Teaching Development Fellowships

Teaching Development Fellowships (TDF) support college and university teachers pursuing research aimed specifically at deepening their core knowledge in the humanities to improve their undergraduate teaching. The program has three broad goals: 1) to improve the depth and quality of humanities education in the United States; 2) to strengthen the link between research and teaching in the humanities; and 3) to foster excellence in undergraduate instruction. Projects must improve an existing undergraduate course that has been taught in at least THREE different terms and will continue to be taught by the applicant. Proposals for new courses or for mere course preparation will NOT be considered. The research project must be closely related to the applicant's core interests as an interpreter of the humanities. The research undertaken as a part of the project may involve engaging with fundamental texts or sources, exploring related subjects or academic disciplines, or cultivating neglected areas of learning. Projects may entail the acquisition of new language or digital skills as a means to performing the proposed research. The project must be directed primarily towards course improvement, not scholarly publication. Research in any area of the humanities is welcome. This highly selective new program anticipates awarding approximately twenty-four fellowships in its inaugural (2008) competition. Fellowships may not be used for: development of new courses or basic course preparation; improvement of multiple courses; curricular or pedagogical methods or theories; graduate-level teaching preparation; textbook research or revision; projects that seek to promote a particular political, philosophical, religious, or ideological point of view; projects that advocate a particular program of social action; works in the creative and performing arts (e.g., painting, writing fiction or poetry, dance performance, etc.); or doctoral dissertations, theses, or any other research pertaining to a degree program.