Applications for Jobs in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division

This site provides online applications for Internships and Lectureships in SSCD Core courses in the social sciences and civilizational studies. If you would like to apply for a course that is not listed here, please contact Kathleen Kish, SSCD Division Administrator, at
sscd-jobs@uchicago.edu or call 702-7925. The deadline for all applications is May 2, 2008.

The following information applies to Internships and Lectureships in the SSCD in general. Requirements that are specific to particular courses are given in the job descriptions for those courses below.

Internships:

Interns must be in (at least) their third year of Scholastic Residency while they are serving as interns. Students who have passed their qualifying examinations for the Ph.D. degree will be given preference.

Internships normally require a two- or three-quarter commitment. Note that different course sequences have different requirements in this regard.

Once students have completed an internship in one of the SSCD's Core courses in the social sciences or civilizational studies, they are eligible to apply for appointment as freestanding lecturers in the sequence in which they interned, with full responsibility for their own sections.

Interns are apprentices to the faculty in whose course they have been appointed. They are expected to learn from the supervising faculty member how to teach a course in the Core Curriculum to a small number of students in a seminar-style discussion class. They are being trained by the supervising faculty in order to assure a steady supply of advanced graduate students who are qualified to teach the University of Chicago's Core Curriculum in keeping with the traditions of the College and the standards demanded by the faculty.

The chief responsibilities of interns are the following:

• Attend the fall workshops on teaching in the College offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning, unless they have already done so for prior teaching appointments
• Meet on a regular basis with the faculty member supervising them in order to discuss the progress of the class and the ways in which an experienced instructor handles the pedagogical, intellectual, and administrative issues such a class raises
• Read the assigned materials
• Attend the meetings of each class
• Learn how to grade papers and exams
• Teach one or two classes per quarter under the supervision of the faculty member to whom they have been appointed
• Participate in the meetings of the staff that teaches the course to which they have been appointed

Members of the faculty who have interns assigned to them retain full responsibility for all aspects of the course. Interns may be asked to assist the supervising faculty member in certain regards, but their main responsibility is to learn how to teach the course on their own.

Lectureships:

Graduate students who have completed internships in SSCD Core courses are eligible to apply for appointment as freestanding lecturers in the sequence in which they interned.

Lecturers have full responsibility for teaching one or more sections of an SSCD Core course in the social sciences or civilizational studies for one or more quarters. Within limits established by tradition, faculty consensus, and a syllabus of shared readings, lecturers have discretion to teach the course as they prefer. In order to maintain the intellectual and pedagogical cohesion of the curriculum, lecturers are expected to participate in the meetings of the staff teaching the course to which they have been appointed.

The chief responsibilities of lecturers are the following:

• Attend the fall workshops on teaching in the College offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning, unless they have already done so for prior teaching appointments

• Participate in the meetings of the staff that teaches the course to which they have been appointed

• Order books and put readings on reserve well in advance of the beginning of the quarter

• Prepare a syllabus that clearly states the objectives of the course, the requirements that students will be expected to fulfill, and the basis on which they will be graded

• Announce clear policies on grading, attendance, class participation, and cheating, and adhere to those policies

• Grade and comment on papers and examinations on a timely basis

• Maintain office hours

• Give students feedback on their performance

Lecturers are chosen on the basis of their qualifications as teachers and scholars, the progress of their dissertation, and their willingness to participate actively in the affairs of the staff.

Courses:

Applications for the following courses are online: