Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships

Department faculty members firmly believe that an essential part of study at the M.A. level is learning how to communicate art-historical concepts effectively to the next generation. To that end, Teaching Assistantships involve undergraduate instruction, especially at the introductory level, and maintenance of regularly scheduled office hours. In most courses graduate Teaching Assistants contribute primarily as graders (in Art-Hist 115, 118, 324, and 343), while in the year-long survey (Art-Hist 100 and 110) they both grade and lead weekly discussion sections. An additional Graduate Assistantship is offered each academic year in Communications, working closely with the Department Director, faculty, and the Department Administrator to maintain web content, correspondence, and other administrative tasks for the department as detailed in a separate Communications GA handbook. All graduate students are expected to master the use of digital technologies for their own coursework and teaching responsibilities. The faculty’s commitment to educating the public beyond the walls of academe is evident in their involvement in exhibition and museum work, reviewing and contributing to major survey textbooks, and developing educational software such as the multimedia online modules used in Art-Hist 100 and 110 known as DATAS (Digital Assignments for the Teaching of Art-historical Skills).

9+ Assistantships are available to graduate students each semester. Assistantships usually involve 10 or 20 hours of work per week and carry a stipend plus full tuition waiver and coverage of the curriculum fee and 95% of the University health fee. Most of the Assistantships are Teaching Assistant positions, but external grants may allow faculty to hire additional Graduate Assistant positions.

Teaching Assistants are normally assigned to the following courses for a time commitment of 20 hours per week:

• Art-Hist 100 and 110, the two-semester survey:  3-5 TAs lead two 50-minute discussion sections per week (and one or more online sections) and grade written work
• Art-Hist 115, Introduction to the Visual Arts:  3-4 TAs grade written work
• Art-Hist 116, Art and Visual Culture of East Asia: 1 TA grades written work
• Art-Hist 118, History of Architecture and the Built Environment:  3-4 TAs grade written work
• Art-Hist 324, Modern Art:  1-2 TAs grade written work
• Art-Hist 343, 20^th-Century Architecture:  1-2 TAs grade written work
• Art-Hist 390A, Black Subjects in Popular Culture: 1 TA grades written work

Additional courses may also require TAs.

Beyond the Department, Teaching Assistantships are often available in the University Writing Program, the foreign language programs, and administrative offices at the University.

The general duties of Teaching Assistants are specified before the beginning of the academic year at the orientation session organized by the Graduate School; each TA should receive a copy of the Center’s Handbook for New Instructors. In regular meetings throughout each semester, Department faculty will review specific duties related to individual courses.

Department policy is that graduate assistantships are awarded to students making satisfactory progress towards the degree. Students who do not pass the language exam in the first year, who fail to complete work for an incomplete grade within the following semester, or whose GPA falls below 3.7 may not be awarded Teaching Assistantships or may have earlier offers of Teaching Assistantships revoked.

There may be opportunities for current students or recent graduates to teach their own courses during the summer terms through Continuing Education. 

Students who are not awarded Assistantships receive small grants offered by the College of Humanities and Fine Arts as well as the Department in order to help defray the costs of tuition.