Jump to content

Deep Fried Angst

Members
  • Posts

    79
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Deep Fried Angst

  1. Those of us with two often did an MA and another degree, resulting in closer to the hours of an MDiv. Also, degrees from non-academic focused seminaries tend to be full of not PhD preparing courses (Foundations in Missions, Vocation of Ministry, etc.) so multiple degrees can be needed to get all the courses one needs to be ready. Thus the MDiv + Thm method for some when the MDiv didn't have a lot of room for upper level electives in HB/NT and Second Temple if one is in the biblical studies area of things.
  2. As for the vaccines, I wouldn't be surprised if universities will create a plan for students who are not able to get a vaccine to arrive on campus two weeks early with a negative COVID test and then be vaccinated by the on-campus health clinic, and then be good to go. Thinking of the J&J vaccine. One does. Two weeks typically to receive full effects. Cheap and easily stored. This is purse speculation, but it might become reality.
  3. Sharing a link to the most recent report from the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion on jobs: https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/JobsReportAy20.pdf These are for jobs in all fields and areas of religious studies. TL;DR Jobs went down an unprecedented amount last year. Most of the decrease happened before March, and therefore the pandemic's affects are not reflected in this report. There are still jobs. TT jobs. But the number of them are shrinking.
  4. I'll start applying for jobs next academic year. I'll have my dissertation proposal accepted in a month or so (I already have confirmations from my board, I just need to do the paperwork and go through the process). Hopefully come summer's end I'll have three chapters done, so enough to have time to submit applications.
  5. To be fair to @Chicago Guy and his love of UChicago, the above assessment is also be true of may other universities. (And no, I'm not a slightly bitter PhD candidate looking upon the job market with despair.)
  6. I'm gonna push back on this because Chicago has a reputation for "forever" PhD students who take 7-10 years to graduate. This is not needed. You need to get those three letters behind your name so you can have a chance at a job search. is Chicago a good school? Yes. Are they rigorous? Yes. Are they built around a model that reflects a decades old view of the job market and post graduate job stability? 100%. Working harder doesn't = a better program. It may mean a less humane one.
  7. SBL, for those whose interests fall within its purview, has a call for papers open til March 23.
  8. There's a couple things to do depending on your situation. If you have an offer on the table from another program but are on the waitlist at your dream school, let that dream school know you have an offer. Email the head of the grad program, say you have another offer but your first choice would be their school so you want to know where you are on the waitlist. There's always a (small) chance that them knowing you have another offer may make you more desirable in their eyes. They're not magically going to find money for you, but they might rethink your position in the waitlist line. If you are only waitlisted, you can always inquire where in line you are. But this should probably be a one time email a month or two after initial acceptances have gone out (an initial inquiry is also fine; you want to know the outlook). Any more frequent and they will know that you haven't got in anywhere. Not a bad thing, but desperation is never a good look. Lastly, if you are only on waitlist(s), start developing your backup plan. If you are slated to graduate, you will need a source of income if these apps fall through. Start that process now. You can always back out of a job application/interview process later if you get accepted to a school. But waiting until all hopes are exhausted may put you way behind other spring graduates in the job market.
  9. Where else did you apply and for what subfield?
  10. @cosmo92, I'm in the JCA concentration. Applied for the 2017 cycle I believe. TBH, I know the least about ethics concentration, but feel free to message me if you have any questions about the program in general.
  11. @cosmo92, most years there is some, though not a ton of waitlist movement. Marquette tries to get acceptances out early, but that also means people typically sit on them until they hear back from other programs. Once ND, BC and others get theirs out, you might see some more movement. You can always email Dr. Dempsey, the DGS, and she'll do her best to update you. Since there's not a set number each concentration get within the program, sometimes you might get some movement if one other concentration is getting declines of their acceptances. If you are high on the waitlist, I would say there is hope, though some years (like mine) everyone in a particular concentration may accept the admissions offer immediately and no waitlist movement happens. (Marquette PhD Candidate here)
  12. Baylor would also give you access to Whataburger. This should not be taken lightly as part of the decision making process.
  13. That is their typical method. Those interviewed are split into the people who are offered and those who are waitlisted. Since they are typically one of the top schools on most people's list they rarely go far into their waitlist (or in some sections, rarely into it at all). If you aren't offered an interview at a school which typically interviews, you are most likely not going to get in, even if given a waitlist spot (e.g., Baylor sometimes waitlists people without inviting them to interview).
  14. Contingent employment and NTT employment typically does not affect how your research is seen by others since most people are aware of the state of the job market. One of the top prizes in early career scholars for SBL The Achtemeier Award was given to a contingent faculty this year. However, most of these positions have a much higher work load for less pay than TT and Tenured jobs. Less money and less job security makes it harder to do research and have continued research progress, especially if the schools you become connected to don't have a great library section in your research area. The terminology varies from department to department. Mine only has instructor for PhD Candidates who are getting teaching fellowships beyond their fifth year. No lecturers. And everyone else is some from of Adjunct or VAP. To my knowledge a couple Post-Docs is fine, but after that I'm not sure how that would look of if post doc committees would be ok with hiring someone on their 5th post doc. The key thing to do is let departments in your area know you are there and open to taking on a course or two at their institution if anything opens up. You might end up taking on a medical leave or a sudden departure (someone leaves right before the semester begins) teaching load for a semester. Posting a job and doing a long hiring process for an adjunct is a lot of work for a little payoff. Many times departments will hire those who they know are open to doing the job without ever posting a position.
