Teaching

Doctoral students normally serve as teaching fellows for four semesters as part of their professional training and Yale financial aid package. Ordinarily students are expected to teach in their third and fourth years.  Students who are on track to submit their dissertation by the March deadline of their sixth year (as confirmed by their advisor), and who do not have another external source of financial support, also are eligible for an additional two terms of guaranteed teaching in Year 6. (Beyond Year 6, students who are registered may apply to teach and will be given a position if one is available.) 

 

With the approval of the DGS and their advisor, students may begin their teaching in the second year if there is an opportunity of particular value to their professional development or if they have received course waivers and completed their coursework early. Students who have received an outside fellowship also may adjust their teaching schedule. 

 

During their first term of teaching, students must attend training sessions run by the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. Students also are encouraged to consider completing the Certificate of College Teaching Preparation through the Poorvu Center.

 

In addition to serving as a teaching fellow in a lecture course, advanced doctoral students may apply for the opportunity to co-teach an undergraduate course as an Associate in Teaching, or to teach their own course as a Part-Time Acting Instructor.

 

Through the teaching fellow program, Yale doctoral students also may seek to pursue professional development opportunities at Yale’s museums and archives, and within select Yale programs.

 

Yale Summer Session

Yale Summer Session provides a potential opportunity for advanced doctoral students and recent PhDs to teach their own course at Yale. A small number of proposed courses may be accepted. Advanced doctoral students and recent PhDs are eligible to apply to teach a single course during the summer in one of the two summer sessions.

Session A runs approximately from late May to late June. Session B runs from the start of July to the beginning of August (check the Yale Summer Session for exact dates).

Yale Summer Session accepts applications for summer teaching during the month of September, with a typical October 1 deadline. The program makes final decisions on which courses will be taught for Summer Session 2020 by December 1^st. Anyone who is thinking about teaching this summer should fill out the form by October 1^st to receive full consideration. Potential instructors may wish to reach out to Michael S. Fitzpatrick, Associate Director of Academic Affairs for Yale Summer Session, at michael.fitzpatrick@yale.edu

Further information is available on the Yale Summer Session website, particularly this overview. History graduate students should fill out the application online and let the History DUS know of their interest in teaching. If their course is selected by Yale Summer Session, students will need to get approval from both their advisor and the DGS later in the spring (which constitutes “faculty sponsorship”). All graduate students should double-check their funding situation, as there are some cases where graduate students may not earn summer compensation.