A CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Dean of the Graduate School and the Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame jointly sponsor a competitive program of fellowship support for advanced graduate students in the humanities and social sciences in their 6th year (or less) during the academic year. Ten “Graduate Teaching Fellowships” were awarded for the 2007-08 academic year.
One of the primary goals of the Fellowships is to encourage doctoral candidates to expedite completion of their dissertations. The program also offers valuable experience in organizing and teaching composition while promoting new, imaginative courses for undergraduates in a given applicant’s field. Whether someone teaches a 200-, 300-, or 400-level course will depend on the needs of the applicant’s department.
TERMS
Jointly sponsored by the Graduate School and the College of Arts and Letters, the one-year fellowships provide a tuition scholarship and an academic-year stipend of $15,000. The Fellowships allow advanced graduate students to write their dissertations while teaching First Year Composition (FYC 13100) in the Fall semester and an undergraduate course in their home departments or in other departments that require additional teachers. Fellows cannot accept other teaching or research responsibilities during the fellowship year.
QUALIFICATIONS
Applicants must be full-time graduate students in good standing in the College of Arts and Letters. At the time of application, applicants should have passed all departmental Ph.D. candidacy examinations, have a committee-approved dissertation topic, and be writing the dissertation. Applicants, who have been enrolled for six years or less at the start of the academic year are preferred. Students at or beyond eight years of enrollment will not be considered.
DEADLINE
The applicant must submit all documents, except the recommendations, in triplicate, to Professor John Duffy, Director of the University Writing Program, at 205 Coleman-Morse by December 17, 2007. Recommendations are confidential and should be sent directly to Professor Duffy. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the recommendations are submitted by the deadline.
SELECTION
The selection committee will consist of the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, the Director of the University Writing Program, and a representative from the Graduate School. The committee will consider the candidate’s overall academic performance, whether or not the applicant has completed his or her exams, experience or promise as a teacher, and the quality of the course proposal.
ACCEPTANCE
Decisions are announced in early January, 2008. Teaching Fellows are required to enroll in a one-credit, pass-fail practicum on the teaching of writing in the Spring 2008 term, to attend all Writing Program faculty meetings during the academic year, and to fulfill other responsibilities consistent with good teaching practices. These requirements are in keeping with the mission of the Teaching Fellows Program: to provide on-going support of teaching in preparation for a career in academe.
APPLICATION
Applications should include the following:
(1) a letter from applicant describing the applicant's dissertation topic, progress on the dissertation to date, and teaching experiences
(2) a separate page from applicant listing
a. name of the applicant’s graduate adviser
b. semester and year of entry into graduate studies at Notre Dame
c. brief history of stipend support as a graduate student.
d. statement of whether or not the applicant has passed candidacy exams and has had dissertation proposal approved.
(3) a letter from the graduate advisor stating that the applicant has passed candidacy exams and has had dissertation proposal approved
(4) a proposal, 2-3 pages, for a course to be taught in the applicant’s field. The proposal should describe the course, the course goals, and the appeal of the course for undergraduates. The courses applicants propose should be developed in cooperation with a given department, with the following criteria in mind: (1) They should foster intense interaction between students and faculty in small settings with approximately 18 students and (2) They should incorporate a significant writing component that includes a minimum of 25 pages and opportunities for revising drafts.
(5) a letter from the director of undergraduate studies confirming that the applicant’s proposed course fits into the undergraduate curriculum
(6) two recommendations, one from the graduate adviser and the other from a faculty member, that address the applicant’s strengths as a scholar and teacher
(7) copies of teaching evaluations if available
(8) a current CV