rattigan

Have you looked at U of British Columbia at all? They have a really strong field of Canadian Indigenous Lit folks, but I'm sure there's a lot of crossover with US Native Lit.

Thanks, Roquentin and somethinbruin, for the advice and especially for the reassurance that a PhD is actually within the realm of possibility for me, even with my meandering past.

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my meandering background, BunnyWantsaPhD. I do worry about whether it would read as "diverse" in a good way, or "scattered" in a "she doesn't know what she wants" way. Which is why I'm feeling like I should do a few things in the next couple years to show a little more solidity and direction towards the PhD.

Hi all~ I've been lurking around this forum for the last few months as I contemplate my future PhD aspirations. I'm a few years away from applying, but I figure I might as well use this time wisely to help strengthen my future applications as much as possible. I've got some ideas for how to do that, just from reading through the threads, but I thought I'd put my specific situation out there and see if anybody has any other advice or ideas I hadn't thought of. So, here's some basic background: ~ graduated with a B.A. in English Lit, minor in Philosophy in 2003 from a small, but well-ranked, undergrad-only liberal arts school ~ was tired of school and had little direction so took a few years off, taught English abroad, worked menial jobs, moved around a lot, and eventually got into the field of education ~ earned an M.A. in Education (along with a K-8 teaching credential) in 2011, but now after working as a teacher for a couple years find myself unsatisfied with the field. I liked studying the theory of education, but in practice it's much less intellectually satisfying and I'm finding that I need that intellectual aspect to feel fulfilled day-to-day ~ just started a 3-year, low-residency MFA in Poetry, which is somewhat fulfilling that intellectual need with the theory/criticism aspect while also indulging my creative ambitions, which I feel like I can do now that I have a "practical" degree and a "real" job With all of this, I'm realizing more and more that I want to continue on to a PhD. After quite a bit of research and thought, I'm thinking that Rhet/Comp just might be my area (though I also continue to entertain the thought of Creative Writing and Education PhDs). Very broadly, I'm interested in the philosophy of language and how we construct meaning, as well as the variety of "Englishes" in use (and more specifically, Alaska Native English, which I'm not sure is as well studied, but I find it fascinating the particular way Natives across the state seem to use English). I'm also interested in poetics, and am really drawn to programs like SUNY-Buffalo's poetics program, but that seems a little less useful and may be something I can satisfy through my current MFA. So, after all that, grad cafe wise ones, what do you think I can do to prepare myself for PhD applications two years from now? Some things I've thought of doing are taking a class/independent study or two with a prof in my current University's English/RhetComp program, making sure I incorporate more theory-type work into my MFA work, going to conferences, writing and attempting to publish a paper. Any other ideas? I'm a little worried that my background is too scattered to make for a good PhD app, but I'm hopeful that with the right school/right fit I can have some success.