Baylor University’s Honors College Launches Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship
Honors College Dean Douglas Henry, Ph.D. is pleased to announce the launch of a new, nationally competitive Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship Program. Beginning this fall, recently minted PhDs will be mentored by Honors College faculty while gaining experience in interdisciplinary classroom instruction.
“Baylor’s resolute commitment to undergraduate teaching excellence calls us to do more and better than most universities,” Henry said. “Especially in the Honors College, where our singular focus is upon superior undergraduate education, we have a national stage on which to showcase integrative teaching at its best. By mentoring exemplary rising scholars in the integration of Christian faith and learning, scholarship and teaching, and intellectually and morally formative education, and then sending them on to long-term academic positions across the nation, we help revitalize American higher education.”
In addition to giving Honors College students access to top talent from leading doctoral programs, the postdoctoral fellowship program aims to provide professionally advantageous opportunities to rising academic stars, enhancing their prospects of placement in competitive tenure-track positions. During their two-year appointments, fellows will be teach three courses each semester, carry on a program of academic research and writing, and be integrated into the academic community of their respective Honors College department. Fellows will gain experience in teaching, mentoring of undergraduate honors students, and extending their research beyond their specialization through public intellectual writing.
“These fellows clearly love being in the classroom, their passion is palpable to undergraduates, and I expect that their intellectual generosity will translate into thoughtful, gracious engagement with the Honors College.” Director of the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core Darren Middleton, Ph.D. said. “We hope they will explore opportunities to create the kind of thrilling, public-facing research that bridges the gap between scholarly expertise and the broader population’s desire to appreciate as well as understand something.”
The inaugural cohort boast three impressive scholars from top graduate programs including David Justice (Ph.D., Christian theology, St. Louis University), Cécile Yezou (Ph.D., Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst) and David Shin, (Ph.D., systematic theology, Wheaton College).
Justice and Yezou will be teaching in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core while Shin will be teaching in the Great Texts program.
“I’m looking forward to being in the classroom and engaging with Honors College students,” Yezou said. “I believe in the power of the imaginary, and the BIC’s cooperative philosophy and praxis opens an infinity of possibilities for learning. I am excited to be an asset for all students being nurtured at Baylor, in the classroom, but also outside of it, in daily life and campus engagement.”
In addition to their teaching responsibilities, the fellows will be encouraged to advance their research within their specialization, yet also explore research and publication of wide appeal and accessibility.
“I strive to be interdisciplinary in my scholarship, but during my time in graduate school this type of research was not always welcome” Justice said. “I’m thrilled to be among scholars and students who are intentionally interdisciplinary, and I’m confident that researching and teaching in such an environment will be greatly beneficial for my growth as a scholar and educator.”
The inaugural year of the fellowship program officially begins August 1. If you would like to learn more about the program, information can be found on the Honors College website.