Tutor Master Experimental Publishing, Piet Zwart Institute WdKA

Join XPUB at the Willem de Kooning Academy and help shape the future of prototyping in a vibrant, interdisciplinary master’s program

Are you a designer, programmer or tinkerer with a passion for experimental publishing and do you want to be part of developing the prototyping curriculum? Join XPUB at the Willem de Kooning Academy and help shape the future of prototyping in a vibrant, interdisciplinary master’s program.

What are you going to do?

• Development and execution of the prototyping curriculum
• Production support for Public Moments both inside and outside of the school
• Participation with Assessments
• Bring specific skills and practice to students in the form of classes and workshops
• Contribution to Special Issue curriculum planning
• Participation in staff meetings and strategic thinking about course positioning
• Assistance at Open Days

The Willem de Kooning Academy

The Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (WdKA/RUAS), offers a variety of bachelor and master programs in the field of visual culture, art, design, education in arts, and leisure management. The curriculum of the Willem de Kooning Academy is founded in an interdisciplinary ethos in which research through making, theoretical reflection and participatory practices form the three pillars of the Institute. The Piet Zwart Institute is part of the WdKA, hosting four full time and two part-time international masters in art, design and art education. The programs work experimentally across different media and contexts, offering a rich combination of in-depth specialization and interdisciplinary exchange. We educate professionals who have a critically reflective, questioning and imaginative approach to their work.

The Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design: Experimental Publishing (XPUB) focuses on the acts of making things public and creating publics in the age of post-digital networks. XPUB is a two-year, full-time program for practitioners looking to extend their toolbox and ways of working, seeking new forms of collaboration, or wanting a space to step back and contextualize their practice in a larger historical and theoretical understanding. Prototyping in XPUB is a core course component that encourages students during their two years to explore and develop new technical skills and ways of (collective) working, to develop ideas through making culminating in a research project and thesis in the second year. Prototyping explores:

• All forms of making: testing ideas through putting into practice, creating situations where prototypes can be tested and experienced by others.
• Media-archeology: embracing the historicity and social entanglement of technology – opposing the “purely technical” that isolates technology from other social systems.
• The real world of technology: exploring and valuing the slower moving underlying infrastructures of networks, operating systems, programming paradigms, algorithms, as the core “material” of computational media.
• Free software and free culture: practices that embody generous and inherently collective models of making and sharing sources.

Are you the one we're looking for?

Specific skills we seek in a Prototyping tutor:

(This list represents the broad and diverse range of skills that are useful to the role; candidates are not required to meet all of them.)

• Ability to develop a dynamic and flexible curriculum to match the needs and desires of the incoming cohort in the first year, and in the second year, to support the development of students’ graduation projects in the context of the specific Special Issues.
• Strong pedagogical skills to “meet students where they are” – balancing introducing new skills while valuing the diversity of what students bring to the course.
• Ability to assist students in translating work into tangible forms and experiences that can meet publics in diverse networks and means of distribution (e.g. as software, websites, workshops, performance, print).
• Facilitation skills with students to develop peer-to-peer learning situations, classes, and workshops.
• Coding and debugging skills (in particular Python & Javascript).
• Ability to work with media and electronics (including microcontrollers and electronics, but also printers, plotters, and other historical media objects).
• Engagement with local communities, networks, and projects that may be of interest to students.

Qualification requirements

• An experienced designer, programmer, or tinkerer with a relevant, strong, and active practice.
• Demonstrated ability to work across disciplines and connect technical knowledge to diverse art and design practices.
• Pedagogical experience in an art and design context, at a Bachelor's level or higher. Having a Basic Qualification Examination (BKE) is a plus.
• Commitment to diversity, inclusion, and critical discourse in art and design education.
• A master’s level degree in a relevant field.
• Excellent English language proficiency and mastery of the Dutch language at at least C1 level.

What do we offer?

The Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Rotterdam) offers a temporary contract starting January 1st, 2026, until August 1st, 2026, for 0.2 FTE. In consultation, the hours may be extended during the contract. The salary range is HBO-CAO grade 11 (€4,173.75 minimum and €6,359.47 maximum gross per month for full-time employment), exclusive of 8% holiday pay and 8.3% end-of-year bonus. Our fringe benefits include an attractive pension scheme and good secondary employment conditions.

Our organisation

With over 39,000 students and 4,200 dedicated staff members, we are a vibrant knowledge institution offering practical, real-world solutions to today’s societal challenges. Our mission is to equip students with the skills and mindset needed for the careers of today and tomorrow. We guide (young) professionals in their development, always placing student success at the center of everything we do.

Enquiries about the position and the selection procedure can be directed to Michael Murtaugh, course director Master Experimental Publishing, via email: m.murtaugh@hr.nl

Closing date: November 30, 2025