The Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Art of Teaching Writing Fellowship is a grant designed to provide graduate students teaching Reading and Composition courses in 2026-27 the opportunity to improve existing and develop new pedagogical skills and practices. Each Koshland Fellow receives a $1,000 stipend for their participation in the week-long Summer Writing Institute, co-led by Joseph Harris, a leading scholar in composition studies, and Jenae Cohn, executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley.
In a small seminar setting, students work through all the elements of their upcoming courses, assembling syllabi, major assignments, and in-class reading and writing exercises to use throughout the semester. Guest lecturers will be invited to share new and innovative pedagogical practices and strategies.
During the Fall 2026 semester, Koshland Fellows are required to attend monthly meetings and to post occasional comments to the Art of Teaching Writing blog. The semester concludes with a special seminar in December at which students discuss their teaching experiences and reflect on ways to improve the teaching of writing on the Berkeley campus.
Koshland Summer Institute Leaders
Joseph Harris directed composition programs at Duke University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Delaware for many years. He has written or edited five books on teaching writing, including The Work of Teaching Writing: Learning from Fiction, Film and Drama; Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts; and A Teaching Subject: Composition Since 1966. Harris has also edited CCC, the leading journal in writing studies, and the Studies in Writing and Rhetoric book series. He has been involved with the Summer Writing Institute since 2016.
Jenae Cohn, PhD (English, Rhetoric, and Composition) is the executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley. She is the author of Skim, Dive, Surface: Teaching Digital Reading (West Virginia University Press, 2021) and has held previous teaching support roles at California State University, Sacramento and Stanford University.
Dates
The 2026 Summer Writing Institute meets in person from Monday, May 18 through Friday, May 22 (9 am to 5 pm). Participants should plan to do an hour or two of reading and writing each evening.
Eligibility
UC Berkeley graduate students who have taught at least 1 semester but not more than 6 semesters of Reading and Composition (R1A, R1B, R5A, R5B). Applicants must be planning to teach at least one semester of R&C in 2026-27. Students who fully expect to be assigned an R&C course but whose department has not yet assigned R&C courses may apply, but will not be eligible to receive the award if not assigned a 2026-27 R&C course.
Grant Provision
Each fellow receives a $1000 stipend upon completing the Summer Writing Institute.
Deadline
Apr 16, 2026 11:59 pm
Click here to start your application.
Please note that you will need to create a Submittable account to access the application. For technical assistance, please visit submittable.com/contact.
For inquiries about the program, please contact Jane Liaw at janeliaw@berkeley.edu.