Job: Fall 2019 Graduate Student Instructor, Slavic Languages and Literatures

Deadline to Apply: May 15, 2019

Please apply online through the university Careers page.


Job Summary
The Slavic Languages & Literatures Department is looking to hire one (1) GSI at a .30 for Russian 347 (Survey of Russian Literature – Love, Death, and God: Russian Literary Classics) in Fall 2019. This course fulfills the upper-level writing requirement for undergraduate students. No knowledge of Russian is required (all readings and discussions will be in English).

Course Description
This course focuses on the masterpieces of Russian fiction written between 1820 and 1870, including such classics of world literature as Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. Evolving fast from Romanticism to High Realism, this period marks a blossoming of Russian culture, despite strained relations with political authorities. We will trace how writers treated the political, social, intellectual, and religious issues dividing their contemporaries, creating a unique kind of literature that claimed authority over society in settling these problems. Topics include romantic self-fashioning and posturing (including such risky aristocratic games as dueling and gambling), gender relations, the fate of the educated in society, violence and repentance, reform and stagnation, history and the private self, Russia and the West.

Responsibilities*
Duties include, but are not limited, to the following:

• Attending required lecturers (MW, 1-2:30 PM)
• Teaching two discussion sections (F, 11-12 and 1-2 PM)
• Reading paper drafts and provide close guidance for students in rewrite process
• Conducting mandatory meetings with each student after paper 1, version 1, and paper 2, version 
• 1 are submittted
• Grading two papers from each student, submitted in two steps (first version + revision)
• Holding regular office hours
• Being available over email to help students in case they have any questions pertaining to the course
• Meeting regularly with the course instructor
• Required Qualifications*
• Currently enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Michigan. Appointed candidate must have completed or take WRITING 993 concurrently with the appointment.

Desired Qualifications*

• relevant academic preparation for teaching the course material;
• prior GSI experience with favorable student evaluations;
• overall positive academic performance and progress toward the degree;
• relevant graduate training;
• ability to work with diverse student body and with very diverse assignments;
• willingness to develop innovative approaches in the classroom.

Background Screening
The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks.  Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Contact Information
Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures3040 Modern Languages Building812 E. Washington StreetAnn Arbor, MI 48109Or email it to Zaineb Al-Kalby, zalkalby@umich.eduPh: 734-764-5355

Decision Making Process
All applications will be submitted for review to the faculty member teaching the course. Possible interviews will take place on a rolling basis and decisions will be made before the first day of classes. After review of applications and possible interviews, decisions will be made by the faculty member teaching the course.

Selection Process
All GSI appointments are subject to administrative approval. Applicants may request information about the status of their application from the program at any time.