rhetoricus aesalon

JohnR: it would actually be useful for you to study rhetoric and composition. If you did, you would learn about stasis theory, and understand why making a value/proposal claim before establishing a definition makes for a weak argument. 
Also, maybe you should worry less about the academic credibility of rhet/comp and worry more about your half-funding. That has nothing to do with rhet/comp but the messed up priorities of your department. PhD students should be fully funded PERIOD, and your department is screwing you over. They are your adversaries, and rhet/comp grad students would likely join you in advocating for more funding and fair labor treatment. Because we're activist-scholar ballers like that. 

I want to SO BAD. Are you? I just have to figure out how to swing it.

So, just out of curiosity, do you have a list of programs that you'd want to apply to? I had a colleague in my program come from law, but he was getting an MFA. I'd say in my experience it is not common, though not unheard of. 
Something you might consider is taking graduate-level classes as a non-degree-seeking student for a semester or two at a college near you to test out if this is the kind of transition you really want to make; it might also help with some of the stress of feeling like you're not doing anything right now. I did this before going back to grad school, the credits transferred into my program, and it also helped me build relationships with faculty who eventually wrote letters of recommendation for me when I did apply for a degree granting program.
I could be totally reading into your situation here too much, but it's my feeling that you're rushing this and need guidance from an adviser, not a discussion board. As you've already gotten from others, it doesn't seem like you really know what you want or what you're signing up for, and whether that's true or not -- it isn't something you want to have come across in a statement of purpose.

I refrained from commenting yesterday, and boy am I glad that I did.

This here is why every humanities job search in the country gets 33% of its applications from retired lawyers who decided they want to "give back to the community" and "teach a class on something or other I've been pursuing as a hobby on the weekends for the past 3 years". Yes, law school is different from literary scholarship. I've never set foot in a law school, and I can already tell you that you didn't spend the last 3 years building encyclopedic knowledge of a distant corner of some literary canon, maturing your ideas through planning, completing, and revising lengthy projects intimately connected to the matter of your scholarship, developing a relationship with major and minor literary theorists, and trying the daily bread of the trade, such as conferences, teaching, department politics, and which invited talks have the best doughnuts. Of course the skills you learned in law school are transferable - most skills are. Of course you're going to have an easier time transitioning into literature than into physics. But the same reason law school doesn't qualify you for any kind of work but law is the reason it doesn't qualify you for grad school in literature - because the really important ingredient to forming a sophisticated argument, besides being able to form an argument, is having something to form an argument about, and that comes from experience, which is a word for a lot of time spent working through a specific subject matter, which is the piece that many unsuccessful applicants don't have. Being a good writer or whatever is kind of the necessary but not sufficient piece; likewise, being a good mathematician is the best predictor for success in a math or economics program, but good mathematicians don't always make good physicists and economists because math is neither physics nor economics. Math is math, and law school is law school (I will have no Magritte jokes, please).
 

 
Oh boy. Tell you what, I don't know how much control over their lives lawyers have, but I do know that all academics but the likes of Hawking and Chomsky have very little control over their lives, and they are moreover not paid shit for it. An academic in the humanities usually can't choose where they will live, because they have to accept whatever position of employment is offered to them, even if it's in Bumfuck, New Jersey, they have little leeway in deciding when to work on things simply because they have to be working all the time, and the what and how are often limited by grant funding, department politics, and getting fucked in the ass by the administration for any attempt at non-compliance with the party line. You remember that guy who tweeted something untoward about Israel this time last year and immediately got fired (which, in academia, is the same as having your forehead branded with DO NOT HIRE, EVER - other offenses with similar punishment include going to a non-fancy school and adjuncting to pay your bills)? That could be you. When academics finally get control of their lives is when they are tenured, have made a name for themselves in a profession, and can show up on campus  maybe1 day a week to teach a graduate class and do nice things like give invited talks and write op-eds for the NYT, which happens when they're like 50 (in law, I think this is called "making partner").
Don't go into academia expecting to have a good work-life balance. Don't go into academia expecting to live the "life of the mind", chill out on the quad green, and make conversation with attractive undergrads and get paid for it. Professional scholarship is signing up for Investment Banking hours for months at a time, for the next 20 years of your life (if you're lucky - if you're not, you're thrown out and have to start your life over at 35, married, with two kids). 
 
