As part of the Mellon Centering Race Consortium, Brown University, Stanford University, and Yale University will jointly organize a series of events for PhD students under the auspices of a new Teaching Race Graduate Fellowship. Graduate fellows will receive a stipend for participating in remote and in-person workshops exploring theory and praxis in anti-racist pedagogy, with a special emphasis on concrete strategies for supporting difficult conversations in the classroom. Learn more about former fellows here.

The fellowship is for the academic semester Fall 2024. Zoom meetings will be held approximately 8 times this semester and a faculty affiliate of one of the host research centers will speak to a topic or text that they find challenging to teach and how they teach it. Students will engage with faculty presenters and with their peer cohort during these fellowship-wide Zoom sessions, through an online post forum, and at in-person meetings at their home institution.

Sessions will be held on Mondays from 3-4:15 EST. Guest speakers will include faculty such as Daniel HoSang (Yale), Zareena Grewal (Yale), Eujin Park (Stanford), Usha Ayer (Stanford), Leticia Alvarado (Brown), and Matt Guterl (Brown). Sessions will be held on zoom unless otherwise noted on the following dates: September 23 (in-person), September 30, October 7, October 21, October 28, November 4, November 11, November 18, and December 2 (peer review workshop). This initiative is part of the Centering Race in the Arts & Humanities Consortium (CRC) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Expectations:

  • Participation, with camera on, in eight remote speaker sessions/workshops. The fellowship requires attendance at all events; students who miss more than one event per quarter will not be offered the stipend and may not claim the CRC Teaching Race Fellowship title.
  • In-person campus cohort gatherings (per unit): (1) kickoff event at the beginning of the series, and (1) closing meeting.
  • Completion of pre-assigned readings, as appropriate.
  • Brief discussion posts after each speaker session describing one takeaway and one question or area for exploration.
  • Completion of a working project (e.g., draft syllabus and/or lesson plan) to present at the final in-person meeting and on the group discussion board.
  • Participation in breakout cohorts.

Benefits:

  • Fellows will consider a range of strategies for teaching sensitive and timely material.
  • Fellows will build community with graduate students and faculty across the three universities.
  • Fellows will receive a stipend of $500 and a certificate of completion.
  • Select fellows may have an opportunity to participate in the Mellon Centering Race Consortium Plenary Conference in October 2024.

Interested students should apply using the form below with a brief statement of interest (250 words) and a commitment to attend all fellowship sessions by noon on Monday, September 16, 2024

Feedback from former fellows:

"Being a CRC Graduate Fellow has enabled me to align my teaching methods and beliefs more closely with my scholarly aspirations, focusing on empathy, inclusivity, and a critical examination of historical narratives. This fellowship has been instrumental in adapting me to the American academic setting, enhancing my awareness of cultural dynamics distinct from my own background. It has reinvigorated my commitment to transformative education, ensuring that I respect and engage with my students' diverse narratives and identities, while fostering their curiosity, practical skills, and respect for others. This experience has been crucial in aligning my educational practices with my scholarly goals."

"To me the program was valuable because it gave me the ability to learn and update my own teaching pedagogy centered on race and equity. Then, I was able to apply my teaching pedagogy in teaching demonstrations for several tenure track jobs and was able to secure an academic job."

Should you have any questions, please contact Victoria Stone-Cadena, RITM’s Associate Director, at victoria.stone-cadena@yale.edu.