rheya19

Thank you! That's very helpful! I've never heard of a review paper/historiography of a research area before. Where do you find them? Also, what do you all think about publications that were not well-reviewed but show up in everyone's citations? The controversial pieces that got people talking? Could one of those go on a comps list?

Thank you, Fuzzy. I know what you mean. I have emailed him with these questions, but I thought it would be interesting and possibly useful to hear from some other people and see how they approach the literature in their fields and forming comps lists. Plus other people here might be going through the same learning process as I am, so a thread like this could be useful.

Don't go into too much detail on your personal life in your POS, unless it directly relates to your area of research. The admission's committee is going to assume that you're willing to put the time and work in if you're a 38 year-old professional applying to grad school; don't give them any reason to second-guess that assumption. Focus your POS on the kind of work you plan to do as a member of the department.

Hello! I was accepted into a PhD program this year (yay!) studying early Christian social history and material culture, and in our first face-to-face meeting, my adviser told me to come up with 7-8 publications this summer that could go on my comps list. Now that I'm searching, there are a ton of books and articles that are relevant to my research area. How do I choose? What should I be looking for? I've also heard that I should choose pieces that are essential to my field, but how do I judge that? All the books and things I read seem valuable. I'm just not sure how to judge. Thank you!!

For me, I did a lot of reading and research on my own, and I kept a little Word document "journal" in which I summarized the ideas that I liked very briefly. Re-reading and adding to that document caused me to put it all together into a haphazard kind of methodology I wanted to use to study my subject (early Christian history and material culture.) I never thought I would come to my research subject this way, but I actually have a sense of my methodology rather than a clear sense of the specific texts and artifacts I want to study. It was clear enough of a methodology that it got me accepted to grad school, and now I'm focused on applying my ideas to various texts and artifacts and seeing how they stand up so that I can refine them further. I guess what I'm getting at is finding a research topic is kind of a process. Try writing out all the researchers, theories, and subjects you find interesting and see where it leads you. You probably have more of a sense of the kind of research you want to do than you realize.

For a productivity timer, I like Forest: Stay Focused, Be Present. You can set the timer for anything from 10-120 minutes, and when you're done you get a little bush or tree in your "forest" and pretend money with which to expand your forest. It's like a little rewards system built in.

I just want to start by saying how much I feel for you and your circumstances. That sounds nightmarish. Like MarineBluePsy, I also am wondering what your tenant rights are in this situation. I don't know what state you're in, but you should look into that if you haven't already. Also to piggy-back off of what Eigen said, it could be possible that your department (or whoever puts the year reviews together) doesn't know how to constructively critique a person's work without just listing off all of the things wrong with them without regard to their feelings. My husband had that problem in his program; by his third year he realized that despite the way his reviews sounded, he was doing better than many of his colleagues. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to balance your life. I hope everything works out for you. Please keep us updated!

I also had some good food there. There are more restaurants and craft breweries if you can get away from downtown. I have a cafe, wine shop, falafal place, and diner within walking distance of my apartment, though, so I think I should be covered.

I'm starting an ancient Mediterranean religions PhD program in the fall, so three main things I'm doing this summer are: Greek and Latin, Greek and Latin, and Greek and Latin. I finished my MA about four years ago, and while I've been teaching RS in colleges, my language skills aren't what they were. So I need to get back up on that horse. Also, my adviser wants me to find 7-8 publications this summer that could go on my exam bibliography. But I'm hopeful that these tasks will help me get back into the groove of things so that I can hit the ground running in August. I'm also considering taking some kind of speed reading course this summer. Has anyone here ever done anything like that before? Can it help?

I'm just starting my PhD program, but my school's department posted this websites with PhD student career guide info. It's mostly geared towards Humanities grads, but I think there is some useful stuff for any of us here. I hope it's helpful! https://connect.mla.hcommons.org/doctoral-student-career-planning-faculty-toolkit/

I think everyone here has made good points and suggestions. I would like to echo DevinMiles as well, that sometimes different groups of students simply have different social dynamics for reasons outside you're control. During my religious studies master's program, there was an MA cohort and MDiv cohort. The two socialized in very different ways, I noticed. The MDivs were pursuing professional degrees and were more open to making relationships with one another. The MAs were by and large more bookish and introverted. I had a friend here and there in the MA cohort, but didn't make many solid relationships. It was kind of lonely at times. The MDivs all knew each other and were quite close by the end of their time. Also, the MDivs had a director who tried to create times for them to get together in and out of class.

