Sessional Instructor: Interior Design: Office, Faculty of Design, Winter 2026-27

Sessional Instructor: Interior Design: Office, Faculty of Design, Winter Job Code 3912 Department Faculty of Design Employment Type Temporary/Contract

OCAD University acknowledges the ancestralterritories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabeg and the Huron-Wendat, who are the original owners and custodians of the land on which we live, work, and create.

OCAD University , Canada’s largest and oldest art and design university, is a vibrant community of bold, curious and compassionate artists, designers and scholars who are imagining and creating a joyful, equitable and sustainable world. The University is an internationally renowned hub for art, design, digital media, research, innovation and creativity, and arts administration. It embraces collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches to change-making through art, design-thinking curriculum and research, making OCAD U a local, regional, national and global leader in art and design.

Itisanexciting 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 and Strategic Plan and guiding principles — driving positive impact; decolonization, indigenization and equity; environmental sustainability; emerging as a vibrant hub; student centered approaches; innovation in learning teaching and research; and financial stewardship.

The Faculty of Design invites applications for the following anticipated course offering in the Winter academic year:

ENVR-3011 Interior Design: Office (0.5 credit)
(Winter Semester: January 11th, 2027 – April 11th, 2027, Wednesdays 11:50-2:50pm; In-Person)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Development of Interior Design aspects of a commercial studio project is the primary focus of this course. Emphasis is given to developing an expanded vocabulary of material, finish and colour as a palette of tools to represent a conceptual idea as a significant aspect of an interior design communication strategy. The course aims to develop a methodology for researching, collecting and assessing materials relevant to proposed design concepts, and focus on the built environments' impact on human experience, behaviour and performance of a small-medium scale commercial interior design project.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Teaching and teaching-related responsibilities may include but are not limited to: course outline development, studio preparation and delivery inclusive of lectures, critiques, grading, mid-term evaluations and final evaluations/reviews; guiding students through iterative, research-based design processes from user analysis through prototyping; providing timely and constructive feedback on studio work; and maintaining an accessible and inclusive studio environment. Responsibilities may also include drafting or modifying a course-based Research Ethics Board (REB) application as needed to support student research activities. Responsibility for health & safety and meeting academic and curricular requirements and deadlines is also expected.

QUALIFICATIONS

Note: Human Centered Design, as approached in this course, draws on inductive research methods adapted from the social sciences (e.g., observation, interviewing, and other empathic techniques), alongside participatory approaches such as co-design, but remains oriented toward a design outcome. Candidates should be able to translate research insight into the design of products, services, systems, or interfaces, not only to conduct research.

• A demonstrated capacity for empathic, user-centered research, including engagement with users and design partners, in support of design research and design as research, in both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
• Demonstrated experience and expertise with research ethics protocols, including familiarity with institutional Research Ethics Board (REB) procedures and requirements.
• Experience designing for the full range of human diversity, including ability, language, culture, gender, and age, with equity and access treated as design requirements rather than considerations added after the fact.
• A current body of work within the professional design and/or academic disciplines as it relates to the course description(s), with direct experience in interaction design, user experience design, or a closely related human-centered design practice.
• Experience with, and aptitude for, highly iterative, process-oriented work without the restriction of fixed outcomes or expectations, including the ability to generat