Team-Taught Courses

Team-teaching grants of either $4,000 or $8,000 support interdisciplinary courses in which one or both faculty members belong to a department in the humanities. Approval is contingent upon successful arrangements for the course made with the appropriate dean(s) and department chairs.

Faculty who team-teach under this program receive stipends of $2,000 if the team-taught course counts as part of their normal three-course load. Faculty members who teach three regular courses in addition to the team-taught course receive stipends of $4,000. (If more than two faculty are involved, these figures should be prorated.) In the case of year-long courses, faculty will receive a full stipend for each semester. The Center may give priority to single-semester proposals.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be full-time Loyola faculty with good teaching records, one of whom is a member of the humanities. Ordinarily, affiliate faculty will not be considered eligible for this grant. Members of the steering committee may apply for this grant.
• A faculty team may submit only one proposal per year and cannot receive more than two grants for the same course. A second grant for the same course will be funded at 50% of the original grant. In the case of year-long courses, the Center provides stipends of 50% of the original grant for each semester.
• Given normal scheduling difficulties and the curricular needs of the two departments involved, it is essential that the applicants consult their chairs and dean(s) before submitting their proposal.

Standards for Proposals

Proposals for new team-taught courses will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• A clear description of the objectives of the course and its interdisciplinary character;
• A convincing description of how the course will achieve its objectives; and
• A persuasive explanation of the course's importance to the departments involved and to the humanities in general, in particular, an explanation of the distinctive contribution of this course to the existing curriculum.

Proposals for renewal grants will be evaluated according to the criteria above as well as according to the following:

• A detailed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the course as previously offered and a specific plan for building on those strengths and correcting those weaknesses; and
• A convincing rationale for the need for a second grant.

For examples of a couple successful team-taught proposals, read these from Political Science and Communication and  Philosophy and Fine Arts.

Procedures

All proposals should include the following:

• The title of the proposed course and a 1,000-word description, which includes a rationale for the course and a tentative list of texts and other materials;
• A curriculum vitae for each instructor;
• Supporting letters from the appropriate chairs describing the value of the course to their respective disciplines and any necessary staffing arrangements; if an applicant is a chair, then the supporting letter should be written by a senior member of his or her department. The chair's letter of approval should be perceived as committing the department to allowing the team-taught course to run.

No more than two new grants and two renewal grants will be made each year. Priority may be given to one-semester rather than year-long courses. Grants are furnished to the applicants in July for courses to be taught in the fall of the following academic year. If a course is to be taught in the spring semester, one-half of the grant will be made to the applicants in July and the other half in January. The final report (due 30 days after the end of the course) should include a copy of the syllabus and each instructor's assessment of the course.

Deadline

Proposals must be submitted electronically to the Program Assistant of the Center esgarrett@loyola.edu by the last working day of September.

If the full number of grants are not given at the October meeting, then proposals will again be accepted for the April meeting, and are due by the last working day in March. However, applicants are encouraged to submit proposals by the earlier deadline to maximize their chances of receiving a grant.