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TEACHING OPPORTUNITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION There are opportunities for advanced graduate students in the Department to teach for compensation in the College. Positions within the Department include Course Assistantships in a variety of departmental courses, including survey courses and introductory genre courses, lecturer positions teaching the introductory departmental course in critical methodologies (English 101: Critical Perspectives), freestanding undergraduate courses, and BA honors paper supervising. Most of these will satisfy graduate students’ teaching obligations; some will not. Calls for applications for student teaching positions in the Department are circulated in November, with applications usually due near the end of January. Inquiries concerning the positions in the Department should be directed to the Directors of Graduate Studies and Undergraduate Studies. Please note that students cannot teach within the Department if they have more than one outstanding incomplete. The Department of English and the Graduate Student Policy Committee have agreed on a set of guidelines for the relationship between faculty instructors and course assistants (see below). Other positions within the University that are not part of graduate students’ teaching obligations include lectureships in the University writing program, internships in the freshman Humanities Common Core, and tutoring jobs in which graduate students work with students in the residence halls or with students whose first language is not English. Inquiries concerning lectureships, internships, and tutoring positions in the University writing programs should be directed to Larry McEnerney (Harper Memorial 501; lmce@uchicago.edu). Regarding all these positions, students should check e-mails, bulletin boards, and mail folders carefully for announcements with details of eligibility, application procedures, and deadlines. Students may also wish to explore teaching opportunities at other Chicago-area institutions. Information from the recent experience of other graduate students might be available through the Graduate Student Policy Committee; the Director of Graduate Studies can also suggest nearby institutions that have recently employed our graduate students. The Center for Teaching and Learning (contact Elizabeth O’Connor Chandler, director, Gates-Blake 132, echandle@uchicago.edu; or teaching@college.uchicago.edu; http://teaching.uchicago.edu) offers a number of excellent (one-day) programs throughout the year on particular topics (e.g., leading discussion, preparing syllabi, grading, etc.). The Center also sponsors an annual two-day training session of lectures and workshops in late September, usually during registration week, specifically intended to prepare students who will be teaching at the University for the first time. They are beginning to add sessions for “stand-alone” instructors, as well, so check their Website for more information. Students are expected to attend the September sessions before they begin teaching for the first time at the University of Chicago. (First-year students are not expected to attend this since they will not be teaching in their first year.) Also, for graduate students who are teaching their own courses, the Center offers a Mid-Course Service and taped Individual Teaching Consultations. Note that, for those who are interested, the Center also offers a Teaching Certificate, which can be useful when you are applying for future jobs. For further information consult the Center Website or contact the Center directly.
COURSE ASSISTANTSHIPS Guidelines for Faculty Instructors and Course Assistants The Department of English understands its program of Course Assistantships as one in which graduate students become an integral part of undergraduate instruction while acquiring pedagogical, collegial, and other professional experience. The Course Assistant (CA) expects both to acquire experience in the planning and conducting of a course and to receive guidance and some ongoing supervision as he or she leads classes and grades papers. The faculty instructor expects assistance in the work of instruction. Faculty instructors are expected to remember that few CAs are experienced teachers; some have never taught before. The CA should be recognized as the students’ instructor in at least some aspects of the course and given some opportunities for independent teaching. It is also important that the faculty member be available to advise CAs so that they improve their teaching skills and deal with particular problems as they arise. Responsibilities for the Course The faculty instructor is responsible for both the goals and the contents of the course and for the final grades for each student. The CA’s responsibilities will vary with the kind of course to which he or she is appointed. In some courses, the CA leads a weekly discussion section with the same group throughout the quarter, consults with those students about their written work, comments on their papers, and suggests grades. In other courses where the class does not meet in sections, the CA leads several class sessions during the quarter and, in some cases, may offer optional discussion sessions as well; the CA shares with the faculty instructor the work of advising students, reads and comments on student papers, and suggests grades. In all relevant instructional situations, the CA should be accorded the respect owed to a colleague. Responsibilities of the Course Assistant and Faculty Instructor to Each Other The faculty instructor secures all course texts for each CA. The faculty instructor and CAs meet at least once before the course begins. At this meeting they discuss the