Excellence in teaching is an essential part of the professional historian's calling. Demonstrated teaching ability is also an increasingly important prerequisite for most college and university teaching positions. At Emory, graduate students are not assigned grading tasks each semester, as they are in many programs. However, the Department has always provided practical teaching experience, which is now enhanced by the Teaching Assistant and Teacher Training Opportunity (TATTO) program, instituted by the Graduate School as a graduation requirement for all Ph.D. students.

Teaching Assistant and Teacher Training Opportunity (TATTO) Program

The TATTO program, as implemented by the History Department, is a carefully designed sequence of teaching experiences, leading up to the teaching of one or more freestanding classes, which is coordinated with the rest of the student's program of study.

Workshop: In August, the week before classes start for the second year, the student attends a four-day workshop on teaching methods designed by the Graduate School and taught by expert teachers from a variety of departments.

Teaching Assistantship: During the fall semester of the second year students take History 786A. This is an ongoing discussion of approaches and problems involved in teaching college history classes, directed by a history faculty member. During the second year students also take History 786B in either the first or the second semester. In 786B students are assigned to instructors as discussion leaders, or to carry out other appropriate functions in an undergraduate history class, as required by the instructor. Depending on departmental need, these are sometimes larger classes with linked discussion sections and sometimes smaller upper division courses. If the student takes History 786B in the fall semester, 786A is taken concurrently.During the third year students are free to pursue their studies without outside obligations. (However, some students are able to schedule their teaching associateship during this period.)

Teaching Associateship: During the fourth year students design and teach their own class, under the supervision of a course supervisor from the history faculty. Here the student gets practical experience in putting together a coherent course in which the lectures, discussions, assignments, and grading are integrated. The faculty member consults with the student about book orders, exams, and problems that may arise and usually observes the class on several pre-arranged dates. Such faculty collaboration is invaluable for providing practical advice and later letters of recommendation on teaching.

Dean's Teaching Fellowhips

Students who have successfully completed the earlier phases of the TATTO program are eligible to apply for Dean's Teaching Fellowships. Selection is competitive across departments and the awards are made by the Graduate School, based on the student's prior teaching record and specific course proposals. Several history students have traditionally received these awards each year. Teaching fellows are paid a substantial stipend and asked to teach one course of their own. History students usually repeat the course they taught as a teaching associate and add a new course of their own devising. The TATTO experience has proved to be a major asset in preparing students to be successful college teachers and in offering prospective employers the teaching credentials they are looking for.