fmd

"My main question should have read something more like what other lines of inquiry are of interest in american lit studies?" Ecocriticism and/or wilderness studies, narrative theory, economic theory, post humanism and/or animal studies, new formalism, visual culture, religious studies, children's books and children's studies, (post) postmodernism, and genre studies, to name a few off the top of my head, are all used effectively as lenses through which to look at American lit, while not being race, class, or gender studies. It sounds like you have a good understanding of your potential project, though, and while we can give advice on how to formulate your SOP and that sort of thing, I at least would feel pretty uncomfortable commenting on the efficacy of your proposed plan of study, being a grad student who is stumbling around half-blind her/himself. Hopefully you also have some good professorial mentors whose opinions you trust.

From what I know, people focus on things like race, class and gender in Southern lit because those are such essential components of what makes that sub genre of literature unique and interesting to those folks. That certainly doesn't mean that they are the only interesting things to say about that kind of literature, and I'm sure you can carve out other modes of inquiry within that field, as I'm sure others have. But It does stands out to me -- as a grad student, so take this with a grain of salt -- that studying something so broad and pervasive as the shift from postmodernism to (whatever it'll be called) would be kind of strange when paired with such a geographically narrow field of study like Southern lit, unless there is something unique about Southern lit that makes this shift easier to see. Not that you can't do it, but that you should be able to articulate a reason for doing this if you decide to. This is just something to chew on as you think about defining your specialty. My areas are built through a combination of my interest, where I do my best work, and where I think I have a unique perspective on the literature or theory in question. As to your last question, I have a few thoughts. Yes, you can make an academic career while not focusing on race, class, or gender, but you probably cannot make an academic career without being deeply engaged with and willing to converse/teach/write in those areas, even if they're not your stated focus. That is, you don't have to specialize in them, but you can't avoid them, and you should be able to make the critical moves associated with those fields when prudent and necessary in your scholarship, even if you're focusing on economics or narratology or (post) postmodernism. I hope this is somewhat helpful as you think about these questions. Navigating the maze of your own personal interest and what's possible in your field based on the history of that discourse is always a difficult dance.

I can kind of chime in, here, since I went to a large Midwest English MA/PhD program, and came from decidedly not the Midwest. I am also leaving my MA/PhD program to pursue something elsewhere: 1. Generally, it's more about the individual professors' attitudes than the program as a whole when it comes to leaving to pursue a PhD elsewhere. You just need letters of recommendation, so if you can find three professors to write you letters, you'll be fine. You can always try to float the idea past a few and see what they think. That's what I did. Nobody encouraged me to do one thing or another. I just asked around for letters from former profs. What I'm saying is that a department is composed of individuals, and individuals have different ideas about things than the department culture as a whole. I can't imagine somebody turning you down when you ask them for a letter after doing good work because "That sort of thing just isn't done around here!" 2. I assume that people don't leave the MA program at Illinois because it's discouraged, but in part because you're already at #26, with incredible resources. The chances for real prestige/resource improvements are kind of slim. You would have to apply to top 15 only (not counting movement for fit, just prestige) for your move to be worth it, right? And even with an MA from Illinois and a stellar application (like I'm sure you'll have) those are always going to be slim odds. 3. The Midwest is dirt cheap. This is true and it matters. 4. WHAT I THINK IS ACTUALLY MOST IMPORTANT: When application season rolls around, you might be thanking your lucky stars that you have a guaranteed spot at a prestigious program and can focus on applying to Top 10 or 15 programs. Because if you don't get in to a Top 10, you'll still have a PhD from Illinois, and that's nothing to scoff at. With Georgetown, you won't have that guarantee. Which means that you might have to apply to a few more "safety" (I know, there's no such thing) schools (like Illinois), and if you're shut out, then you have no back up plan. When I was applying, having a PhD locked in made me much more confident and let me focus on only applying to my absolute, 100%, no-nonsense dream schools. Sorry if this just gives you more to stress about! I'm sure you'll make the right decision.

