Swagato
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Posts posted by Swagato
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My list just shrank to 13, I hope to get it down to 12 finally because 13 feels like a bad number. Or maybe I'll add another one. As long as it doesn't remain 13.
I applied to 13. >.>
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Well, then. I spent the past few days reading up on the various Kindles, the new Kobo Aura HD e-reader, etc. etc. Ultimately the iPad or the iPad Mini wins, since the Kobo apparently handles PDFs poorly, and the Kindle is...clunky. Too bad. I sort of wished for e-Ink. It's really much better to read on than the standard iPad display...
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Hey all,
I wanted to check in to see how we're doing. I presume most of you are on the GSAS Facebook group? If not, get moving! Also, are any of you in touch with your departments/POIs? Have you met your cohort-mates?
It's suddenly dawning on me that this is the last week of June. Five more weeks...and then I quit NYC for New Haven
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All of those positive signs mean nothing either way as far as your PhD admission is concerned. Only when you have that official word will you have any certainty there. And even so, what then? Of course you will be covered for tuition and will receive a stipend--isn't that the basic expectation for doing a PhD in the humanities or social sciences today? If your program is any good, they will cover tuition, provide for health insurance, and will pay a stipend. That goes without saying.
The real question is what happens afterward. Your family will need to settle into the new place. Many of the major universities can be located in college towns, and are thus removed from the amenities possible in a large city. All of which doesn't even account for the big gorilla in the room: post-PhD employment. If you aren't already aware of the brutal competition across the humanities and the social sciences, now is a great time to do some reading there.
I don't see why you can't keep the job going until you learn what happens with the PhD admission, and then evaluate circumstances as they are at that time?
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Now that the new Airs are out, it's best to wait until the back-to-school time. The new Airs really are a serious upgrade all around.
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But you can read several articles simultaneously on a tablet device, surely? Or is it more a question of keeping track of annotations etc. I just end up printing out articles that I conclude are going to require further reading or will feature in my writing. The rest (i.e. generalist/background reading articles) can stay in digital form.
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No.
I went to a *very* modestly ranked small liberal arts college. I then did my MA at UChicago. So I would say that that was the major jump, and that going from Chicago to (now) Yale is a much shorter jump.
However, I do want to note that such a jump is in the minority. Like you, I've also observed that the students who end up in leading programs tend to come from other leading programs. I'm sure there is an obvious momentum here--clearly, the best programs desire students vetted by other comparable programs. Yet, this is not an absolute. It can be overcome. It's just unusual and, therefore, less frequent.
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Speaking of housing, the hubs and I are putting in an offer for a house in DC today. It's perfect. Please cross your fingers and toes!
Hey, congratulations on that big decision--hope it goes smoothly. I'm just curious; do you mind PMing me some figures involved? I'm wondering what sort of place you're aiming for, and what kinds of numbers are involved, etc.
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This is correct. Funding, if you are offered any, will likely apply solely to the tuition part. You're responsible for the rest of it plus living expenses plus fees. Be sure to make a reasoned judgment when deciding whether to pursue MAPH or not. It can certainly place you well for PhD work (as in the case of myself and several friends) and it can also place you well in "alt-academic" or just non-academic work. However, the investment is a big one, and ultimately you're the best person to decide.
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On the other hand, we do get by in life based quite a bit upon what other people (an interviewer, a search committee, etc.) think of you. So I won't entirely dismiss the value of perception of one's self by others both within and without one's field of work.
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I've increasingly come to the conclusion that if you're going to be doing a lot of PDF reading, a tablet device is probably a good thing to have. It's fine reading PDFs on my Air when I'm working at the desk, but gets a little inconvenient if in bed (particularly when my SO is sleeping right next). Plus, eye strain is probably an issue.
Anyway, I'll add an iPad Mini sometime around first semester. I appreciated the "look" of e-Ink, but the Kindle is a slow and clunky dinosaur compared to operating the Mini, so there it goes.
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IMO this shouldn't be much of a question. Are you looking to be taken seriously by your cohort, by the wider academic community, and by the people who may someday have to decide on whether or not to hire you? Dress accordingly.
The only word of warning I'd offer is try and get a sense of the department's and institution's culture. Although it is far harder to be overdressed than underdressed, you don't want to come off as someone who apparently pays more attention to their attire than to their publications...