Sigh. Sometimes I am annoyed at the VM thread, but other times I see posts like this and I understand the importance of VM's work.

Ooooh conferences! I will be presenting at CCCC in Houston, and I'm waiting to hear back about my RSA (Rhetoric Society of America) proposal. I'm trying to wrangle some folks to submit a panel to Computers and Writing, which will be in a city with an actual airport next year, Rochester, NY. I only attended one conference this year (and presented remotely at two others) due to le baby, so next year will be a big shift! 

Talk to me about CW. I'm trying to put together something myself.
I'm also doing CCCC in Houston
Listing a few that still have open CFPs (or haven't sent them out yet)
CW is May 19-22nd in Rochester
SIGDOC is in DC/NOVA in September (which, grrrrr, would have loved it to be over the summer)
HASTAC is May 11-15th at Arizona State
SXSWEdu is March 7-10 in Austin (panels are closed, playgrounds are open)
and the WIDE-EMU unconference is next weekend at MSU.
 

70 days until Deadline #1 and I've got bupkis.

I think your skeleton outline looks about right. But before you get started, I'd start with the big question for yourself: what is your narrative? For example, in mine, I wanted to present myself as a scholar, teacher, and activist who wanted to meld those interests in my studies and teaching. Once I realized my thesis, so to say, I moved on from there, choosing examples and experiences that supported the narrative I wanted to put forth. 
 
So, what's your narrative? Start there and the rest may fall into place (and still need like twenty revisions because the SOP is a beast that will not be tamed). 

Good question! I'd say most of my grad seminars were structured similarly to my undergrad seminars: discussion based sessions on that week's readings and course concepts. Here are some subtle but important differences:
Both in my MA and PhD programs, classes met once a week for three hours. This means we had more substantial discussions, diving pretty deeply into each reading. Some professors also assigned small group work to fill out the time as well. The sections are smaller, which means there is more pressure to talk in class. Many, if not most, students have a laptop ready to go. Many seminars require a presentation component. This can range from students presenting mini-conference papers or even leading the class for an hour or two.  Students are often treated as experts in their subfields. For example, I am often asked, "what does a disability studies reading of this text look like?" by my professors or classmates. Some people will try to be the smartest person in the room. Don't be that person. (Sorry I'm slipping into advice here.) Be the hardest worker or the most engaged or some other superlative if you must. But the folks trying to be the smartest person in the room (name dropping theorists irrelevant to the conversation as if everyone knows their entire bibliographies, speaking thesaurus-ese, interrupting others), are often the worst. 

It's all about exigence, erosanddust! I wouldn't make up a reason for an email, and I really wouldn't send a paper and ask for feedback. If the professor has a recent publication, though, go ahead and ask a question. The trick is the question has to be smart but not presumptuous. It's a tricky genre (go to any Q&A at a conference, and you'll see that most academics haven't really mastered the honest inquisitive question).
 
I have emailed some of the scholars in my field for various reasons, including offering to help out on a committee they head, asking for connections when putting together a conference panel, requesting a PDF of a book chapter I can't find via library databases, or seeing if they could speak at a student event (with an honorarium). I actually find the best way to make a connection is to meet the person offline at a conference, and then email a follow-up "it was nice to meet you let's be BFF's kthxbye" note afterward. 

My tactics probably aren't the best (and are by no means expert), but I'm very happy to try and share what I do if you might find it helpful.
 
Honestly, I've found the best way to cope is by talking about it, and that can often be the hardest thing because, like you said, no one wants to talk about it. Sometimes I've thought, though, that if I don't talk about it then no one will -- and you bringing this up could very well bring to the surface a lot of issues others in your cohort have been trying to suppress as well. 
 
I try to tell myself that I'm allowed my feelings and try to trust that by sharing respectfully and honestly I will be drawn to the right mentors and colleagues who want to see the work I do succeed. For me, my feelings of depression come mainly from feeling like I do not belong and that nobody cares about me or my work (which is in some ways fair -- nobody is required to like me or what I do), but I think what's important about this is that I've come to a point where listening to my body in this way (trying to understand why I feel a certain way) has helped me redirect primarily negative feelings into primarily productive conversations that have helped me grow as a person and scholar, and in some cases even encouraged change in the programs I've been in.

