Are you a graduate student getting ready to apply for academic jobs in the fall? While you’re prepping your research statements and writing samples, don’t forget there are many teaching-related materials that you will likely need. A growing number of universities ask for a candidate’s statement of teaching philosophy, diversity statement, teaching portfolio, and course syllabi examples.
Successful candidates often get feedback on their materials from peers and mentors; we advise finding a community with which you can workshop your drafts. While you can form a community of your own, CITL has multiple recurring learning communities in which you can join. One, the Talking about Teaching Graduate Student Learning Community (TAT GSLC), focuses specifically on how to translate your teaching skills into different products. To explain the benefits of learning from others, I spoke with Taís, a graduate student studying Portuguese Literature who just finished our TAT GSLC.
L: Why did you join the GSLC?
T: I applied to be part of the project thinking it would help me understand better how the job market works for a professor. I achieved that. More importantly, I achieved much more.
L: Like what?
T: The learning community allowed me to provide samples of my work for other people to see and contribute with valuable and constructive feedback. Not only did I have the opportunity of hearing opinions from specialized people, but also from graduate students and professors from different fields who helped me expand my horizons and think out of the box.
L: How did talking to an interdisciplinary crowd help you?
T: What we did was truly collaborative work, listening to our colleague’s feedback in order to acquire new perspectives and grow as a professional. I would highly recommend being a part of it to anyone who wishes to be inspired and learn more about the academic world in an enjoyable environment.
Does Taís’ experience sound like something that could benefit you. Contact our office to learn about what graduate student learning communities will be offered this fall. Or learn about them while attending our AI Orientation this fall!
Have a friend who will also be applying to jobs in the fall? Share this post with your friend and consider attending a CITL workshop or contact our office for an individual consultation!
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