Sandra & Alain Bouchard Professorship in Music Therapy, Department of Creative Arts Therapies

Job title: Sandra and Alain Bouchard Professorship in Music Therapy, Department of Creative Arts Therapies  
Position code: 25-D-CATS-O
Date posted: March 18, 2025
Application deadline: April 21, 2025
Advertised until: Position is filled

Position description

Concordia University’s Department of Creative Arts Therapies in the Faculty of Fine Arts invites applications to fill the Sandra and Alain Bouchard Professorship in Music Therapy, starting August 1, 2025. This is a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor.  Duties include research, teaching at the graduate level, and service to the institution. 

We are seeking bilingual candidates (French/English) who have a demonstrated ability to develop new partnerships especially within Quebec’s francophone community that will enhance awareness of and access to the creative arts therapies in health, education, and community contexts. The incumbent will also expand clinical training opportunities for Concordia’s creative arts therapies students within Quebec hospitals, health networks, community and non-profit organizations, schools, long-term care facilities, and day centres.  

The Professorship holder will be expected to design and conduct outreach and partnership development activities; teach graduate courses in music therapy (both online and in person); supervise graduate student research and clinical work; engage in individual and collaborative research activities; participate in program/curriculum development/renewal; serve on graduate committees; and perform program-specific administrative duties. Over time, the selected candidate will actively embrace program stewardship and engage in committee work at the department, Faculty, and university levels. They will also be expected to work collaboratively with the Concordia Arts in Health Centre, seek external research funding, and participate in recruitment efforts. 

The Sandra and Alain Bouchard professorship is for a five-year term (renewable once) for a maximum of 10 years. The selected candidate will be assigned an annual teaching load of 6 credits (50% teaching load) during their term, following which they will assume the duties of a regular faculty member within the Department of Creative Arts Therapies. 

Qualifications and assets 

We are seeking candidates who demonstrate an authentic commitment to equity and social justice and to developing and integrating innovative music therapy and health-promotion initiatives across all aspects of their research, teaching, service, clinical, and advocacy endeavours. The selected candidate will have completed, at minimum, an MA in Music Therapy, or equivalent, and be a Certified Music Therapist (MTA) with the Canadian Association of Music Therapists or a Music Therapist-Board Certified (MT-BC) with the Certification Board for Music Therapists. A completed, or nearly completed, PhD in Music Therapy or a related field is preferred.  

Other assets include: 

• Holding a Quebec psychotherapist permit or provincial/state equivalent
• Holding certification as a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) 

The successful candidate will have extensive experience in a variety of clinical and community-based settings and will have demonstrated knowledge of and capacity to promote and support community partnerships that include creative arts therapies modalities such as art therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, and/or play therapy.  

The ideal candidate will have experience in, or a demonstrated ability to conduct, community-engaged research. Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate exceptional communication, collaboration, and leadership skills, including knowledge of or familiarity with Quebec’s francophone health, education, and community support networks as well as an understanding of the multiple obstacles impeding the wider adoption of the creative arts therapies in those settings. Strong potential for outstanding teaching contributions at the graduate level is essential as is the ability to work productively with multiple stakeholders and to build consensus for sustainable change.   

The successful candidate will provide evidence of high-quality scholarly output that demonstrates potential for independent research leading to peer assessed publications and the securing of external research funding, as well as strong potential for outstanding teaching contributions at the graduate level. Candidates are encouraged to share any career interruptions or personal circumstances that may have had an impact on their career goals in their letter of application. These will be carefully considered in the assessment process. The Department values diversity among its faculty and strongly encourages applications from those who will contribute to that profile. Concordia University is an English-language institution of higher learning at which the primary language of instruction and research is English. Since this position supports academic functions of the university, proficiency in English is required. However, since this position supports outreach to the francophone community in Montreal and Quebec alongside academic functions of the university, proficiency in French is also required.  

How to Apply 

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and Permanent Residents will be given priority. To comply with the Government of Canada’s reporting requirements, the University is obliged to gather information about applicants’ status as either Permanent Residents of Canada or 

Canadian citizens. While applicants need not identify their country of origin or current citizenship, all applicants must include one of the following statements:  

Yes, I am a citizen or permanent resident of Canada 

or 

No, I am not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Applications should be submitted electronically to creativeartstherapies@concordia.ca on or before April 21, 2025, but will continue to be reviewed until the position is filled. Only short-listed candidates will be notified. Submissions should consist of a single PDF file and include the following items in the order specified below: 

• A cover letter that clearly identifies the job title and position code (25-D-CATS-O), emphasizing qualifications for this Professorship, highlighting key achievements in leadership, community engagement or outreach, research, and teaching 
• A complete updated curriculum vitae 
• A teaching statement that includes the applicant’s teaching philosophy and interests as well as their approaches to supervision and mentorship 
• Evidence of teaching effectiveness — e.g., teaching evaluations (if applicable), sample assignments and/or syllabi of courses taught  
• A five-year action plan to promote awareness of creative arts therapies in Quebec, including proposed goals to advance this mission, with a clear plan to evaluate progress
• A statement articulating how research and outreach will contribute to the university’s efforts to promote equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility
• The names and contact information of three referees
• A declaration of immigration status: “Yes, I am a citizen or permanent resident of Canada.” or “No, I am not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada.” 

All inquiries regarding this position may be directed to Dr. Cynthia Bruce, Chair, Department of Creative Arts Therapies at cynthia.bruce@concordia.ca. 

Concordia University is strongly committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community, and recognizes the importance of inclusion in achieving excellence in teaching and research. As part of this commitment to providing our students with the dynamic, innovative, and inclusive educational environment of a Next‐Generation University, we require all applicants to articulate in their cover letter how their background, as well as lived and professional experiences and expertise have prepared them to teach in ways that are relevant for a diverse, multicultural contemporary Canadian society. 

Possible examples to demonstrate a diverse experience may include, but are not limited to: 

• teaching about underrepresented populations 
• mentoring students from underrepresented backgrounds 
• committee work 
• offering or organizing educational programming 
• participation in training and workshops 

All applicants will receive an email invitation to complete a short equity survey. Participation in the survey is voluntary and no identifying information about candidates will be shared with hiring committees. Candidates who wish to self-identify as a member of an underrepresented group to the hiring committee may do so in their cover letter or by writing directly to the contact person indicated in this posting.