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a_sort_of_fractious_angel

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Posts posted by a_sort_of_fractious_angel

    Pittsburgh, PA

    in City Guide

    Posted

    Hey, all - I'll be going to Pittsburgh to start CMU's LCS PhD. If anyone has knowledge of nice (or terrible) management companies they don't mind sharing, that'd be great! 

    Waitlisted for Funding

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted · Edited by a_sort_of_fractious_angel

    Hey! 

    I don't know if this will help a ton, but I was wait listed for funding at Syracuse for the Lit PhD. In the original email/letter (which I'm assuming you received as well), they didn't indicate rank (for me) - just said it was a wait list of about 10 people (I'm unsure if it was both PhDs and MAs or just PhDs) - and said that movement tended to happen in late March/early April. 

    My past application cycles & general anecdata support that statement. It's quite possible for people to make decisions now (I'm doing that and there are definitely other people out there like me!) Some, however, (and sometimes most, depending on the year) hold close to that April 15th deadline. Accordingly, I'm not sure @ClassyBrat420, that there's any way to guess if/when you'll get off. I do wish I had a better response and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! 

    Obviously, funding is hugely important and you will need to know those details prior to committing. However, I think you @Cassifrassidy can do (and already have done?) some evaluation of the two programs. It sounds like Syracuse would be a great option for you - have you talked via email with current students or faculty there? Or scheduled a visit? If not, can you?

    I'm not sure at all what Syracuse's policy is for that, but they obviously want you (since you're in) and they might be amenable to helping you learn more about the program as you wait for funding, especially since you have another good offer. 

    If I were in your position, I might email an adviser or letter writer to ask - they will likely have some insight on if/how to communicate with Syracuse and how to evaluate these programs without having all the data. I'd also do as much as possible to learn about the program and the area itself in the meantime so that (1) I could decide if I wanted to wait and (2) if I did wait and funding came in at the 11th hour, I could plug it into the rest of the equation.

    2018 Acceptances

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, Dogfish Head said:

    Accepted into Duquesne and Maryland's MA programs. I would have to apply to funding externally for Maryland's MA, though, and for Duquesne I am on the wait list for a teaching fellowship. Both pieces of good news, but ultimately UVM and WVU's offers are a bit more appealing because both are offering me GTAs and tuition remissions. Still happy with the news, though! :D  

    Congrats!

    Is it too late to change my concentration?

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    I entered my MA prepared to study Faulkner and Joyce. 

    I left with a project on contemporary Caribbean and Caribbean-American authors. 

    There's flexibility within the PhD and even more so in the MA - you'll likely have to take 3-4 required courses that cover time period (only based off of my experience), so really the world is your oyster. 

    As the above posters have advised, find your scholars of interest that first semester. Get involved with their research if you can. Get familiar with them. 

    grad school prep reading list

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    57 minutes ago, LibraryLivingJT said:

    Hey all! Very excited about this thread!

    I plan to read:

    Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram Kendi (he spoke at the campus where I teach last year, and it was amazing - looking forward to this book since a lot of my research and pedagogy focuses on racism).

    The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee (some of this will be review for me, but some will be new - I have done a lot of work with Asian American lit and plan to continue to do so for my PhD)

    The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (been meaning to read this one forever)

    Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Thanh Nguyen (the latest work of nonfiction by one of my favorite fiction writers and scholars).

    Those are the ones I know I really want to read.

     

     

    Ummm these all look fantastic and I shall be adding them to my list! Thanks for sharing, @LibraryLivingJT

    2018 Acceptances

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    17 minutes ago, katie64 said:

    I received two lovely emails from the Louisville grad assistant and director of the graduate English program stating that they would love for me to attend (I have been waitlisted for funded so emailed back last week saying I really admire the program but can't attend without funding) and will keep me updated immediately of changes on the funding waitlist, so I feel pretty encouraged. Program director even asked if I'd like to set up a time to talk on the phone more about the program and so he can answer any questions I may have. No matter what happens, the graduate faculty at Louisville has been so extremely kind this entire process and I'm very impressed by that. 

    That's awesome to hear! They sound fantastic! I hope you get to chat with them :D

    grad school prep reading list

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

     

    10 minutes ago, punctilious said:

    I think my husband has a few things he wants to read:

    • We Have Never Been Modern by Bruno Latour
    • Getting back up to speed on Russian, using The New Penguin Russian Course and the Russian texts we own (novels, short stories, a book on Putin, etc.)
    • I saw suggestions for a couple theory overview texts that he may pick up: The Routledge Companion to Critical Theory and Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction
    • Perhaps not this summer, but he'll probably pick up French for Reading (as previously recommended by @a_sort_of_fractious_angel, I believe) to work on his second language requirement
    • I think Harvard sends out its reading list for the General Exam sometime over the summer, so he'll probably get started on that, too!

    Excited to hear what other people are thinking!

    The French Book is a life saver. May I recommend, @punctilious, Richard J. Lane's Global Literary Theory to you guys - used it for my MA theory seminar. It combines excerpts with overviews and I found it SO useful for learning theory "broadly" as well as discovering authors/texts relevant to my particular projects. Norton is good too, although I cannot remember much that anthology touches on "newer" stuff. 

    I'm going to bookmark this thread and come back to it once I've decided where I'm going. Until then, I'll be reading Paul Jay's Global Matters.

    Campus Visits

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, punctilious said:

    Sounds great! We'll see what they actually have on the docket for the Harvard visit (it's three days long, so perhaps something like you mentioned is included) and otherwise check things out on our own. He also got an email from a grad student recently so I'll definitely have husband ask about where grad students live and thoughts on different neighborhoods/university housing. This place is exactly what I was looking for though, so hopefully it's available and as good in person as it is on paper!

    That sounds so exciting! I hope it works out for you guys :):) 

    Campus Visits

    in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition

    Posted · Edited by a_sort_of_fractious_angel

    9 minutes ago, punctilious said:

    Is anyone planning to check out the graduate student housing during their visit(s)? I found a place I'd LOVE to live in through university housing but I'm not sure if it makes sense to visit while we are there (if it's even possible to take a look at grad student housing).

    I would check it out! Or at least see if you can schedule it! I lived in graduate student housing during my MA - it was a bit of an ususual gig, but I went down in April to see what is was like and whatnot. Probably could have checked it out during the open house for the MA, had I gone. 

    And it's pretty much the same as asking about the areas/neighborhoods grad students live in, right? I've been encouraged to check those areas out on my visits - a trip into Pitt's neighborhoods is actually legit scheduled for my CMU visit - so I think they'd probably be more than happy to give you info on how to learn more/actually see the place(s).

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