We invite full and part-time faculty from across CUNY’s campuses to apply to become “Andrew W. Mellon Transformative Learning in the Humanities Faculty Fellows” (Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows). Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows will collaborate to develop active, creative, participatory learning practices and pedagogical research. Our goal is to help ensure CUNY students’ success in and beyond the classroom. Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows will receive a $1,500 stipend for their participation as well as formal recognition of their pedagogical work as a significant contribution to CUNY’s mission.

Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows will take part in one remote, half-day summer institute on June 23, 2021, plus three seminar meetings during the semester of their cohort (Fall 2021 or Spring 2022). At this time (January 2021), we are planning on a fully remote summer institute and a hybrid model for the Fall 2021 seminar meetings.

Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows will concentrate on the goals central to TLH’s mission:

• Promote equitable, creative, student-centered pedagogical research and methods designed for CUNY’s diverse student body;
• Support greater institutional recognition for the importance of teaching;
• Advance the role of an urgent and indispensable humanities that encourages imagination, creativity, ethics, and collaboration;
• Practice diversity as crucial to learning within and beyond the classroom.

We recognize that transformative teaching and learning excellence depends on equity and diversity. We seek applicants from all fields in the humanities, the qualitative social sciences, and the arts. Faculty with all levels of teaching experience, from all of CUNY’s campuses and professional schools, are welcome to apply.

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2021-2022 Cohorts

There will be a total of 51 Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows in the 2021-2022 academic year; all will meet for a half-day, remote Summer Institute on June 23, 2021.

• Fall 2021: One cohort of up to 17 Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows. 3 seminar meetings with one asynchronous task between each meeting.
• Spring 2022: Two cohorts of up to 17 Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows each. 3 seminar meetings with one asynchronous task between each meeting.

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About the Peer-to-Peer Seminars

The focus of the faculty seminars (three synchronous meetings over the course of one semester) will largely be determined by the participants who make up each cohort. TLH espouses a “flipped classroom” model, concentrating on participatory and active learning techniques. Some sample topics that might be covered in a seminar include:

• Pedagogical research on active learning
• Mentoring
• Examining and sharing teaching habits and best practices
• Syllabus co-creation
• Alternative forms of assessment
• Metacognition and other self-reflective activities
• Humanities skills: collaboration, written and spoken communication, project management, critical thinking
• Pedagogies of care

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About Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows and Mellon TLH Student Scholars

Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows must be teaching during the semester of their seminar and their students will be invited to participate as Mellon TLH Student Scholars, providing feedback on the Faculty Fellows participatory teaching practices.

Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows will develop one TLH-inspired assignment, lesson plan, or activity with or for their students, implementing it in their concurrent courses with Mellon TLH Student Scholars (e.g., student-authored blog posts, student teams with rotating leaders).

Mellon TLH Student Scholars who complete the TLH course assignment or activity will receive metro cards for their added participation.

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Application Deadlines & Timeline

• Applications for Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 faculty seminars will open on January 25, 2021.
• Applications are due March 15, 2021.
• Awards will be announced by May 3, 2021.

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Eligibility

• CUNY faculty in the humanities, arts, and interpretive social sciences at all ranks, including adjunct faculty and graduate students who are teaching as adjuncts at CUNY campuses (“What is included in ‘interpretive social sciences’?”).
• Faculty must be teaching during the seminar (“If I am not currently teaching due to the pandemic, can I still apply?”).

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Compensation

Faculty will be awarded $1,500 in support. Full-time faculty will receive stipends and part-time faculty will be paid as Non-Teaching Adjuncts (NTAs).

Mandatory Participation Requirements:

• June 23, 2021 Summer Institute. Half-day, remote event.
• Three seminar meetings: Fall 2021 (hybrid, with remote flexibility) OR Spring 2022 (format TBD)
• Design and implement one participatory student assignment or activity with Mellon TLH Student Scholars
• Organize one public event on transformative pedagogy (workshops in collaboration with TLCs or others in TLH are welcome)
• Publish one contribution to knowledge on transformative pedagogy (e.g., syllabus, op-ed, exhibitions, articles, etc.)
• Complete brief pre- and post-seminar surveys

TLH welcomes BIPOC faculty and faculty committed to equity, social, and racial justice. Faculty teaching introductory courses are welcome and encouraged to apply. For further questions about eligibility and more, please consult our FAQ.

Note: we are aware of the instability that this pandemic has created for many faculty who are teaching part-time. We will do everything possible to make sure that there is a way for participants to engage.

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Application Form

Click here to view and submit the application form.

Note: This call is for 2021-2022 Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows. If you are on leave or cannot apply at this time, keep us in mind next year when we open a call for 2022-2023 Mellon TLH Faculty Fellows.