Teaching Fellowship

Teaching experience is part of the student’s doctoral training at Yale University. Students normally teach as teaching fellows (TFs) after four semesters of residency and coursework have been completed. For a full description of the Teaching Fellow Program as administered by the Graduate School, please review the policies. You should become well-acquainted with these policies as they apply to all students regardless of their discipline. 

Doctoral candidates will typically teach in their third, fourth, and sixth years. Our DUS for the undergraduate Comparative Literature major appoints Comparative Literature doctoral students as teaching fellows. In addition, Comparative Literature students may teach in various language-based departments as well as in other disciplines within the Humanities. There are further diverse pedagogically oriented positions available in Yale’s museums, libraries, and the Center for Teaching and Learning, which 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.

Teaching Resources

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.