slawson4

I haven't been in Bloomington yet, but considering up here I can get everything I need at places like JCPenney, I'm pretty sure you won't have trouble.

Believe me, it's definitely possible to walk in the snow! I've been doing it my whole life. It's just wise to give yourself a little more time to get where you're going. It's great for your calves! lol

I'm from Upstate New York (you might have seen us in the news . . . Snowvember 2014? That was us). I don't know about Bloomington winters, but from my experiences with Buffalo winters, yes, definitely good shoes that aren't made of fabric (Ugg Boots are NOT winter boots no matter what anyone tells you). Make sure they have treads in case the ground gets slippery! I've always preferred a nice light blouse with a sweater or jacket for my fall/winter gear, that way if it's hot indoors you're not sweltering because you're dressed for snow. Most of my wardrobe is year-round because of the layering technique. If you have a car, it's good to have a snowbrush/ice scraper for those early mornings when there's ice on your windshield. Again, I don't know how cold B-Ton gets in the winters, but always better safe than sorry.

Thank you! I definitely will make sure I take a look at it when I go down. That's actually a really good price point for me, and I like the amenities. I haven't seen it pop up on any of my (numerous) searches so I really appreciate the pointer!

Hello, future Hoosiers!!! I'm so excited to be posting here. I was originally offered an unfunded MA in Comparative Literature, which I couldn't accept, but this week they offered me the whole shebang--Ph.D. and Max Kade Fellowship in Germanic Studies! Five years total support! It's a dream come true, so I'm very, very excited. During the application I did a LOT of research about Bloomington, considering IU was my top choice (I'm seriously still not sure I'm not dreaming right now). I'm really looking forward to a trip down there, but that probably won't be until late May or early June because my brother will be making the move with me, and he has to finish up his last semester of undergrad. I'm keeping a close eye at house/apartment options. I want something nice in a quiet neighborhood--I'd really rather not hear undergrad parties on the weekends, you know? I'm also looking for something away from the stadium for the same reason. I've actually been debating picking something in Ellettsville or something just outside of B-Ton, but reading here about the parking trouble is making me think again. I'm not surprised to find out the parking is terrible. I went to University of Rochester for my MA and it was the same issue . . . wound up parking a mile away from all my classes, if I was lucky! Plus I love to walk, so picking a place within three miles of the school would be great. Anyway, I'm so looking forward to the move and I hope to get in touch with others hopping on board this year!

I didn't think I would be able to attend this fall (I didn't come into funding until this week), so I am currently working an inside sales job that pays pretty well and has commission, so I'll be doing that as long as possible, plus tutoring through June and probably grading SATs. I haven't decided yet, but I may resume my former summer job at a theme park for the extra cash on the weekends. The life of a Ph.D student in the humanities is not a lucrative one, so I'd like to save up as much as possible. Fun-wise, I definitely want to be doing as much reading for fun as possible. If I learned anything from my MA, it's that a literature grad student does not have a hell of a lot of time for 'fun' reading. Even if the time opens up, I'd probably prefer to be doing something else other than reading with that time! lol. I really want to take a trip to Baton Rouge to visit my best friend if I can spare the cost. I'll also probably be doing a lot of fiction writing, since that may be another thing that I won't have as much time for when I'm a grad student. Mostly I'm just looking forward to being WARM again (I'm from Buffalo, NY, so it's been a while).

Hello, all! I'm taking a gap year this year (serious burnout from the MA) but I'll be attempting for Ph.D. placement in Fall 2016! My research interests are primarily fairy tales and folklore and looking at the role gender has in influencing the editing and production of the tales. My master's thesis focused on the apparent 'ideal household' in Grimms' fairy tales that is produced by cutting out themes of female sexuality, enforcing narrative silence for women, and most notably altering the spinning tales to say something different (and male-coded) about domesticity and womanhood. With that said, any school I'm interested in needs to have a strong gender studies and folklore program. I'm looking at Comparative Literature programs because I think they would help with the interdisciplinary nature of my research interests. A sprinkling of medieval studies doesn't hurt (because literary fairy tales are so influenced by medieval ideas and themes). Right now, I'm looking at: Indiana University University of Wisconsin-Madison University of Oregon University of Minnesota Oxford University (St. Hilda's) My MA advisor is pushing me toward Indiana. I'm not sure why, but the thought of spending years in Indiana doesn't thrill me (maybe because I'm from Upstate New York and it feels like it may be more of the same). I did my B.A. at SUNY Geneseo and my M.A. at University of Rochester. Oxford is on this list because I studied abroad there last summer when I was completing my B.A., and I loved it there so much that it would be a complete dream to do my D.Phil there. It's a tough call though because of how poor to dollar is to the pound right now and the major differences between a UK D.Phil (shorter and mostly research) and a U.S. Ph.D. Anyone have any recommendations about which of these schools might be a good fit? Or any others that I might not have considered yet? And I always love input on the D.Phil/Ph.D. question. Thanks and best of luck to everyone!

Hello, everyone! I've just graduated SUNY Geneseo with a Bachelor's in English, and in September I'm heading to the University of Rochester for my M.A. You have no idea how encouraging it was to see everyone else as excited as I am about U of R! My academic interests include medieval British literature (particularly Arthurian lays and romances from the 12th to the 15th centuries), fairy tales, and intersectionality (the study of race, class, gender, ability, and sexuality as all key components of a person's social position). It is difficult trying to explain how it all goes together sometimes, but in short I like to study how we tell certain stories as a way to communicate cultural values and how that shifts over time. I'm interested in how fairy tales evolve and adapt as a subversive genre. I plan to continue researching the connections between Arthurian material and literary fairy tales because they have many similar roots and motifs. I also like to look at more recent fairy tale retellings to see how they are currently supporting or subverting our modern cultural ideas. For this reason I have an academic interest in Disney and the role it plays in the evolution of the fairy tale genre. I know that U of R will be an awesome place to delve into these subjects more and I'm really looking forward to it! Nice to meet you all.