Also,
 
howabout: I'm very sorry you're feeling this way. Good on you for acknowledging that you're not happy and make the moves to become so.
 
Chadillac: You're the best. Just, the best. 

My tactics probably aren't the best (and are by no means expert), but I'm very happy to try and share what I do if you might find it helpful.
 
Honestly, I've found the best way to cope is by talking about it, and that can often be the hardest thing because, like you said, no one wants to talk about it. Sometimes I've thought, though, that if I don't talk about it then no one will -- and you bringing this up could very well bring to the surface a lot of issues others in your cohort have been trying to suppress as well. 
 
I try to tell myself that I'm allowed my feelings and try to trust that by sharing respectfully and honestly I will be drawn to the right mentors and colleagues who want to see the work I do succeed. For me, my feelings of depression come mainly from feeling like I do not belong and that nobody cares about me or my work (which is in some ways fair -- nobody is required to like me or what I do), but I think what's important about this is that I've come to a point where listening to my body in this way (trying to understand why I feel a certain way) has helped me redirect primarily negative feelings into primarily productive conversations that have helped me grow as a person and scholar, and in some cases even encouraged change in the programs I've been in.

If you feel comfortable with any of your professors, I would schedule a meeting and talk with them as soon as possible. I would be honest and tell them about your current concerns with the program and that you are questioning your place in it. They hand-picked you for a certain reason to be there, and if you are struggling to feel accepted and supported, there is nothing wrong with you stating it and asking for help -- even if that help means leaving the program.
 
Your concerns don't sound all that far off from the (unfortunate) depression that is common among many grad students. I have certainly felt it and know many others who have, too. I truly wish you the best with this ordeal, and please keep us updated (if you feel comfortable, of course) in what you decide and how things develop.

My tactics probably aren't the best (and are by no means expert), but I'm very happy to try and share what I do if you might find it helpful.
 
Honestly, I've found the best way to cope is by talking about it, and that can often be the hardest thing because, like you said, no one wants to talk about it. Sometimes I've thought, though, that if I don't talk about it then no one will -- and you bringing this up could very well bring to the surface a lot of issues others in your cohort have been trying to suppress as well. 
 
I try to tell myself that I'm allowed my feelings and try to trust that by sharing respectfully and honestly I will be drawn to the right mentors and colleagues who want to see the work I do succeed. For me, my feelings of depression come mainly from feeling like I do not belong and that nobody cares about me or my work (which is in some ways fair -- nobody is required to like me or what I do), but I think what's important about this is that I've come to a point where listening to my body in this way (trying to understand why I feel a certain way) has helped me redirect primarily negative feelings into primarily productive conversations that have helped me grow as a person and scholar, and in some cases even encouraged change in the programs I've been in.

My tactics probably aren't the best (and are by no means expert), but I'm very happy to try and share what I do if you might find it helpful.
 
Honestly, I've found the best way to cope is by talking about it, and that can often be the hardest thing because, like you said, no one wants to talk about it. Sometimes I've thought, though, that if I don't talk about it then no one will -- and you bringing this up could very well bring to the surface a lot of issues others in your cohort have been trying to suppress as well. 
 
I try to tell myself that I'm allowed my feelings and try to trust that by sharing respectfully and honestly I will be drawn to the right mentors and colleagues who want to see the work I do succeed. For me, my feelings of depression come mainly from feeling like I do not belong and that nobody cares about me or my work (which is in some ways fair -- nobody is required to like me or what I do), but I think what's important about this is that I've come to a point where listening to my body in this way (trying to understand why I feel a certain way) has helped me redirect primarily negative feelings into primarily productive conversations that have helped me grow as a person and scholar, and in some cases even encouraged change in the programs I've been in.

My tactics probably aren't the best (and are by no means expert), but I'm very happy to try and share what I do if you might find it helpful.
 
Honestly, I've found the best way to cope is by talking about it, and that can often be the hardest thing because, like you said, no one wants to talk about it. Sometimes I've thought, though, that if I don't talk about it then no one will -- and you bringing this up could very well bring to the surface a lot of issues others in your cohort have been trying to suppress as well. 
 
