Teaching Fellows in the Humanities

Teaching Fellows in the Humanities

A Program of Professional and Pedagogical Development

Call for Applications

The Division of the Humanities is accepting applications from current and recent graduate students in the Division for a competitive two-year program designed to enhance their pedagogical skills and research profile. Teaching Fellows participate in a community of practice around teaching, research, and professional development.

To be eligible, applicants must be current or recent graduate students who are on track to receive or have received a PhD within 7 years of registration from a Ph.D. program in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago.

Successful candidates will be appointed as full-time Lecturers with the following workload: teaching four courses per year, making progress on research (revising the dissertation for publication, writing articles, presenting at professional conferences, and other research activities potentially unrelated to their teaching), and developing competencies that further the Teaching Fellow’s professional goals.

Teaching Fellows will be assigned courses at the undergraduate level and will typically teach at least one course in the Humanities or Arts Core. Other course assignments may include language courses and courses in majors and programs that relate to Teaching Fellows’ expertise. Teaching Fellows will also typically be assigned to teach a self-designed course which meets the curricular needs of their department or program. Occasionally, a Teaching Fellow may be assigned other responsibilities in lieu of one of their four-course assignment.

The salary for AY23-24 is $49,536. Each Teaching Fellow will also be provided support for research and professional development, including financial support for conference travel; have access to library privileges, and access to career services support through UChicagoGRAD. Each Teaching Fellow also receives a range of employment benefits, including health insurance coverage options through the University Benefits office.

Teaching Fellows are expected to be fully in residence and on campus during the three quarters of the academic year. Teaching Fellows will participate in a program of pedagogical and professional development under the joint supervision of the Humanities Division Faculty Director of the Teaching Fellows program and their faculty mentor in a relevant Divisional department or program, with support from the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning and UChicagoGRAD.

Teaching Fellow positions are full-time. Teaching Fellows are prohibited from accepting any other on-campus employment and from receiving additional compensation from the University during their two-year term of appointment, with the exception of summer work, which must be pre-approved by the Provost’s Office before its official start and offered to the Teaching Fellow in the form of an addendum to their letter of appointment. Teaching Fellows are also subject to the University’s Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment Policy , which requires approval prior to accepting any outside employment and prohibits academic appointees from accepting appointments at other institutions.

http://apply.interfolio.com/117778

Program Eligibility

In order to be eligible to apply for the Teaching Fellows Program, an applicant must:

Applications are due by 11pm Central Time/Midnight Eastern Time on Tuesday, January 17 2023 and must be submitted through The University’s Academic Recruitment site (Interfolio). The  posting may be accessed at http://apply.interfolio.com/117778 .

Each application must include:

• your top three choices of Humanities/Arts Core sequence
• if you are interested in teaching courses for either the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity (RDI) or the Gender and Sexuality Studies program (GNSE)

• a teaching statement, max. 750 words, which includes a description of the applicant’s methods and goals in teaching a text or artwork in the Humanities Core or Arts Core. Applicants should write about a text or artwork of their own choosing (which may or may not currently be included on the syllabus of a Core sequence), but are encouraged to review details of Humanities Core Sequences and Arts Core Sequences as they prepare their statement
• one sample syllabus for a self-designed course which demonstrates the applicant’s pedagogical approach to undergraduate teaching. The sample course should be appropriate for both majors and non-majors in the applicant’s area of study. If an applicant is interested in teaching for either RDI or GNSE, they may submit a second sample syllabus designed for that area of study. RDI is especially interested in proposals for majors foundational courses, about which applicants can find information here: RDI Major

• a letter from the department chair attesting to the applicant’s progress to degree, the prospects for completing the dissertation and graduating by Summer Quarter, and listing possible teaching assignments. Joint degree students should request this letter from the chair of their home department. Joint degree students selected as Teaching Fellows will be appointed in their home department only
• one letter of recommendation addressing the applicant’s teaching experience
• a brief letter of commitment from a faculty member who agrees to serve as mentor during the 2023-24 academic year and who will be in residence for the full year

*Notes on Letters of Recommendation:

Applicants should submit letter requests through the application system as soon as possible (i.e. prior to submitting the final materials) to allow ample time for recommenders to upload their letters. All letters must be submitted as reference letters via the Academic Recruitment website.

All three letter requirements must be fulfilled, even if one letter serves to meet more than one requirement. That is: if the faculty mentor letter also addresses the applicant’s teaching experience, the faculty member may upload the same letter twice in order to fulfill both requirements. A separate memo from the department chair is required, even if the chair is also the applicant’s mentor.

Selection Process

All applications will be reviewed by the Teaching Fellow search committee, which includes a representative of the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, the Master of the Humanities Collegiate Division, the Dean of Students of the Division of the Humanities, the Faculty Director of the Teaching Fellows program, and two additional faculty members from the Humanities Division, to be designated by the Dean of the Humanities Division.

Notification and Start of Program

Successful Teaching Fellows and alternates will be notified by February 13, 2023. Teaching Fellows’ appointment will be for a term of two years beginning September 1, 2023.

Note:

The TF appointment is contingent upon graduation no later than the Summer Quarter of 2023, and on the satisfactory presentation of appropriate documentation of eligibility to work lawfully in the United States by the start of the appointment.

International students who receive an appointment must secure work authorization from the Office of International Affairs prior to September 1, 2023, to avoid a delay in their ability to begin employment.

The terms and conditions of employment for this position are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the University and the Service Employees International Union.

All University departments and institutes are charged with building a faculty from a diversity of backgrounds and with diverse viewpoints; with cultivating an inclusive community that values freedom of expression; and with welcoming and supporting all their members.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages diverse perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange. The University’s Statements on Diversity are at https://provost.uchicago.edu/statements-diversity .

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination .

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-834-3988 or email [email protected] with their request.