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eleanor reacted to johndiligent in PhD Humanities - Just Don't Do It!
Oh dear. I suspect I'm swallowing bait by responding to this, but there's certainly a difference between studying Religion and studying Theology for one, let alone a difference between studying religion and attending church. You're right, I might have a great deal of success finding work in a confessional institution (though I actually wouldn't for one teensy detail mentioned below), but you might as well say that I'd have a great deal of success finding work as a marine biologist for all it has to do with what I want to do for a living.
I'm studying religion as a social force in antiquity. My job isn't to make value judgments about early Christian theology, or to figure out how early Christian theology informs today's theology, or to look into early Christian records for evidence of Jesus's divinity or lack thereof. It's to study how early Christians behaved in the context of Greco-Roman society. What they believed is only important insofar as it motivates said behaviour. I definitely don't care whether early Christian beliefs have any ground in theological truth. That's absolutely irrelevant to me, and - I think - would hinder my ability to carry out historical research in an objective way.
For what it's worth, I'm Jewish not a nihilist. And atheists get cards now?
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eleanor reacted to natsteel in PhD Humanities - Just Don't Do It!
I think that what it comes down to is this... if a program is not willing to fully fund you + stipend it means they don't want you. My advisor, who is a well-known historian in his field and is involved in hiring for the department, tells me that you have to go to the best school possible. He's seen dozens of candidates come in for jobs from schools he's never heard of and he told me, "I can't see these people ever getting a job teaching anywhere." And I'm not talking about a tenure-track position, even adjuncting. He also tells me, like every professor should, that under no circumstances should anyone take on debt for a graduate degree... the earning potential for the average PhD is just not enough to cover 50k+ in loans.
I also agree with the previous poster about quality of schools... I go to a public university and most of my professors got either their undergraduate or, mostly, their graduate degrees from Ivy League schools. If you are coming out of a school not in the Top 20 you are at a serious handicap unless you have a relatively stellar record of publishing and the like. To take out loans simply to pay for tuition at a a school outside even the Top 20 is financial suicide. The nature of graduate school and the profession itself has changed so radically as well that alot of professors who have been at their posts for 10-20 years simply do not know enough about how the current system works to advise their students properly. No one should go to graduate school until they understand that there is the very real and highly likely probability that they could, literally, end up as an adjunct at a community college.
In the Humanities, your employability is primarily determined by the school you attended (and, therefore, the network you have developed) and your publishing record. Not to mention that you absolutely cannot have even the possibility of a real career in academe without being absolutely open to picking up and moving anywhere at anytime. This article may be sensationalist and distort some of the issues but, in all reality, the outlook for most people pursuing a PhD in the Humanities, especially outside Top 20 schools, is horrifyingly bleak, and even worse for those who are going into massive debt because of it.
My advisor tells me, and I hope, that I have every chance of getting into a Top 10 program and I know beyond a doubt that pursuing the PhD is what I want to do... However, should I not get full funding+stipend anywhere, I, simply, will not be going. It would absolutely crush me, but, being a bit older, I realize that you MUST take the long view. I've read too many horror stories over on the Chronicle forums to just blow these kinds of warnings off. If you think I might be exaggerating, go to chronicle.com and check out the forums or even post a question and see what they tell you. Sadly, the decision to pursue a PhD nowadays is no longer a choice which can be made idealistically and naively.
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eleanor got a reaction from profmastersam in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
As far as I know, no one active in this thread applied to UC-Davis Performance Studies but just in case there are others who have been frustrated by their admissions process:
I called just now and was told that they have made all their offers already, to five applicants out of forty. So that is the end of that! (for me)
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eleanor got a reaction from roguesenna in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
This forum has been a total godsend for me in so many ways. So many nice, smart people! Sending fierce, fierce vibes to everyone--especially Garnet Geek!
Still waiting on California but WHOA the stakes are so much lower now. Phew.
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eleanor got a reaction from Aubergine in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
I got into Northwestern IPTD! I feel like I have felt every single possible emotion over the past 24 hours. Woof.
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eleanor got a reaction from profmastersam in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
This forum has been a total godsend for me in so many ways. So many nice, smart people! Sending fierce, fierce vibes to everyone--especially Garnet Geek!
Still waiting on California but WHOA the stakes are so much lower now. Phew.
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eleanor got a reaction from profmastersam in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
I got into Northwestern IPTD! I feel like I have felt every single possible emotion over the past 24 hours. Woof.
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eleanor got a reaction from Garnet Geek in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
I got into Northwestern IPTD! I feel like I have felt every single possible emotion over the past 24 hours. Woof.
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eleanor got a reaction from roguesenna in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
At the end of my phone interview, I was invited to come to the visiting/interview/whatever weekend that's happening in early March--all expenses paid! He said this would be an opportunity for me to get a feel for the program and if I might like it there, and the same for them about me. How many folks are usually invited out to these sorts of things? It feels a little gladiator-like.
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eleanor got a reaction from profmastersam in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
Congratulations on Maryland! Are they a strong contender for you?
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eleanor got a reaction from profmastersam in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
At the end of my phone interview, I was invited to come to the visiting/interview/whatever weekend that's happening in early March--all expenses paid! He said this would be an opportunity for me to get a feel for the program and if I might like it there, and the same for them about me. How many folks are usually invited out to these sorts of things? It feels a little gladiator-like.
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eleanor got a reaction from profmastersam in Fall 2014 applicants for theater/performance Ph. D.?
I posted just now--don't know who the other one is. Phone interview tomorrow.