aims of the course, the syllabus, writing assignments, the exam if any, timetables for handing in and grading work, criteria for evaluating student work, and policies on late papers and incompletes. The CA’s pedagogical role in the course will be based on one of the following models: (1) teaching his or her own stand-alone section once a week, in which participation will be a part of the students’ grades; holding office hours for those students; and reading, commenting on, and suggesting grades for their work; or (2) teaching a stipulated number of classes during the quarter, possibly holding optional discussion sections as well; holding office hours; and reading, commenting on, and suggesting grades for a stipulated portion of the enrolled students. Faculty Instructor’s and Course Assistant’s Roles in Grading Comments on papers: the CA comments on the papers of students in his or her section, when there is one; if the class does not meet in sections, the CA(s) may comment on all the papers or share that task with the faculty instructor. Whether or not the faculty instructor puts comments on the papers, he or she is expected to review the papers and the CA’s comments; the faculty instructor is also expected to meet with each CA to discuss these comments. Only in exceptional circumstances will the faculty instructor ask that comments be deleted or revised; the faculty instructor will advise the CA of any changes to or omissions from comments. Grades: CAs suggest grades for the papers they read. The faculty instructor consults with the CA about grades for each student but is solely responsible for assigning them. Faculty Mentoring of Course Assistants Faculty instructors are encouraged to allow CAs as much autonomy in selecting texts and devising agendas for discussions led by the CA as is consistent with the aims of the course and the available material. Course assistants and the faculty instructor will meet at least once (usually more often) during the quarter (particularly if the CA is teaching a stand-alone section) to discuss both the CA’s and the faculty instructor’s perceptions of how classes and sections are going. They can talk about successes and problems that they see with the teaching, the materials, the assignments, particular students, and so forth. These are the occasions when faculty instructors provide guidance and advice to the CA as a beginning teacher. The CA will benefit most if both are open and full in their conversations. Faculty instructors observe the CA’s teaching, giving the CA prior notice before visiting the class. Normally, visits occur in the second half of the course (in stand-alone sections, the faculty instructors should not visit the section in the first two weeks of the course unless requested to do so by the CA). These visits should happen at least once and not more than twice during the quarter. In at least one of these observations, the faculty instructor will not participate in the class. After the class the faculty instructor and CA will meet to discuss the faculty instructor’s observations. MAPH Course Assistantships The Masters of Arts in the Humanities (MAPH) program also hires CAs. For MA-level graduate classes (30000-40000 level) that have at least 20 students, 10 or more of whom are MAPH students, MAPH will fund a CA position (or an additional one for the 10 or more MAPH students if the class already has a CA) for the class. All MAPH CAs must have passed their oral fields examination. The MAPH CA is not allowed to grade the work of the MAPH students but could give feedback on drafts, and so forth. However, the MAPH CA can run discussion groups and do other tasks a departmentally funded CA might do, including grading the work of the undergrads in the class, if there are any. The selection of the CA is up to the Department, with input from the faculty member. The MAPH CAs are paid the same as regular CAs, but the position does not entail the fulfillment of any teaching obligations.
OTHER KINDS OF TEACHING IN THE PHD PROGRAM London Program The University, with the help of the Institute for the International Education of Students (IES), operates a one-quarter study-abroad program in London for junior and senior undergraduates in the College. The Course and Program Assistant (CPA) for the London Program helps ensure the smooth functioning of this program. The CPA acts as a liaison between the students, faculty, and administrators; organizes social events; and is available to undergraduates with problems or concerns. As a Course Assistant, the CPA works with the three University of Chicago faculty members, attending classes and holding office hours. The CPA also attends (and may have grading responsibilities in connection with) a fourth course, arranged by IES. Compensation includes round-trip airfare to and from London, accommodation, a stipend, and a per diem for food and other expenses. This position is available only to graduate students who have completed their oral examinations in Humanities or Social Sciences. The position entails the fulfillment of one CA obligation. Maclean Fellows/Critical Perspectives Maclean Fellows serve as a Course Assistant (CA) and, subsequentially, as a lecturer in the introductory undergraduate course named Critical Perspectives. This course, required for all English majors, is intended to develop practical skills in close reading, historical or conceptual contextualization, and the use of discipline-specific research tools and resources, while encouraging conscious reflection on critical presuppositions and practices. The course is taught as a lecture in the autumn quarter by a Department faculty member with students working as CAs and then is retaught by each of those CAs as a freestanding course in the following winter