Updated November 2008
Q. Who is eligible to teach IHUM?
A. All members of the Academic Council Faculty at Stanford, regardless of School or department, are eligible to design and teach a course that satisfies the core liberal arts requirement for first-year students.
Q. I am interested in teaching in the IHUM program. What is the process for proposing a new course?
A. To propose a new course, contact Russell Berman, the faculty director. All new courses are reviewed and certified by the IHUM Governance Board. For full information, see our course development page.
Q. Can I hire a graduate student to help me develop a new IHUM course?
A. Yes, IHUM provides support for Course Development Assistants (CDAs) hired on an hourly basis to assist faculty who are working on new IHUM courses. Click here to learn more about CDAs.
Q. What’s the relationship between IHUM and Structured Liberal Education (SLE)?
A. SLE, a year-long residential program for freshmen, provides an alternative way to satisfy the IHUM requirement as well as the Writing and Rhetoric Requirement and the GER Breadth requirement in the Humanities. Faculty members are invited to lecture in SLE on a topic from their area of research specialization and meet students for informal discussions, sometimes over dinner in the residence. Faculty in IHUM are responsible for course design and lectures, working in teaching teams in a single quarter (autumn) or in a course sequence (winter/spring).
Q. Is funding is available for activities such as invited lecturers or field trips? If so, how much is available and how do I access it?
A. Each IHUM course is allocated a fund to support enhancement activities. In 2008-09, the amount per course is $3,500. Ellen Woods can provide information on eligible expenses and the process for spending monies.
Q. How are teaching responsibilities divided between faculty and post-doctoral fellows in IHUM? For example, who is responsible for grading students’ papers?
A. Faculty design the IHUM courses, give the lectures and are accountable for the overall quality of the course. Post-doctoral fellows lead discussion sections and bear responsibility for evaluating students and giving grades. See our course information page for more on our post-doctoral fellows.
Q. What’s the difference between Area One, Introduction to the Humanities, and IHUM?
A. These terms are used interchangeably. The Area One Requirement is the formal name for the General Education Area that students satisfy in their first –year with three IHUM courses or SLE. The Introduction to the Humanities requirement is an alternate name for the Area One Requirement. IHUM is an acronym for Introduction to the Humanities, and is used as a modifier for course, program and requirement depending on the particular situation.
Q. Where are IHUM program offices located?
A. IHUM program offices are on the second floor of Sweet Hall. Post-doctoral fellows’ carrels are also located there. The SLE administration and budget is also handled by the IHUM program staff.
Q. I’m teaching IHUM next quarter and a student has emailed me asking for permission to enroll in my course. How should I respond?
A. No faculty member or post-doctoral fellow has the authority to admit a student into an IHUM course or section. Enrollment is entirely managed by the central IHUM staff through a complex preference/assignment process. More than 95% of students are assigned to their first or second preference, so tell the student to complete the online preference form and to list your course as first choice. It is NOT a first-come, first-serve system.
Q. A student from my IHUM course has questioned the grade that his post-doctoral fellow gave him on his paper and brought the paper for me to re-grade. What should I do?
A. IHUM has developed a fair and equitable Grade Grievance Procedure to handle these cases. First, tell the student to discuss his grade with his fellow, and then contact the fellow to let him/her know that the student has brought you the paper. Do not re-grade the paper. Please consult the full text of the procedure.
Q. What role do faculty play in the selection of post-doctoral fellows to teach in their course?
A. Faculty review the files of post-doctoral fellows who meet eligibility requirements and rank the candidates according to their suitability to be on the teaching team for their course. Typically, the number of applicants per course ranges from 20 to 150. After collecting and collating faculty rankings from both autumn and winter/spring courses, the Associate Director of IHUM identifies as semi-finalists the candidates ranked in the top five for both autumn and winter/spring. After telephone screenings and further review, finalists from this group are invited to campus. Faculty interview finalists before offers are made. The Associate Director is the formal hiring officer and supervisor for all post-doctoral IHUM fellows.