Humanities PhD Student Teaching

Course Assistants

Course assistants work with an instructor, generally for courses taught in the College. Specific duties may vary depending on the course, but may include holding office hours, leading discussions, grading papers and exams, or training in pedagogic methods. Requirements, training, and application procedures vary by department. Please check with your department for more information.

Lecturers

Lecturers teach stand alone courses, including elementary language courses, generally in the College. They have full responsibility for their courses, including syllabus design, instruction, test design, grading, and all other record keeping. Having served one or more quarters as a course assistant for a particular civilization or core sequence may be a prerequisite to being appointed to lecturer in that sequence. Please check with your department for further information on how to apply.

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. 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.

Preceptors

Some departments hire advanced graduate students as preceptors for College students who are writing BA theses. These positions usually require a nine-month commitment and offer doctoral students an opportunity to become deeply engaged in the workings of an undergraduate concentration. Duties and application procedures vary by department.

Preceptors in MAPH

The Master of Arts Program in the Humanities hires preceptors for ten month appointments (September 1 through June 15). Applicants should be advanced graduate students, preferably those already admitted to PhD candidacy, from any discipline in the Division of Humanities. MAPH looks for applicants who have the accomplishment, energy, and flexibility to work well with first-year graduate students in MAPH's active multidisciplinary community. Together with the MAPH faculty and staff, each preceptor guides a group of twelve to fourteen students throughout the academic year. Responsibilities include academic advising and program approval, weekly discussion groups and grading in connection with the required MAPH colloquium and core course in autumn quarter, and thesis writing workshops during the winter and spring quarters. Preceptors who teach a winter quarter course through MAPH receive an additional salary at the University's standard lecturer rate. Calls for applications go out at the beginning of April, when application materials are available electronically from the MAPH office. Applications are generally due in mid to late April.

Romance Languages Lectors

Lectors in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures assist language teachers by holding guided conversation sessions for small groups of undergraduates enrolled in language courses. Lectors also help organize activities and develop a variety of class materials—written, visual, and computer aided. Lectors do not teach, which allows students time for their studies during the first four years. Lectorships also provide Romance students four years of supervision and training in language teaching pedagogy before assuming responsibility for teaching a course. These positions are offered as part of Romance student fellowships. There is no separate application procedure.

Center for Gender Studies

Graduate students can apply to coteach in the Gender Studies Core, serve as BA preceptors, or propose a course of their own design through the Center for Gender Studies.

Writing Program

Courses in the Writing Program are geared to writers in many different fields, and the program employs University of Chicago graduate students from all fields: humanities, social sciences, and the sciences. The program's Web site describes training requirements, applications procedures, and the available positions: Library and Dormitory Writing Tutors, Interns in the Humanities Common Core, and Lectors in Advanced Academic and Professional Writing (affectionately called the Little Red School House).

Humanities graduate students may receive compensation for teacher training conducted by the Writing Program. Training consists of twenty to thirty hours of class preparation and thirty hours of classroom work. Please note, this training does not count toward divisional fellowships that have a teaching service obligation. Students should consult with their director of graduate studies regarding the best year of study for taking advantage of training and further possibilities for teaching writing for which this training is a preparation. There are two different versions of the program depending on teaching appointment:

Academic and Professional Writing lectors train in autumn quarter in "Principles of Teaching Writing" (English 50300)
College Core tutors, Humanities Core writing interns, art writing interns, and departmental course assistants train in the spring or summer quarter in "Pedagogies of Writing" (HUMA 50000). Enrollment in the spring and summer is limited; please contact the Writing Program to determine whether a place will be available in the quarter of choice.

To qualify, students must meet the following criteria:

YEAR IN PROGRAM. Humanities graduate students who will be in their second through fourth year of graduate study in 2007-8 receive $1,000 after satisfactorily complete the training. Humanities graduate students who will be in their fifth year of graduate study and beyond may train, but are not eligible for compensation.
DEFINITE TEACHING APPOINTMENT. Apply for and receive an appointment as an Art Writing Intern (through Art History); Course Assistant (through departments); or a Humanities Core Writing Intern, College Core Tutor, or Lector (all through the Writing Program). Despite differing appointment processes, training is provided through the Writing Program for all positions.
REGISTER. Contact the Writing Program at writing-program@uchicago.edu. In the e-mail, include your name, your course assignment, and preferred training quarter (Note: lectors for Academic and Professional Writing must receive training in autumn quarter). If you are notified of an appointment late in the academic year, contact the Writing Program about summer quarter training.