Angelus Novus

Salut JoeySsance, I am new to GradCafe and just came across your discussion while looking up french theory. I am planning to apply at the end of the year for Fall 2012 PhD programs which are strong in French theory, but am honestly rather unsure of whether it would be best to apply to French departments, or other disciplines, such as Anthropology, Philosophy, History (with a focus in Intellectual History), or even Religion. I did my MA at Columbia in Anthropology, where I spent the first year reading philosophy, including a lot of Foucault, Derrida, Lacan, Barthes, Benjamin, Bataille and Agamben. Since my MA (graduated in 2004) I have been working with the United Nations and have been on countless missions, but have continued to read these authors, and have also developed a strong interest in the work of Maurice Blanchot. For my PhD research, I would be keen to trace the genealogies of concepts of Sacrifice, Loss, Mourning, Survival, Memory and Forgetting, from their religio-philosophical roots to their play in contemporary narratives (possibly in post-war contexts). Would like to engage in the question of philosophy of history and language as well. I would be most interested to hear your advice as well as your opinion of the Harvard program, as I looked at both the French and the History departments at Harvard. Am also considering returning to Columbia, either back to the Anthropology department, to the French department, or possibly even to the department of Religion. Have wondered about Yale as well, as well as Berkeley. Any advice would be very much appreciated, as I would like to narrow down my choices by the end of the summer! Merci a l'avance.