wordslinger

Thanks for the input, cgking! Is it going to be difficult to move?

I just attended a really interesting lecture on the dystopian trend in YA literature. I've read The Giver, but I didn't realize there were so many others in the genre.

I'm considering this one because it's inexpensive and has drawers. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10133410 BionicKris: I'm in Charlotte too... didn't realize you are as well.

I am also counting down the school days in my last months of teaching high school! This summer I have lots of reading to do, Latin to study in preparation for my language exam, a class to teach here in Charlotte before moving to a new city in August. And yes to Ikea! I've already picked out the desk and shelves.

So I was off the forums for a day and fell a bit behind in the convo, but I do have this say on the qualitative/quantitative dichotomy: Several posters mentioned that it is not so easy to extricate qualitative and quantitative inquiry... what, at the end of the day, is the difference? And that's a valid philosophical criticism. (I'm reading my Derrida right now too.) When we move from the theoretical to the practical (another dichotomy to be excised?), issues of qualitative and quantitative inquiry become tangible. For example, at the institution where I completed my MA, researchers engaging in qualitative inquiry are considered less "serious" or more "sketchy" than quantitative researchers. In the realm of public education, my old stomping ground, studies backed up by "hard, cold statistics" are valued over stories from classrooms. A more detailed example: Right now, in the public school system in which I teach, teachers are being cut due to budget constraints. To back up the decision to fire teachers rather than try to cut other aspects of the budget, our superintendent is using quantitative studies from Harvard to argue that increased class sizes have no significant impact on student achievement. These quantitative analyses (based on standardized test scores, numbers of students per class, and demographic data) are superseding anecdotal, experiential evidence and the kind of qualitative classroom research that might examine the lived experiences of people and might ask questions like "what is student achievement?" Pardon me for this tangent, but what I trying to say is that theoretically you can argue that quantitative and qualitative are the same creature. But that theoretical argument is worth contextualizing with the pragmatic ways in which such arguments will be used. That is not to say that qualitative studies could not be used for similar nefarious (value statement!) purposes. But in our current historical time and place, in the public sphere, statistics and quantitative studies have more "weight" than stories, a point that should be considered. (Thanks to all of you for your contributions to this thread! Fun times!)

1. "Children, there is a time and place for everything, and that place is college." (Thanks Matt and Trey!) And I think that's a commonly held belief, politics aside. 2. Discussing "Marxism" as though it is a political system does not actually make tons of sense. Marxism might be an economic system or a literary perspective, among its many faces, but it's not really a system of government like democracy, monarchy, or republic. 3. I'll cop to my liberalism. I think it's hard to be a teacher at any level without buying into the "we're all in this together" aspect of liberalism. That being said, I know many teachers, both college and secondary, who identify as conservative while still making socially conscious decisions in the classroom. Ack! Liberalism and conservatism are such tricky and elusive labels. It makes this convo quite challenging.

direct hit

M.J.P.- Thanks! And I definitely agree with you that going to school for a single professor would be a mistake. That was one of the items on my list for the visit... it turned out, in my case, that there are many profs who'll be interesting with whom to work. Good point, also about the rankings and how they are determined. I personally do tend to distrust quantitative data as opposed to qualitative. Numbers so easily masquerade as "facts." We all have our biases as researchers.

Not bumping this thread! Just thanks for the mad props.

I'm going to have to throw my perspective out there simply because it's dramatically different from the ones I've read here. First, when I started the PhD application process, I talked to my mentor and developed a list of people with whom I'd want to study. We turned that into the list of institutions to which I applied. I did not and still do not have a sense of what "ranking" is held by any of the schools to which I applied. I know that the school I'm going to is not the upper echelons people discuss here. But it was number one on my list because of the teachers with whom I'll be able to work there. So, just so you know, not everyone is applying based on "top 50 schools." It may be that I am totally naive and should have paid more attention to these sorts of political situations. Instead, I've thought about what I want to study, what work I want to do. These thoughts drove my SOP. Happily, I got into the school I wanted. Happily, I'll be able to do my work. Now, it may be that I'll wish I'd paid more attention to all of these politics and numbers once I've graduated and am looking for a job. Cheers until then. And just to reiterate the comments of others, you are all wonderful, articulate, interesting people. Thanks for putting it out there!

Well, I am reading three books in preparation for one of my classes... at any rate, getting a head start on reading CANNOT be a bad idea.

That's so great! Don't stop!

crab cakes

Word. I've been reading this thread and thinking, Yeah, manatee has some points... why does it bother me so much. This post is right on... And it reminds me that I am pursuing my PhD for personal, intellectual reasons, sure, but also because I want to engage in the public discussion about language, learning, and writing from a social justice perspective. I think that I'll be able to engage in that discourse even though I'm not at an Ivy League institution. In fact, it might be for the best. Thanks intextrovert and you other responders too!

I am terribly excited and all atitter... BUT I have way too much to do feel restless. I just put my house on the market (if anyone is looking for a cute starter house!) and am packing and making address changes... Not to mention all the papers I have to read and grade! Gah! August will be a relief!

psych out

fresh water

I'll be 33 when I start my PhD and (I hope) 37 when I finish. I had a baby while I was doing my MA and working full time... NOT recommended. I cannot imagine having a young child and doing my PhD. It was crazy hard to take a class a semester as it was. So happy to see all of you 30-year-olds on the list!

It's really frustrating when you work really hard, but other people chalk it up to "luck" or good circumstances or whatever. I have felt this way with my SO before as well. IMO, better to go ahead and have an honest convo with him about how it makes you feel. Bottling up frustrations never actually makes it better.

That's really interesting! I bet that you will write a great thesis.

I've read the whole series and like it very much. It's definitely light, but Sookie is a strong female character. And unlike the TV series, it's not soft core porn. I actually like Harris's non-paranormal mystery series about Lily Bard even better. Another "beach read" in the mystery genre is J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady series, which I thoroughly enjoy.

I don't think there is anything strange about needing a group to be your sounding board. Have you tried to form a reading group for working through some of the difficult theory stuff? I know that I would have drowned without my wonderful writing/reading group. I found my group through my involvement with the National Writing Project, which is very active at my current university. Also, I really recommend the "Very Short Introduction" series. I don't know if you've seen these books, but they are short (obviously) and very helpful for giving you an overview of the conversation before you plunge into the difficult stuff.

I'm entering a PhD program that requires an MA in hand. I did discover in retrospect that several of the programs to which I applied accept more straight up BAs than MAs, but I wouldn't have changed my experience in any case. My MA program was excellent, and the PhD program I'm in is a perfect fit for me.

I really feel for you for having to make this choice. As a graduate student, a true romantic, and survivor of a failed marriage, I can with real fervor that you should make the best choice for your studies. If the relationship is going to work out, it will be all the stronger for the distance factor. Going to his school, no matter how good a program it is, is going to create a "what if" scenario in your head. And that could be much more destructive to your relationship than distance. On a side tangent, I also think that our culture (via media, family structures, etc.) encourages women to make decisions "for love," while men are encouraged to be rational and logical. I know that's a complete generalization, but it does raise special concerns for women interested in both academic pursuits and family. I also hope that you'll let us know how this ends! I'm engaged in your story!

Nighthob- I've not done any graduate work at USC, but it was my undergrad institution, and I truly loved it there. Beautiful campus, very friendly people, and good professors. Columbia is also a fun and relatively cheap city. I'd be very curious to hear about your graduate experiences there... are you rhet/comp? Of course, I cannot speak to email promptness or anything like that.