Financial Support and Teaching

Financial support generally consists of fellowship stipends, assistantships in instruction, or a combination of the two. The department insists on parity within a given class and, as far as possible, between classes of students, in order to maintain a fair and supportive environment. In their third year and beyond, students may apply for internal or external fellowships to facilitate their dissertation research. (Students who already benefit from external fellowships at an earlier stage are of course welcome to keep them!) 

The department has a number of generous funds with which to support activities relevant to the student’s course of study. Students can apply for funding for scholarly travel (for example to conferences), summer study, or research trips (for example to libraries) through the SAFE Website.

As a matter of policy, the department requires its graduate students to gain experience in undergraduate teaching and to contribute to the department’s language teaching program. Students may not teach during their first year of residence or during the term when they are preparing for the general examination.  The opportunity occasionally arises to teach in a literature course or to work with a faculty member in the Collaborative Teaching Initiative (see Graduate School).