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Chicago's MAPH is probably worth considering. I've championed the program on this forum often. The biggest problem is that funding is scarce; I don't believe any full-tuition waivers are offered, so you only get a limited number of half-tuition or other partial-tuition funding packages. Also, MAPH is interdisciplinary by intention; the program serves both those who want an advanced education to turn into industrial work, as well as those who need a preparatory phase before pursuing academia in the future.
There have definitely been strong placements from art history from MAPH both to Chicago itself and to other top programs.
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I think there are two separate issues here which keep getting conflated.
1. "Snobbery" by STEM types who believe that the humanities and social sciences are inferior to their own fields.
2. Negativity by people with less (or little) formal education, which can be due to anything from insecurity to a sense of "I accomplished X, Y and Z without your education."
For #1, I think one major issue is that *some* STEM majors did well in AP-level classes in high school (like US History) and maybe did ok in a survey class or two for general ed... so they think that they know what the "field" really is about and what it is that we do. That, combined with the stereotype that "humanities people are not good at math," makes them feel superior. Of course, those of us who majored in the humanities (and especially those who went on to grad school) know there are HUGE differences between high school history, survey classes, upper division work, and graduate work. And not all humanities people are bad at math.. I majored in a STEM field when I started college and HATED every second of it, which is why I switched out.
Note that I said *SOME.* My partner majored in a science field and now teaches math, and he will the the first to admit he can't write a paper to save his life. Our relationship works because he respects what I do and I respect what he does.
For #2, there really isn't much you can do except deflect or avoid contact. My father didn't finish HS and to this day he still considers my education a waste of money (even though I went to a public university and he didn't pay a dime of it) because I switched to the humanities. My first marriage collapsed in part because my partner was very insecure about my education (and I only had a BA, and no plans to go to grad school). He kept shoving it in my face how I acted 'superior' because I had gone to college. He had only finished high school and joined the military, and even though this was not an issue for me, it clearly was a huge problem for him. (And clearly I picked a guy who was a lot like my father the first time around. Didn't make that mistake again).
I would add that the educational emphasis at the high school level on "going to college" has created resentment in people whose skill set and abilities might not be suited for university but might do great in vocational or technical fields (a good mechanic is worth his or her weight in gold). Schools have eliminated vocational training in favor of college prep, and that has alienated a significant proportion of the population. You don't need to go to college to be successful or even to make money.Some type of education is generally a requirement, but high schools make it seem like if you are better at building houses than you are at chemistry, you're not "living up to your potential," which is BS.
At the same time, we have a political culture that devalues education as "elitist" and "snobbish," and that combined with the fact that a college degree nowadays can't guarantee you a job at McDonald's, have emboldened people who chose not to pursue higher education (or were unable due to a variety of circumstances) to try to bring down those who have.
I think it's just symptomatic of a larger issue in this country, which is class warfare promoted by politicians whereby people tear each other down to their "level" rather than demanding that living standards be better for everyone. Look at the backlash against public employee unions, for example. People in the private sector complain that "they don't have unions protecting them" so public employees (teachers, firefighters, etc.) shouldn't either. A better solution would be for private employees to demand collective bargaining rights, given that unions helped forge the middle class in this country and make it accessible to people who often did NOT have formal education beyond high school.
And let's not even get started on this country's war on education (especially in the humanities), which is the reason why few people know why we have unions in the first place.
This is a really wonderful post. I like that you encompass so many different issues which nonetheless relate to, and influence, each other. Certainly, the valorisation of STEM (politically, and in popular culture, but also by the 'market') has contributed to creating the Scientism bubble. Since the sciences and the humanities have, unfortunately, separated, I suppose we had better learn to live with it. To that end I always try to point out that science and the scientific practice of today work toward answering questions and solving problems, but they consistently fail to formulate questions, and they fail to provide qualitative reasoning.
But you are also right in saying that, separately, the post-WW2 college bubble created the mass illusion that everyone should, or indeed deserves, to achieve collegiate education. And then there's the myth of everyone being (born?) equal. Both of which are patently false. They may be nice things to think about, but they're simply illogical. The child born to a starving family in Nigeria is unlikely to be "born equal" (in any sense) to the scion of a Vanderbilt or a Rothschild. Even if I allow that they may both possess the same potential, the different resources and support structures available to them will all but ensure vastly different lives. For all general purposes, some people should be encouraged to pursue collegiate and higher education, and others should be encouraged to do what they do best. This need not be related to education, and there frankly is no shame in that.