or spring quarter. Thus a Maclean Fellow will work as a CA for one quarter (autumn) and a lecturer for one quarter (winter or spring). Maclean Fellows receive a stipend that is equivalent to the stipend for one CA position and one course ($5,000 currently); for those students who are in advanced residency, a tuition grant will be given. Applicants must have passed their oral fields examination by the end of the spring quarter of the academic year in which they apply are eligible. All other things being equal, preference will be given to those who have served with distinction as CAs. BA Preceptors Some graduate students in the Department are offered the opportunity to become BA Preceptors. Undergraduate English majors have the option of undertaking a BA project (also called a senior project) under the tutelage of both a faculty field specialist and an advanced graduate student serving as BA Project Preceptor. Each graduate student preceptor is responsible for approximately 12 students. There are usually six BA Preceptors each year, several for critical papers and one or two for projects in creative writing. The BA critical paper is generally a year-long project for undergraduates and for the BA preceptor. Beginning in autumn quarter the preceptor meets with students on a regular basis—both individually and in small groups—to monitor and encourage the development of the papers. In the autumn quarter, the preceptor will normally convene group sessions devoted to sharpening analytic and research skills. The preceptor will also arrange library sessions to acquaint students with online and archival research materials and strategies. In the winter quarter, students will continue to meet in groups and individually with their preceptor, as the focus shifts to the more immediate and individualized topics of the theses. The preceptor reads and comments on rough drafts, due early in spring quarter, and evaluates the final draft, due the fifth week of spring quarter. Should the number of creative BA papers exceed the number of critical projects requiring a preceptor, the preceptor may be called to supervise some creative papers (and vice-versa). The BA creative writing project is also a year-long project. Beginning in the autumn quarter the preceptor meets with students on a regular basis—both individually and in small groups. The students are normally also required to take a creative writing thesis seminar with a faculty member in the winter quarter. The completed projects are due in draft and then in final form in the first half of spring quarter. The preceptor reads and comments on drafts and evaluates the final version, due the fifth week of spring quarter. BA Preceptors currently receive stipends of $4,800, and for those students who are in advanced residency a tuition grant will be given for winter and spring quarters. Only students who pass their oral fields examination by the end of the summer quarter in the year in which they apply and who have prior teaching experience are eligible. BA Preceptor positions usually fulfill two CA obligations. Freestanding Lecture Courses The Department will field undergraduate courses designed and taught by individual graduate students. Courses will be selected to some extent based on the innate strength of the proposal and the applicant's teaching abilities but also on the basis of curricular needs. Only students who have prior teaching experience and who pass their oral fields examination by the end of the summer quarter in the year in which they apply are eligible. We encourage you to submit one of the following two choices. (1) Write a strong, carefully thought-out proposal designed for the undergraduate population in your areas of greatest expertise and skill. Since the specific curricular needs of the Department cannot be determined until later in February, and decisions must be in part based on these needs, a good proposal in an area you know well will be a good chance to further your application. Proposals based on individual students’ areas of expertise will also help the Department provide a varied and interesting program of courses to our undergraduates. (2) Write a strong, carefully thought-out proposal for genre, period, survey, or single author course. The Department always needs such courses, especially in areas in which faculty members will be on leave the following year. Stipends for all lectureships are currently $3,500, with tuition grants for those in advanced residency. The number of teaching positions assigned to graduate students will depend on the strength of the proposals and the availability of funds. In addition to lectureship opportunities that are part of regular departmental curricula, the Division sponsors seven prize seminars (five Stuart Tave Teaching Fellowships and two Whiting Undergraduate Teaching Fellowships) that give graduate students the opportunity to design their own courses for upper-level undergraduates. Department nominations are typically due to the Humanities Collegiate Division in late January. The Department will be permitted to nominate three candidates for the Tave and Whiting Fellowships out of our pool of applicants for freestanding course lectureships. Applicants must be in candidacy by the fall of the year for which they receive the fellowship. Note: students will be notified if the Department forwards your application. Interested students should contact their departments for more information. Fellowship winners will receive the standard lecturer salary for the individual undergraduate course they will teach in the College. This fellowship is for one quarter only. (See http://humanities.uchicago.edu/current/#teaching|humanities-teaching-for-phd-students.)
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