Minnesotan

Or too little. For some reason, some profs don't like seeing people without drinks in their hands. I usually try to drink a polite 1-3 glasses of wine or beer, whatever the case may be. Hard alcohol can be disguised as a different drink later if you need to nurse it. I'm a big guy, so it takes at least 12 drinks to make me good and tipsy, but my advice would be to drink as little as possible while still accepting the hospitality provided. I use the "no more than 1/4 of the way to drunkenness" formula when meeting new professionals (except at conferences, where drunken misbehavior is expected). While this is not technically an interview, it is definitely part of the process. They are looking for a junior colleague who they actually enjoy spending time with, someone who is collegial and interesting without being problematic.

But we insist you get drunk with your new colleagues!

Who has time to decide between Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, and Brown when all these models (and ex-models) are hanging around my beach house? Or my ski lodge? Or my modest castle in Scotland? Or my private island in the South Pacific? BTW, can anyone tell me where I should vacation next?

I've heard the opposite -- that all publishing is good publishing -- so we'll have to agree to disagree, since the arguments on either side are based on hearsay, not personal experience on the job market.

There's also Postmodern Pooh, by the same author. It was written in 2003, so is a bit more current.

Publish every article, conference paper, edited collection, short note, book review, scrap of notebook paper, every Post-It note, every tissue covering a chunk of used chewing gum you can! It's been a while since I read Semanza's work, but I think his only concern with publishing too much of the diss as articles is when you're pitching it as a book project a year or two after earning your PhD. My response to that is, "Yeah, it's good to plan ahead, but take the small victories when you can get them." If you get to the point where you're abuot to defend and you already have two chapters published, then fine -- sit on it for a while and see if you can get the monograph out of it. But, especially this early in your career, you're going to be sorry for turning up your nose at any publishing gig you can get. Especially if it is something that requires almost no effort, like conference proceedings! Maybe I'm just not arrogant enough to think I'm entitled a job without publishing much, but I shamelessly pursue every opportunity to add another line in the "Publications" category of my CV. Call me mercenary if you will, but that's how it is.

I don't believe this is a real question. We get these from time to time.

Yup. Call or email the admin secretary and ask for whatever info she can give you. As long as you are polite and patient, there should be no problem.

I had a girlfriend who used to live in Greektown, and I used to play soccer out there, and I have to tell you it's kind of a pain going that way very often, if most of what you do is d/t. I guess it still beats transit "service" to York, but what doesn't? My comment about the housing situation was in reference to the price you have to pay to get more than a closet to live in, especially if you want a rat-free abode. My current gf had to move a while back, due to infestation. It was not cool. Maybe I'm just particular about rats and roaches, since you don't deal with that stuff growing up in Minnesota.

From my experience applying to UDub last year, and discussions about them from the last few years, they start at random and make offers until they run out of money. If that means the first ten people are in and the last 600 are out, so be it. They just want to find the first suitable candidates they come upon, I guess. They also have a tendency to lose application materials. They lost my entire application twice last year. They blamed me both times, of course.

You might want to be more specific. For instance, if you are interested in ecopoetics, there are a lot of up and coming programs who are middle-rung on the prestige ladder, otherwise. Washington State U. springs to mind. I guess the point is that there is not going to be a generalist program that excels in all areas. You need to figure out the type of work you want to do, then find the type of scholar you like to read. Find out where these folks teach, and you know where to apply.

EndNote does it all for me, without the necessity of getting off my ass and putting on real clothes. Seriously, working in pyjamas is the only way to do it!

If they don't waive the international fees, there might also be international studentships. I know I got one unexpectedly when I did my MA in Toronto, and that extra cash made a huge difference! It's something to look into. Big Canadian cities are absurdly expensive places to live.

To answer your more general question, Fulbright awards are highly competitive, and the number of applications they get (especially for exchanges to/from the Western world) is quite large. I wouldn't let that discourage you, though, as they are well worth the application time invested, and will look great on your CV for the rest of your career.

True enough. I wonder, though, if a little expansion would hurt? I can certainly get behind adding a new section -- separate from the general "The Bank" and "Officially Grads" -- for post-docs, CV construction, grant writing, CFPs, fellowship opportunities, etc. It could be under the aegis of Officially Grads, if need be, but it would be specifically dedicated to professional dev. topics that are germane to applicants and current grads, alike. While resources like Grapes and COS are out there, they are anything but user-friendly, and we already have a nice community of dedicated young scholars built up here. Also, UPenn just tragically @#$%ed up their CFP site, meaning the last intelligently designed interface for viewing CFPs is gone, and H-Net is now the best of a very bad field.

Future Bakery is kind of a tourist trap. However, the Spadina/Bloor area is a good place to hang out and have drinks, or whatnot. Good Korean food if you go West a few blocks, and good Chinese to the south (but don't go to the dumpling house, as its "night time residents" have been featured on the internet, crawling around on the make lines). Mervish (sp?) Villge is nearby, too, and there are some trendy little cafes and bars. Toronto is a fun town, if you can meet people (who are very cold at times). But the housing situation is horrible beyond belief for anyone not from NYC or L.A.

Same with me. I went to the middle-tier school with the awesome advisor over the snooty school that paid a whole lot of lip service to advising, but whose current students told a different story.

Hopefully the university operates on the level of group -- rather than individual -- selection, then. A well-framed 'for the good of the species' argument might put your application over the top.

Enough of this monkey business! Your aping of the admissions process is driving me bananas!

Yeah. In fact, I think the university would be in breach of contract if they terminated you for that reason. Just make sure you've got your acceptance letter w/ funding guarantee saved.

Only through gay friends, but from what I gather, their opinion is that it is one of the better cities as far as gay culture and feelings of safety and general well-being goes. Minnesota is a very, very liberal state. There are pockets of conservatism in the burbs and in the farm areas toward the Iowa border, but in the city and much of the northern part of the state (Duluth, Bemidji, even St. Cloud in the west), it's ultra-liberal.

I would hold off on the despair for now. You never know until you get the letter/call/email.

Topic moved at OP's request.

Poor commoner. Man, if you don't get in this year, let me know. I'll bribe someone in my program to give you an admission with funding. =)

Some universities place research on a pedestal. I don't think expressing a love for teaching will hurt you, but it might not help you, either. There are plenty of unis that emphasize teaching, or encourage research-informed teaching that finds a balance between the two artificially created poles. The school's disposition on this matter might be a factor when figuring out how well you fit. Consider where you would like to teach, research, or administer when you are done with your degree and see where the people who do those jobs went to school