Programs that emphasize teaching

[Jbarks]

I just finished my MA at NYU. I planned to take some time off and pay back my loans. Even though I finished my MA two weeks ago, I'm ready to go back to school. I plan to apply to a few schools this year and see what happens, and if it doesn't work out, then I will apply again the following year. I am, however, more interested in PhD programs that emphasize teaching. My ultimate objective is to teach. I do enjoy the research aspect, but that is not why I want to get into higher ed. NYU was a great program, and it helped me define my focus more clearly and to become a better researcher and scholar, but teaching is not emphasized at all. Even in the PhD program, candidates are no longer required to teach as part of their funding packages.

I would welcome any suggestions for programs that meet my criteria. Thanks!

[runonsentence]

What subfield are you in? (I suspect creative writing, judging by the "MFA" in your avatar?)

Cincinnati (Creative Writing) and WashU (Creative Writing and English) come to mind. Chapel Hill is pretty solid on teaching as well, though that's primarily lit and rhet/comp.

[Jbarks]

literary theory, psychoanalysis, late medieval literature.

I also considered applying for an MFA, but I leaning more towards the PhD.

Thanks!

[poco_puffs]

University of Oregon PhD students do two terms of pedagogy training in their first year (including an apprenticeship with a more experienced composition instructor) and then teach one comp class per term until they finish with their dissertation. After you're done with your own coursework and have started on your dissertation I believe you can start teaching Intro to Lit classes, but I'd have to double-check. Either way, UO has a pretty good rep as far as training future teachers.

Also, we've got some good medievalists, if you haven't checked.

[marginalia]

I was very impressed by Syracuse University when I was trying to make my final decision. Their department works very hard to make sure their students get a good deal of teaching experience. I don't know how they fit with your interests--I'm mostly Victorian lit focused--but I do know that they have a close-knit department and the professors I spoke to seemed very in-touch with their students' teaching options outside of their TAships at the university (summer jobs, etc.)

They have a pretty great website too:

http://sites.google....te/teachingets/

[stillthisappeal]

As a general rule, private universities tend to require less teaching from graduate students than public universities. You'll likely find that many top-ranked public universities also require less teaching. That said, the standard aid package for most doctoral students in English includes some form of teaching. With a strong application and an MA from NYU, you might look at schools like Michigan, UNC, Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. A lot of schools in the University of California system might be a good fit too.

[Phil Sparrow]

Do bear in mind that there is a difference between programs that emphasize teaching and pedagogical training and ones that just make you teach a lot (which some refer to as graduate student "exploitation," though I'm not familiar enough with those programs to say if that's an accurate characterization or not). You will want time to do you own research and develop your own projects. Even if the projects you want to work on are teaching-oriented, you'll need time away from teaching, sometimes, to work on them. So I would caution against just looking at programs where the grad students are required to teach a lot, and recommend you focus on those that emphasize pedagogy and teacher training. Yes, many of the top private schools (Princeton, NYU, for example) require very little teaching and put little emphasis on pedagogical training. But others (along with some public schools) emphasize pedagogy though they do not require you to teach as much as, say, the UC schools or CUNY do. My program is great for that; everyone gets at least two years of teaching-free fellowship, so we teach less than do grad students at other programs. But, there is still a strong focus on pedagogy and training, and we still get a good deal of experience in a variety of classrooms (not just all comp, all the time, or whatever) and plenty of time to develop a competitive teaching portfolio. I think that this kind of program, instead of or in addition to ones where you're forced to teach huge loads all the time, is worth researching if you want a teaching focus in your PhD.

Edited June 4, 2011 by Phil Sparrow

[stillthisappeal]

That’s a fair point. Jbarks, if pedagogy is your thing, you might want to look at Missouri’s program. In addition to offering PhDs in literature and creative writing, their graduate school boasts a minor in college teaching:

http://gradschool.missouri.edu/programs/minor-college-teaching/