Teaching
Teaching experience is part of the student’s training at Yale. Students normally teach as teaching fellows (TFs) after four semesters of residence and course work have been completed. For a full description of the Teaching Fellow Program as administered by the Graduate School, please click here.
Doctoral candidates will typically teach in their third, fourth and sixth years. Our own undergraduate program, the Literature Major, appoints Comparative Literature students as teaching fellows. In addition, Comparative Literature students may teach in various language-based departments as well as in other disciplines of the humanities. In addition, there are various pedagogically oriented positions available in Yale’s museums, libraries and Center for Teaching and Learning that are open to Teaching Fellows.
Students should contact the DUS (Directors of Undergraduate Studies) of all departments in which they feel competent to teach. This should be done early in the spring semester, preceding the year of their desired employment. The departments normally send out information concerning available positions in the spring, yet the students should take initiative in signing up for these positions. There is no guarantee that a desired position may be secured for a particular student.
After the approval of a student’s Prospectus, he/she may be eligible to teach in certain language courses, college seminars, or courses such as English 115, 118, and 129 at the rank of Part-Time Acting Instructor.
Resources for Teaching
Yale offers extensive support for teaching with many programs aimed towards graduate students beginning to teach for the first time. The department strongly encourages students to take advantage of the seminars, workshops and individual consultations offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Students may also choose to acquire various teaching certifications while at Yale: these include the Certificate of College Teaching Preparation and the Certificate in Second Language Acquisition.