Teaching Program

Doctoral students are eligible to begin teaching in the department after successfully completing their first year in the program. Typically, this involves leading recitation sections for undergraduate and graduate introductory Performance Studies courses.

Here's a typical progression of teaching assignments for doctoral students:

• Year 2: Teaching Practicum (integrated into coursework)

• Year 3:

  • Fall: Recitation Leader - Intro to Performance Studies (BA) or Intro to Performance Studies (MA) (2 students each)

  • Spring: Lecture Course (BA) Recitation Leader (2 students) 

  • Summer: MA Final Projects Recitation Leader (2 students)

• Year 4 and Beyond: Eligible to apply for graduate adjunct teaching positions in the undergraduate program and CAS Core Curriculum by application as well as additional by-application opportunities as they arise.

This structured approach allows doctoral students to gain valuable teaching experience and gradually take on more responsibility as they progress through the program. Doctoral students who want to begin their teacher training with the department must opt into the Performance Studies Teaching Program by February 15 of their first spring semester.

Students who opt out of the program will not be eligible to teach undergraduate courses until they have either:

• Applied for and taught a recitation section in the department (at either the MA or BA level), or

• Demonstrated teaching experience outside the department.

Openings for recitation leaders:

• If second-year Ph.D. students opt out of the teaching program, any vacant recitation sections for the "Introduction to Performance Studies" (PERF-UT 101.001) course will be posted.

• These positions will be open to Ph.D. students in good academic standing who are in their third year or above.

Open teaching positions are posted by the department prior to the start of each term and eligible students are encouraged to apply for these positions by using the application portal link, shared with the job postings. They will be required to submit a statement of intent, a CV, and a sample syllabus for each course they plan to apply for. They can schedule a meeting prior to the application deadline with their Dissertation Advisor or the Assistant Director of Programs about formulating their application materials. 

A call for open positions is sent out twice a year and applications are submitted during the following periods, these dates coincide with the NYU Registrar schedule to post courses and are subject to change:

• February-March- fall teaching positions and

• August- September- spring/summer term positions

  Once all of the applications are submitted a faculty committee will review all the submitted materials and make their selections.

Each year the department will offer professionalization workshops and seminars focusing on teaching and pedagogy. First-year doctoral students who have opted into the PS Teaching Program are required to attend in order to be prepared to teach recitation sections. 

All Graduate Adjuncts within the Department of Performance Studies are provided additional teaching support as they develop their pedagogy. Ph.D. candidates teaching a recitation section will schedule at least one class observation by a PS faculty member over the course of the semester.

-  Observation: The observer will attend the observee's class and take notes on both the content of the class and how the observee teaches.

-  Post-observation meeting: Ph.D. Candidates will then schedule a post-observation meeting. This meeting, which should be held within two weeks of the observed class, will allow the observer and observee to talk together about what worked in the class session and what did not. The focus of this conversation should be feedback and reflection.

-  Observation Form: The final observation feedback form will be shared at the end of the semester after the Chair and DUGS have reviewed it. 

PS also offers the Graduate Info Session Series linked here. This Friday workshop series covers a range of topics relating to professional development and teaching related skils.