I try to tell myself that I'm allowed my feelings and try to trust that by sharing respectfully and honestly I will be drawn to the right mentors and colleagues who want to see the work I do succeed. For me, my feelings of depression come mainly from feeling like I do not belong and that nobody cares about me or my work (which is in some ways fair -- nobody is required to like me or what I do), but I think what's important about this is that I've come to a point where listening to my body in this way (trying to understand why I feel a certain way) has helped me redirect primarily negative feelings into primarily productive conversations that have helped me grow as a person and scholar, and in some cases even encouraged change in the programs I've been in.

If you feel comfortable with any of your professors, I would schedule a meeting and talk with them as soon as possible. I would be honest and tell them about your current concerns with the program and that you are questioning your place in it. They hand-picked you for a certain reason to be there, and if you are struggling to feel accepted and supported, there is nothing wrong with you stating it and asking for help -- even if that help means leaving the program.
 
Your concerns don't sound all that far off from the (unfortunate) depression that is common among many grad students. I have certainly felt it and know many others who have, too. I truly wish you the best with this ordeal, and please keep us updated (if you feel comfortable, of course) in what you decide and how things develop.

Wow, really? At both of the teaching-focused schools I've been at, folks in the sciences were teaching no more than a 3/3 teaching load. Labs were taught by grad students at one school and, at the other, counted as partial classes toward that 3/3 teaching load. I'm only pointing this out to say that there are huge differences in teaching load at schools that receive the same label. I know of a SLAC where the teaching load in chemistry is 2/2 one year and 2/3 the next year (friend teaches there which is how I know).
 
For the Lit/Rhet/Comp folks, I'll note that I've also seen the same disparities in your field at these institutions. At one, comp folks taught a 3/3 (which included like one grad course a year). At another, English faculty teaching mostly a 3/2 load. 
 
If you're teaching more than a 3/3 load as a graduate of your department, you're going to be unable to do the other things you need to do to advance in the profession. Everyone, except those who have been on the market recently, underestimates how much of your time and energy the job market takes up. The best way to think of it is as an additional part-time job that will take 10-20 hours of your time almost every week in the fall as you scour job ads, prepare tailored documents, and upload those documents. If you don't believe me, find a senior grad student that has been on the market and ask them what it was like. 

Just know that I had a minor conniption before responding, re: your last paragraph, and will make the following bullet points in a not unfriendly way:
Empirical research in any field is necessarily constrained by the rhetorical situation in which it is performed and the ways in which the data are constructed into a narrative (see Bruno Latour). The objective/subjective dichotomy is perpetuated on a truly objective state that does not currently exist in scholarship. The effectiveness of writing is entirely driven by qualitative factors. Research in writing is empirical and qualitiative but that does not mean that it is less valid or legitimate than quantitative data sources. Qualitative data are complex and complicated and messy, but so is quantitative data until it is stripped down to its statistics and presented in a journal. Trying to make rhetoric and composition into science or to make it mathematically-sound is a fool's errand because that sort of data fails to represent adequately the complexity of writing in the way that it is often presented. It leads to single-score, Pearson-branded, ETS-endorsed psychometric hogwash.  The majority of scholarship in rhetoric and composition is driven by studies with actual students. Even the most practical, pedagogical papers generally refer to the scholar's own students and their responses to a proposed intervention. It's definitely a data-driven field. Are you interested in cognitive approaches to writing, i.e. psychometrics, or a cognitivist approach, i.e. an examination of writers' processes? Looking at process is pretty standard in the field now. The process vs. product debate is pretty much settled in most corners, anyway.

Penn State (Cheryl Glenn) and Maryland (Jane Donawerth). My friend who studies rhetoric and women in the Renaissance also applied to UNC and Miami. Soy, are you looking for focus on rhetoric or literature? Some of the programs you listed don't have a rhetoric program, but depending on your interests and career goals, that might be fine.

Based on your profile, I'm assuming you're an MA student thinking about taking/auditing an undergrad course in rhet/comp. In other words, you are not an undergrad -- is that right? 
 
If you're an undergrad, you have nothing to worry about. Choose a writing sample that is good work -- a clear argument supported by well-researched evidence that shows that you are familiar with doing scholarship in the fields of English studies.
 
But if you are already a grad student, then you will want to work on crafting a clear alignment or pathway to rhet/comp in your PhD writing sample. Even if you end up with a revision of a lit-based paper, the expectation will be to see how the work you are doing is connected to scholarship in rhetoric and composition broadly defined. 
 
