognition, film music, video game music, and disability studies are desirable.
Motivation to engage in meaningful and deliberate discussion about how music theory and aural skills course offerings can continue to be modified and expanded to address the changing landscape of music higher education.
Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate an ability to develop and teach one or more integrative arts courses for undergraduate students, and/or engage with undergraduate or graduate student researchers. Successful candidates are expected to initiate and maintain an active research program that is appropriate to their discipline. Collaboration with other cohort members and/or faculty beyond CVPA is expected.
Additional Posting Information:
JMU’s Dual Career and Community Resources Program is available for candidates that will be relocating to the area. For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2OTF1NG.
Conditions of Employment:
Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.
E-Verify Notice: After accepting employment, new hires are required to complete an I-9 form and present documentation of their identity and eligibility to work in the United States. James Madison University uses the E-Verify system to confirm identity and work authorization.
EEO Statement:
James Madison University is committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status.
We promote access, inclusion and diversity for all students, faculty, staff, constituents and programs, believing that these qualities are foundational components of an outstanding education in keeping with our mission. The university is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to this core quality.
Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity: (540) 568-6991.
Reasonable Accommodation:
If you are an individual with a disability and need assistance searching or applying for jobs please contact us at (540) 568-3597 or [email protected]. You may also visit the JMU Human Resource Office, located at 752 Ott Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 and we will be happy to assist you.