If you want a non-spiral bound planner, these are both pretty good. I ended up getting a differe (spiral-bound) one, but these were in my top 3: https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Elephant-Productivity-Happiness-Non-Dated-1/dp/B01KEU5GOA/ref=sr_1_4?s=office-products&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1493671208&sr=1-4&keywords=planners&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011 https://www.amazon.com/Productivity-Planner-Daily-Non-Dated/dp/0991846222/ref=sr_1_58?s=office-products&rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1493671269&sr=1-58&keywords=planners&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

10 programs, average of $80 per application, plus taking the GRE, sending scores, paying for official paper transcripts (why does anyone ask for offical transcripts before they accept you???), Interfolio fees... over a $1000 easy

The only Middle Eastern countries that require a head scarf by law are Iran and Saudi Arabia, if I'm not mistaken. I had a friend who traveled in Amman, Jordan alone, and she said she felt very safe. She dressed in loose clothes, shoulders and knees covered, and men never cat-called her or harassed her in any way. I also know someone who taught in the UAE for a few years. Those countries could be worth looking into. I lived in Taiwan and taught ESL there for four years. I was studying Chinese at the same time. It's relatively easy to get a visa to live and work there (compared to Japan or Korea.) The money isn't as good, but the cost of living is way, way cheaper. Learning Mandarin is not easy, though. You'd need a couple of years there to get a handle on it. I don't know how that compares to Arabic, though. Feel free to PM me with questions about Taiwan, if you like.

Everywhere has access to the city via public transit. Parking is more tricky. There is street parking in Hyde Park, but it's a pain to find. Most of it is metered, some of it isn't. And in HP the police will ticket your car over the smallest violation; it's absurd! Commuting via car can be tricky as well, as traffic is unpredictable. I would try to stay as close to campus as possible, but that's just my opinion. Chicago is nothing but food options. Pick any neighborhood and you will find them.

Anyone here a new Hawk Eye? I'm attending the religious studies program in the fall. I visited campus last week, had a look around, and even found an apartment in Northside. I really like Iowa City so far. It's everything a little college town should be. Any UI writers, scientists, or other researchers out there?

I had a friend that did the UC MAPH. Since you only have those 9 months (three quarters) you really have to know exactly what it is you want to do going into. If you have a clear project in mind and a plan of action to complete it, the program can be very rewarding. If you are not positive what you want to do with your research, then you're probably better off doing a two year program.

I'd recommend Pilsen or Bridgeport. UIC is close to South Chicago, so cheaper places are likely to be in sketchy neighborhoods. I would say find an apartment in a place like Bridgeport and then look for cheaper places once you have a feel for the city. Logan Square is fun, but I don't know how affordable it is.

Penguin has a "novel" version on Gilgamesh by N.K. Sandars (published by Penguin) is a great read. Very accessible and still poetic. In my opinion, Gilgamesh is one of the most devastatingly human epics I've ever read.

Question about a rejection result comment: A person said, "GPA is MA." What does that mean?

Boo! Sorry!

The Tribune crime tracker is very useful. The U of C emails crime alerts to its students.... when UC students, faculty, or staff are involved. Otherwise they just kind of ignore it.

Come on, Iowa City people! I know you're out there! I just got back from a weekend there. I looked at quite a few apartments, found a great one on Northside and signed a lease, got the low down on parking, got a bike route map, went to a ton of great restaurants, drank local beers, walked around campus. I'm super excited to move there! Has anyone else visited campus? Anyone who lives there and wants to share their wisdom?

I lived at 5315 Kimbark with my now-husband for 3 years. I absolutely recommend you live there. Park behind you that a lot of the apartments look out over, Hyde Park Produce across the street, the shuttle and bus pass there as well. And Hyde Park Produce. Let me sing its praises for a moment- every kind of produce you can think of, locally grown as much as they can, as cheap as they could be, all sold in bulk. I used to go out, cross the street to buy one single leek, a sprig (one sprig) of fresh thyme, and a head of purple cauliflower for dinner, and spend $1.50 on the three things combined. Plus, Reijko is probably still takes care of the buildings. He is awesome. If you call him with a problem in your apartment, he'll come directly up from wherever he is and fix it. We miss this place soooo much! If you get apartment 2A, tell it that Andrea and Christian say "hi".

I had an unhappy and anxiety-filled MA, followed by about a year or two of depression. Now that I'm a few years away from that situation and diving back into a PhD, these are my plans for mental health: Friends both in and out of my field, and definitely non-grad school friends. Talk to at least one non-grad friend once a week. Take one full day a week off. Don't be ashamed to just read the intro and conclusion and then move on. Find a kind of exercise I enjoy and make time for it. Use a planner to chart my weeks to help me make sure I'm hitting the most important things. Find a show (live music, author reading, play, etc) to see once every two weeks. And Clonopin-- sweet, sweet Clonopin. :*