Pedagogical training is a vital part of the SALC graduate program. All doctoral students are required to teach a number of courses according to the SALC Pedagogical Training Plan (PTP). To see the full PTP, click here: SALC PTP 2024. Students cannot teach outside of the PTP. Generally, students focus on their course requirements during the first and second year and fulfill the teaching requirements during the third through sixth years of the program.
By offering two different tracks, the SALC PTP recognizes the intellectual and disciplinary heterogeneity of our graduate program and the different teaching demands of institutions of higher education to which students are likely to apply in the future. Track 2 is available for students concentrating in language-based pedagogy and philology in one or more South Asian Languages.
The SALC PTP follows a 3 + 1 formula. Students hold a total of 4 teaching positions over the course of their program. In year 3 and 4, students complete a total of 3 teaching positions at the Graduate Student - TA level, each consisting of a TA position in a language or non-language course. In year 5 or 6 students teach a stand-alone course as a Graduate Student Lecturer. A special regulation applies to Track 2, where one of the 3 teaching positions can be a Graduate Student Lecturer in a language course rather than a Graduate Student – TA. Any student intending to teach a language course as a Graduate Student Lecturer has to have taught in a Graduate Student - TA position first. Students teaching in a lectureship appointment serve as the instructor of record for the course.
In the spring quarter of their second year, students will consult with their advisers and the Director of Graduate Studies to create an individual PTP in accordance with the SALC PTP. We recognize that this individual PTP is provisional and may be subject to change as the student advances in the program.
It is the student’s responsibility to seek teaching assignments and to apply for them in a timely manner through established procedures. SALC will advertise teaching positions for the coming academic year every summer, usually at the end of June. Since SALC can offer only a limited number of teaching assignments, students are encouraged to pursue teaching opportunities in other departments as well.
Generally, all graduate students of our program should all be able to:
- design and teach introductory courses in the discipline
- design and teach introductory and upper-level courses in their subfield
- design effective assignments for a range of courses
- facilitate class discussion
- design and deliver effective lectures
- describe their approach to student learning and give reasons for their pedagogical choices
- apply the methods and approaches of undergraduate writing instruction
- apply the methods and approaches of inclusive pedagogy
In addition to the above listed goals, students taking Track 2 of the PTP should be able to:
- design and teach introductory and intermediate courses in their language(s) of specialization
- design and teach upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in which primary language sources are used, and/or in which the primary language is the language of instruction
- be attentive to contemporary standards of language acquisition pedagogy
Additional Pedagogical Training
In preparation for teaching, SALC requires that all students take the one-day “Teaching@Chicago” workshop (offered by CCT in Orientation week) before they enter the third year of the program. In addition, we recommend (but do not require) that all students take the “Fundamentals of Teaching” workshop (offered by CCT in weeks 2 to 5) and the CCT course on “Course Design and College Teaching” (CCTE 50000). We also recommend that they take the department’s “Teaching South Asia” course during their first three years in the program.
SALC Teaching Positions
There are three different types of teaching positions offered to students within SALC for fulfillment of the pedagogical training plan:
- Graduate Student – Teaching Assistant:
- Graduate Student – Lecturer:
Graduate Student – TA (Language Course)
The Graduate Student - TA of a language course is a PTP position, which means that the purpose of the appointment is for the instructor to mentor the TA in language pedagogy. The instructor must accordingly be present in the classroom with the TA at all times.
The tasks of the TA will depend on the course, but may include:
- help the instructor in evaluating assignments;
- give in-class assistance to students with exercises and drills;
- lead review sessions (with the instructor present).
TA positions tend to be available in Sanskrit and Hindi.
This position is assigned a nominal 10 hours/week in University systems.
Graduate Student – TA (Non-language Course)
Among the non-language courses offered by SALC faculty, “Civilizations of South Asia I” and “Civilizations of South Asia II” always include at least one Graduate Student - TA position. Other courses may include a TA position as well. This is a PTP position, which means that the purpose of the appointment is for the instructor to mentor the TA in teaching a college-level course. The instructor must accordingly be present in the classroom with the TA at all times.
The tasks of the TA will depend on the course, but may include:
- help the instructor in evaluating assignments;
- lead review sessions (with the instructor present).
This position is assigned a nominal 10 hours/week in University systems.
Graduate Student – TA (Writing Center)
At present, there are a limited number of Writing Center positions in the College Core. A Writing Intern is assigned to a particular Core class and is responsible for:
- attending all of the class meetings;
- leading two writing seminars with the students;
- reading and evaluating student papers.
To be considered for one of these positions in the Core, students need to complete HUMA 50000, “Pedagogies of Writing,” or an equivalent number of Center workshops, in the Spring or Summer quarter before the year in which they intend to intern.
This position is assigned a nominal 10 hours/week in University systems.
Graduate Student – Lecturer (Language Course)
Students who have already completed a TA assignment for a language course in a previous year can serve as Lecturers for a language course.
The Lecturer is the instructor of record for the course and responsible for all of the teaching and evaluation associated with the course.
This position is assigned a nominal 10 hours/week in University systems.
Graduate Student – Lecturer (Self-designed Course)
Graduate students in their fifth or sixth years may teach self-designed content courses (i.e., stand-alone courses designed by the graduate student and offered to undergraduates in the College). Students are invited to submit proposals for self-designed courses in the College to SALC’s Director of Graduate Studies by December 1 for courses to be taught in the following academic year. After consultation with the DGS, the proposal may be forwarded to the College for approval. Note that this is a competitive procedure and not all proposals will be accepted. A course proposal should consist of:
- a brief course description, stating the rationale, principal themes, and objectives of the course;
- a section on course requirements and the grading scheme;
- a syllabus listing required readings week by week; and
- a bibliography.
Examples of self-designed courses taught by SALC graduate students include:
- Missionaries, Merchants and Saints: Christianity and Islam in the Indian Ocean, 15th-18th centuries (Margherita Trento, Winter 2019)
- Science Outside of Europe (Eric Gurevitch, Spring 2019)
- Making a Home in the Colonial City: Insights from Literature, Films, and History (Sanjukta Poddar, Autumn 2019)
- Traditions of Islamicate Learning In Mughal India (Daniel Morgan, Autumn 2019)
- Sex and Censorship in South Asia (Ahona Panda, Winter 2020)
- Literary Radicalism and the Global South: Perspectives from South Asia (Abhishek Bhattacharyya, Spring 2020)
- Debate, Dissent, Deviate: Literary Modernities in South Asia (Suparna Dasgupta, Autumn 2020)
- Time and its discontents: thinking and experiencing time in South Asia through the ages (Eduardo Acosta, Autumn 2020)
- Coming of Age: Youth Cultures in Postcolonial India (Titas De Sarkar, Winter 2022)
- Global Connections before Globalization: Sufis and Seafarers across the Indian Ocean (Zoë Woodbury High, Winter 2023)
The Lecturer is the instructor of record for the course and responsible for all of the teaching and evaluation associated with the course.
This position is assigned a nominal 10 hours/week in University systems.
SALC will advertise teaching positions for the coming academic year every summer, usually at the beginning of June.