With that said, and you decide you need more exposure to rhet/comp to do this (which I'm not saying you do -- to me it sounds like you have more than you might give yourself credit for), I don't feel taking an undergrad class is necessarily the best route to get there. Does your program have an option for independent study? Do you have an adviser or professor who you are especially close with and trust to give you good and honest feedback? You might think about crafting a class around this very issue with this person -- articulating your work as rhet/comp scholarship -- and do readings that support the work you're already doing and create a strong writing sample as a final product. You will be held to a much higher standard than an undergrad class, and you will get much better results for what you want. 
 
But that's just my 2 cents!

Based on your profile, I'm assuming you're an MA student thinking about taking/auditing an undergrad course in rhet/comp. In other words, you are not an undergrad -- is that right? 
 
If you're an undergrad, you have nothing to worry about. Choose a writing sample that is good work -- a clear argument supported by well-researched evidence that shows that you are familiar with doing scholarship in the fields of English studies.
 
But if you are already a grad student, then you will want to work on crafting a clear alignment or pathway to rhet/comp in your PhD writing sample. Even if you end up with a revision of a lit-based paper, the expectation will be to see how the work you are doing is connected to scholarship in rhetoric and composition broadly defined. 
 
With that said, and you decide you need more exposure to rhet/comp to do this (which I'm not saying you do -- to me it sounds like you have more than you might give yourself credit for), I don't feel taking an undergrad class is necessarily the best route to get there. Does your program have an option for independent study? Do you have an adviser or professor who you are especially close with and trust to give you good and honest feedback? You might think about crafting a class around this very issue with this person -- articulating your work as rhet/comp scholarship -- and do readings that support the work you're already doing and create a strong writing sample as a final product. You will be held to a much higher standard than an undergrad class, and you will get much better results for what you want. 
 
But that's just my 2 cents!

Based on your profile, I'm assuming you're an MA student thinking about taking/auditing an undergrad course in rhet/comp. In other words, you are not an undergrad -- is that right? 
 
If you're an undergrad, you have nothing to worry about. Choose a writing sample that is good work -- a clear argument supported by well-researched evidence that shows that you are familiar with doing scholarship in the fields of English studies.
 
But if you are already a grad student, then you will want to work on crafting a clear alignment or pathway to rhet/comp in your PhD writing sample. Even if you end up with a revision of a lit-based paper, the expectation will be to see how the work you are doing is connected to scholarship in rhetoric and composition broadly defined. 
 
With that said, and you decide you need more exposure to rhet/comp to do this (which I'm not saying you do -- to me it sounds like you have more than you might give yourself credit for), I don't feel taking an undergrad class is necessarily the best route to get there. Does your program have an option for independent study? Do you have an adviser or professor who you are especially close with and trust to give you good and honest feedback? You might think about crafting a class around this very issue with this person -- articulating your work as rhet/comp scholarship -- and do readings that support the work you're already doing and create a strong writing sample as a final product. You will be held to a much higher standard than an undergrad class, and you will get much better results for what you want. 
 
But that's just my 2 cents!

Based on your profile, I'm assuming you're an MA student thinking about taking/auditing an undergrad course in rhet/comp. In other words, you are not an undergrad -- is that right? 
 
If you're an undergrad, you have nothing to worry about. Choose a writing sample that is good work -- a clear argument supported by well-researched evidence that shows that you are familiar with doing scholarship in the fields of English studies.
 
But if you are already a grad student, then you will want to work on crafting a clear alignment or pathway to rhet/comp in your PhD writing sample. Even if you end up with a revision of a lit-based paper, the expectation will be to see how the work you are doing is connected to scholarship in rhetoric and composition broadly defined. 
 
With that said, and you decide you need more exposure to rhet/comp to do this (which I'm not saying you do -- to me it sounds like you have more than you might give yourself credit for), I don't feel taking an undergrad class is necessarily the best route to get there. Does your program have an option for independent study? Do you have an adviser or professor who you are especially close with and trust to give you good and honest feedback? You might think about crafting a class around this very issue with this person -- articulating your work as rhet/comp scholarship -- and do readings that support the work you're already doing and create a strong writing sample as a final product. You will be held to a much higher standard than an undergrad class, and you will get much better results for what you want. 
 
But that's just my 2 cents!