Winter Sorbeck

Hey guys--I posted on here a while back, but I need some more program advice. After talking with one of my profs, I'm going to look more at programs with strong contemporary American lit programs. More specifically, I'm really interested in where American literature is going and how we, in the university, going to study it. My writing sample is on the different uses of media (in narrative content and the visual design) in Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. I have a short list of programs going (Penn State, U of Maryland, WashU in St. Louis, U of Illinois--Urbana Champaign, U of Iowa, Michigan--Ann Arbor), but I feel like I'm having a hard time finding programs...are there any other programs that anyone could suggest?

Not only do I second the advice to not jump on the bandwagon, I have personal experience. This past round of applications I tried to market myself as a digital humanities student--thinking that it was the hot new thing that would surely get me into a program. Because I work with print culture, I thought, "well, it will eventually be my field because print culture will surely be quickly immersed in DH." My problem, however, was discussing DH while not knowing a whole lot about it. I think that, ultimately, my statement probably sounded like a Wikipedia entry, which lead to my plethora of rejections. Definitely don't try to just "fit in" to what is new or hot in the field. Instead, market yourself as unique and important. You love what you do for a reason, so that is what needs to come across in your work.

My period is 20th/21st American. I'm planning on applying to around 20 schools (since this will be my third round of applications) and I want to apply to schools across the rankings board. I know this has been a point of debate on here but I really do want to make sure that I have all my bases covered. One of my professors told me to look at programs that have strong faculty in American lit and then market myself as an Americanist with a narrowed focus in book design and consumer culture (a lot of work that I have done has been with book covers and their representations of the novel). I guess I wavering between traditional English programs and American Studies programs.

Hey all! I'm prepping for the Fall 2014 cycle this year! My interests are in print culture, book design, and the marketplace. The only thing that I am having trouble with is finding programs that will be a good fit. There are few people who have done a cultural analysis of book design and they all tend to work in communication and art history programs. Can anyone recommend any programs for me to look into?