Initiatives
The President’s Teaching Award Master Class Seminar
in English Literature
in English Literature
The PTA Master Class Seminar in English Literature was conceived by Professors Nick Mount and Paul Stevens, both members of the President’s Teaching Academy, in 2010. The seminar provides a course instructorship for a senior PhD candidate in the Department of English. The aim of the seminar is threefold: (1) first and most importantly, to provide the instructor with the opportunity to develop his or her teaching skills in their particular area of expertise by leading a class of 20 upper-level undergraduates under the mentorship of the Department’s two PTA winners; (2) second, to enhance the instructor’s teaching credentials as he or she enters the academic job market; and (3) third and not least, to provide the undergraduates themselves with an exciting new teaching experience.
The seminar is not meant to be an isolated initiative. It is imagined as an integral part of the English Department’s commitment to train its doctoral candidates as university teachers. The program that commitment animates comprises a number of key elements: (1) extensive opportunities to serve as teaching assistants, often leading small tutorial groups in large lecture courses; (2) a requirement to attend mandatory courses in teaching-training, such as English 9900 (Professing Literature) in year two and English 9500 (Professional Skills) in year four; (3) encouragement to take part in the TATP certificate program; and (4) opportunities as programs and budgets permit to apply for independent course instructorships at the three campuses.
The PTA Master Class Seminar is an open-topic 400-level seminar, posted and appointed in accordance with the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 Collective Agreement. The instructor meets the mentors to discuss and plan structure, syllabus, and assignments for the course. The emphasis is not only on sound planning but on the instructor being as experimental and imaginative as possible. The mentors make a number of classroom visits and advise the instructor on his or her technique. Finally, the mentors produce a formal appraisal of the instructor and the seminar which may be used by the instructor when applying for academic jobs.
For further information, contact either Nick Mount ( nick.mount@utoronto.ca ) or Paul Stevens ( paul.stevens@utoronto.ca ).