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During the admissions process we nominate our very best candidates for Iowa Fellowships and our top minority candidates for fellowships from the Graduate College. Funding from these sources come in multi-year packages, which usually include an initial year of fellowship support, followed by two to three years of teaching, and a fourth year of fellowship funding.
We also have two sources of support that we can offer directly from the History Department: the Research Assistantship and the Graduate Instructorship. Applicants to our program must fill out the "Application for Graduate Awards" included with the Graduate Admissions material in order to be considered for funding from these sources.
If possible, we try to offer a Research Assistantship (RA) to those we admit to Plan A M.A. program for their first year of support. A Research Assistant helps History faculty with their research projects, and allows time for new students to get to know History faculty while adjusting to the Department and to Iowa City, without teaching responsibilities. If this is not possible, we offer a Graduate Instructorship (GI).
The first assignment as a Graduate Instructor is normally as a discussion leader for sections of a survey course in which a faculty member delivers lectures to a large class. Such courses may have 200 to 300 students enrolled, and these large groups are divided into discussion sections of 22 students each. The Graduate Instructor meets with these students every week to go over course material and to discuss the assigned readings. The Graduate Instructor is usually responsible for grading the writing assignments and examinations for his or her sections, as well. Teaching discussion sections prepares Graduate Instructors for their next teaching assignment
After serving as discussion leader for a year or two, our Graduate Instructors then teach their own courses within our "Issues in Human History" curriculum. We have defined a number of "Issues," such as "20th Century Crisis" and "Gender in History," which have general course descriptions. Half of the content of each Issues course must be about non-U.S. material. Within these general guidelines, Graduate Instructors design their own sections of the issue they have chosen. They write the syllabus, choose the course texts, create the assignments and do all of the grading. Under the overall direction of a faculty supervisor, who is there to help with problems, to provide support and to ensure high-quality teaching, our Graduate Instructors have excellent opportunities to grow as teachers of college level courses.
The stipend for Research Assistants and Graduate Instructors is currently around $18,100 for the academic year. Graduate Instructors pay tuition at the in-state rates.
There are also a number of fellowships and grants that doctoral students may apply for to support research travel and dissertation writing later in their programs.
Special note to foreign students
Because our Graduate Instructors are supported primarily by teaching, it is very important that applicants whose first language is not English gain the necessary speaking and writing skills in English to communicate effectively in the classroom. There is an extensive program of courses and examinations for students who do not list English as their native language on their application to improve their English and to be certified when ready to instruct undergraduates. We urge foreign applicants to be aware of our expectation that they be able to teach and come to the University of Iowa prepared to do intensive language work if necessary. Students who list English as their native language on their application are exempt from these requirements.
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