As it stands, it is indeed sad that sustained research is perceived as airy abstraction/laziness/elitism. Yet, given all the different forces that collaborate in creating conditions that encourage this perception, I'm not sure what can be done until those forces themselves are confronted.
And that requires political will that nobody in this nation appears to possess.
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Hey everyone!
I'm an international student and I'll be moving to the US in August. I want to rent a room before I come to New Haven (Really don't want to spend the first days in a hotel looking for a room)... How would that work exactly?
Can I get a room without actually being there? Will the landlord expect me to pay before I see the place? I'm not familiar with how this stuff works in America so any advice is welcome. Thanks!
1. You can rent a room (surely you mean apartment?) via places like Craigslist or other apartment hunting sites. Padmapper is great.
2. If you end up signing the agreement and close the deal then you will probably need to put down a security deposit and then your first month's rent prior to moving in. Exact times vary.
Edit: I just want to say that you should really think about getting a sense of the place before moving in. Consider spending your first year in a graduate dorm perhaps? Or perhaps network with your fellow admits/current students in the department to try and get an apartment shared with you and other apartment-mates.
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Thanks. Looks like I'll have to go with the devil (Comcast) again. ATT's speed is just too slow.
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Oh, all-important question: available internet service providers in the downtown and East Rock area, and in New Haven generally?
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I've already decided I'll pursue extra-curricular options--fencing is a big interest, and I hear there are opportunities to explore sailing. Other than that, I'll finally be able to explore my interest in homebrewing. And I was enamored after a demonstration of the LEGO robotics system, so I'd love to get going with that.
As for classes, it appears I can take any classes I want in any school, but there may be a limit as to how many I can take. I doubt I'd want to take "fun" courses--I'd be doing 4 courses/semester for two years at least, and I have to take language courses because I didn't do languages earlier. But later on, if possible, I should love to explore other options, perhaps in English or in History.
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Yeah, downtown. Dwight Street, just two blocks west of the main campus. I'm told it's fairly close to the western edge of the Yale bubble, but reasonable common-sense should see us safe. The plan is to move to East Rock during the dissertation years.
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Hmm, thanks for that information. Very useful. Do you know if that area in general has heavy student traffic? There's safety in numbers, obviously, and I think the buildings just opposite us have plenty of Yale students living in them.
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Yes. I'm a big fan. They're fantastic. I hate missing bits of lectures/seminars, and it's really rather unfeasible to do a verbatim transcription. Using the LiveScribe allowed me to listen to the entire thing over again, or focus on specific sections, etc. Their special notebooks aren't even that much more expensive than everyday ones.
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Congratulations. Did you end up in East Rock?
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Awesome, do keep the names coming in. poliscar's list is especially interesting, since it contains many journals that have featured, or continue to feature, numerous articles in film studies. October, Grey Room, diacritics, boundary 2, and New German Critique especially so.
Fall 2014 applicants??
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted · Edited by Swagato
It obviously does not hurt to have an intimate knowledge of works by faculty members you are highly interested in. Presumably, it is their research that drew you to the department in the first place.
On the other hand, if you're absolutely ignorant of the research of someone and you suddenly discover them and are like "WTF why have I not discovered this person yet"...you can easily look up their most prominent publications to get a sense of things.
Abebooks.com is a lifesaver, as is...the Internet in general.
I don't mean to be crabby, but I sort of feel like this place is going from a community of encouragement and broad-base guidance to a spoon-feeding one (I say this since I've actually been browsing around here since...2009?). The question you ask is really a very simple one if you'd just stop to think about it from the perspective of an admissions committee.
Edit: I wanted to add that I was actually guilty of being completely oblivious to the fact that one of my most compelling interests at Yale (now) is a person I didn't even mention in my SOP, as I was unaware of the turn their present research has taken. We had a laugh over this during my visit...while I tried not to look completely crestfallen. That being said, though, I do feel that my general SOP was very much in tune with where the department is headed, and that's what made things count.