Today I had to turn down offers from The Ohio State University and Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. I hope that helps somebody! I was extremely impressed by both programs, and the reason it's taken me so long to decide is because they are so great. I also took myself off of the Maryland waitlist, where I was first in line, and the Iowa waitlist.

OP: I'm a current MA in literature at Purdue. I'm leaving this year to pursue a PhD elsewhere, but I will chime in in support of Purdue's MA program. Every MA student who applied to PhD programs this year got in to at least one of their top choices. Most got multiple acceptances to top-notch programs in their field. The MA program here is great, and you will not be pigeonholed into anything, especially not in your MA. In fact, you're required to generalize. For finances, the stipend is extremely livable since they raised it. The cost of living here is actually ridiculously cheap. I pay $500/month for a large apartment downtown, near the bars and restaurants. If the stipend isn't enough, extra tutoring and teaching opportunities abound, and I made more than $20,000 this year with my .75GTA. In my experience, it is also trivial to get conference funding. As for the American lit academics, Purdue also has a very strong American modernism and postmodernism program. It's the home of Modern Fiction Studies. There's John Duvall, Maren Linnet, and Nancy Peterson to take classes from. If you want to go earlier than the 19th century, there's Kristina Bross (but I don't know these faculty members as well), who is widely considered a superstar teacher and mentor. What I mean to say is you are by no means stuck doing the 19th century. The pedagogical class is kind of a pain, but it's also really helpful and doesn't take as much time as it seems like it will. Of course, you're in the belly of the beast as far as rhet/comp research goes, so you learn from the best. I would be happy to talk to you about the program more. I'll be at the Margaret Atwood reading, too. If you want to meet for coffee when you get here, I would be happy to discuss the pros and cons with you. PM me if you want to know more.

Thanks for all the great advice, everybody. I did choose this program over others because they didn't seem to think it would be rude if I moved on after my MA. I'm encouraged by the people who don't seem to think this would be a big deal, and next semester I'm just going to broach the subject with one of my professors in the most sensitive way possible while subsequently doing my best to do really good work. I'm excited to not have to include any "safety schools" (to the extent that those even exist) in my next round of applications and to have the freedom to really go for it.

Hi, this is my first time posting. I wanted to get some advice anonymously before I started talking to people within my department. This fits in with the general category of "application advice," so I hope nobody thinks it's completely off base for the purposes of this forum. I'm in the first semester of my MA/PhD in Lit right now, fulfilling the coursework for my MA. I'm at a school with a mid-ranked PhD program where I'm getting some great teaching experience and, you know, all of the things that you do when you get an MA. I have no problems with the program I'm in, but I think I can "do better," which I put in scare quotes because I'm already incredibly lucky as it is. I wasn't the strongest candidate in the world when I applied for PhD programs last year, and this school (I think) really took a chance with me. I'm doing well here and this is a supportive environment, but looking back at my application season, I know I can do orders of magnitude better the next time I apply. So I'm considering taking advantage of the fact that I will move on non-competitively from the MA to the PhD where I am now. Essentially, I can stay at this school and get a great education with pretty good job prospects (I mean, relatively. Snowball-in-hell, I know) no matter what (as long as I still do a good job, of course). So in 2016 I want to apply to all of my dream PhD schools in a wild fantasy rush of no-holds-barred application-ing. My question is: how do I broach this topic with other grad students and with the DGS, who I have regular meetings with, in a way that communicates how much I appreciate the opportunity and would be perfectly content working with all of them for the next 6.5 years, but that I want to give myself every opportunity to succeed and really would like their help in the next application season (as letter writers, peer reviewers, supporters, etc)? I just don't want to come off as opportunist (maybe I am) and I don't want to alienate anybody, especially my peers. Has anybody navigated a situation like this? The DGS prefaces any conversation about my future PhD with a "If you decide to get it here..." but I know that they are invested in having the MAs stay, and many of the MAs do end up staying for the PhD, so I'm conflicted about how to approach this when I do inevitably tell everybody my plans. Any help or sage advice from this community is very well appreciated. Thanks.