Teaching Fellows

Update: We have concluded our review of applications for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The University Writing Program welcomes Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows to join faculty in teaching our first-year writing course, Reintroduction to Writing. Fellowships are for one year with the possibility of one renewal. Postdocs are responsible for four sections (1 prep) per year and perform service (primarily committee work). We also welcome and encourage postdocs to join and participate in the professional and intellectual life of UWP by attending faculty meetings, professional development meetings, and events.

Johns Hopkins PhDs who have not yet participated in UWP’s Teaching Writing Workshop will take this course in the fall of their first year of the fellowship and teach three sections in the spring of that year. Those who have already taken the workshop will teach 1-3 or 2-2, depending on program needs.

Current compensation, determined by the Krieger School, is $46,500 plus qualified benefits. Postdoctoral teaching fellowships are full-time 9-month appointments paid over 12 months. 

We welcome applications from candidates who have completed their PhDs within the last five years. It is required that the PhD is in hand by the start date of the appointment (July 1). Applicants who are finishing their doctoral work should have a confirmed defense date no later than May 1 of the year in which they seek to begin the fellowship. 

Applications will open in the fall and will require a cover letter, a CV, and a sample syllabus. Prospective applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with our learning outcomes for Reintro and our course descriptions.

Questions about the application process can be addressed to Sandy Koullas, Teaching Fellows Program Coordinator ([email protected]).

Department Writing Fellows

Update: We have concluded our review of applications for the 2025-2026 academic year.

The University Writing Program’s Department Writing Fellows program serves the dual purpose of 1) providing departments with material support as they deliver new writing requirements in the major, a recent change across the Krieger curriculum; and 2) supporting graduate students and recent graduates with training in writing pedagogy and faculty mentoring as they prepare for the job market. 

Graduate students may apply for either a part-time (8-10 hours/ week supplementary hourly pay) or full-time position (the equivalent of a graduate student package, working nearly but less than 20 hours per week).

Postdoctoral fellowships are full-time, 9-month appointments paid over 12 months. Current compensation, determined by the Krieger School, is $46,500 plus qualified benefits. The expected workload for postdoctoral fellows is the equivalent of a 2-2 teaching load plus service.

As part of the application process, the host department/ program and the fellow will propose specific duties to support writing in the major, which may include:  

• Designing and piloting a new class that contributes to the major’s writing curriculum 
• Creating new instructional materials or updating existing materials (such as assignments, peer review processes, or handbooks/ manuals for writing in a course or major)
• Providing students with feedback and grading
• Offering other types of writing support, such as writing workshops or office hours, to benefit students across multiple courses
• Mentoring students working on independent research projects
• Creating programming to enhance the culture of writing in the major and beyond (for example, organizing a talk in which a faculty member in the department discusses the writing process around a recent publication)
• Other teaching-related activities or projects identified by the department to support writing in the major
• Working with other departments/ majors identified by the UWP and/ or documenting practices for the Teaching Writing Toolkit to support writing in Krieger

Fellows will work closely with faculty in their department or program and will receive training and mentoring from UWP faculty in writing pedagogy. Full-time graduate and postdoctoral fellows are expected to enroll in or audit the Teaching Writing Workshop, a 3-credit graduate-level course on the theory and practice of teaching writing that meets weekly in the fall. 

While the duties of a Department Writing Fellow may, in some circumstances, be similar to those of a Teaching Assistant, the Department Writing Fellows program emphasizes activities that contribute to building the writing curriculum in the major, with the potential to have an impact beyond the tenure of the fellowship.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis as long as funds are available, with an initial round of review beginning on April 1. More details about the application can be found on the application form below, where applicants will be asked to submit the following documents:

• CV and cover letter from the candidate describing their interest in and qualifications for the role
• A letter of support from the DUS and/ or Chair of the department or program, describing the proposed duties of the fellow and how they will support the development of the undergraduate writing curriculum

Questions about the fellowship or application process can be addressed to Rebecca Wilbanks, Associate Director of the UWP for Writing in the Majors ([email protected]). We welcome inquiries from departments or programs that are considering hosting a fellow.