  15. To Be or Not to Be: Why Pursue a PhD in Bible? This will be a luncheon webinar aimed at recruiting more minoritized scholars into biblical studies. The webinar is a follow-up to the recent #BlackScholarsMatter symposium and is co-sponsored by the Society of Biblical Literature and Forum for Theological Exploration. Panelists will discuss why one should pursue a PhD in Bible, how to position oneself for it, support structures one can avail to succeed in their PhD program, and the various available career paths in the changing landscape of theological education. The webinar is scheduled for 31 October 2020, 1:00–2:30 pm (EST) and is free for students of color interested in pursuing a PhD. Registration will be limited to 100. Registration for this event is now full. Please check back on this page after the webinar has concluded for video of the event. Eligible participants will receive complimentary registration to the 2020 Annual Meeting and may order their own meal and be reimbursed by SBL for up to $25.* Each registrant will also receive a copy of one of these books: Jesus in Asia by R.S. Sugirtharajah (Harvard University Press) The Dawn of Christianity by R. Knapp (Harvard University Press) Reading While Black by Esau McCallley (InterVarsity Press) A Multitude of All Peoples by Vince Bantu (InterVarsity Press) Christ in Latin America by Samuel Escobar Brown Church by Robert Chao Romero (InterVarsity Press) Theological Formation: Making Theology Your Own by Mark Ellingsen (Mercer University Press) A Biblical, Historical and Theological Guide for Students by Kathryn Muller Lopez, et al. (Mercer University Press) The Edward Wimberly Reader: A Black Pastoral Theology edited by Mary Clark Moschella and Lee H Butler (Baylor University Press) Church in Color: Youth Ministry, Race, and Theology of Martin Luther King Jr. by Montague R. Williams (Baylor University Press) Prepare, Succeed, Advance: A Guidebook for Getting a PhD in Biblical Studies and Beyond by Nijay Gupta (Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf & Stock Publishers), with a new chapter “Advancing Towards a More Healthy, Diverse, and Inclusive Academy.” We are grateful to Harvard University Press, InterVarsity Press, Mercer University Press, Baylor University Press, and Wipf & Stock Publishers for their support. SBL is gathering information from several PhD programs about their application process and the support they offer minoritized students to succeed in the program and during job search. This information will be available on the SBL website. https://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/ToBeorNottoBe.aspx
  16. @marXian, glad to hear this! I just finished exams and have been pondering downloading Scrivener as I begin the dissertation process.
  17. If a PhD route is your go-to after your M* the most important thing for you to research is graduation placement rates into PhD programs from both schools. If one school is continually placing students in programs you would want to attend more so than the other one, than your decision should be made.
  18. Boston College's reputation and alumni network is nothing to shake a stick at. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Boston_College_people#Law,_politics,_and_public_service). Also, you would be much better connected to the network of Jesuit High Schools if you wanted to teach at that level.
  19. Just a reminder that a good number of the schools being applied to on this form have made decisions to transition most or all classes online to hinder the spread of COVID 19. This may result in delayed responses or notifications as faculty members scramble to transition their class to an online format.
  20. @NothingtoProve, you'll want to make sure those interviews or acceptances are from the same sub-field that you have applied to since there's a chance different sub-fields send out info a different times. I will say for me, Emory didn't reject me till March 22nd, so it kinda felt like there was an unofficial wait list I was on just in-case all of the interviewed applicants turned acceptances rejected their offer of admission. That being said, it is most likely that you did not get in if these interviews and acceptances were from the same sub-field to which you applied. There may be a chance that you have been placed on a wait list, but you will be behind (most likely) all of the applicants they interviewed (if they interview) but did not accept after the interview. Since most notification of interviews and many acceptances are sent out by at the latest the end of February, you may want to wait a couple weeks and email the departments about the status of your application. There's absolutely no shame in a full round of rejections. I know many people, on this site and in real life, who took a couple rounds before they were accepted to programs. Since you don't have interviews to prep for, it may be a good idea to sit down with a trusted professor, look over your application for weak spots (we all have them), find a feasible plan to improve them by fall, and get ready to do this all over again. (oh, and begin the job hunt so you have money to eat come summer...). I do not want to deny the magnitude of the suckage these rejections can make you feel. But you're not out of the ballgame. Regroup. Plan. And dominate next year's application cycle.
  21. A couple people have asked for interview tips: Be able to answer both why you want a graduate degree in the field and why you want a graduate degree in the field from that institution. The more specifics the better. Show the committee how you achieve the mysterious "fit" that every one talks about. Not why you want a Ph.D. but their Ph.D. Part of fit is showing how your educational trajectory fits in with the research agendas of professor, but also be open about areas of weakness and what the program offers to equip you to be a more well rounded scholar. Be able to describe the key influences on you scholarship. If graduate program policies and procedures can be found online, read them and use them to boost your arguments: e.g., how many semesters do you teach, availability for cross-listed courses in other departments, placement ratings, institutional help for teaching (Preparing Future Faculty programs, etc.), that you can use to help boost your profile. If you can say A and B are my goals and the unique aspects of the department/university including X, Y, and Z will help my achieve them, you're doing it right. Ask good questions: if the answer can be found on the department's website, it's a bad question. You can ask about how the professor's envision TA/prof relationships, their view of the atmosphere of the department/program, why they have chosen to commit to spend their academic lives at that institution (at least my interview committee loved that question), etc. Be specific. Be specific. Be specific. This is not your time to wax eloquent about your love of academia and your subject matter. It is a direct argument in the guise of a conversation about why you will flourish at that school. For Skype interviews, hardwired connection preferred; don't let your WiFi bug out and cause technical difficulties. Quite space. Blank/non-busy background. Look at the camera when answering questions/addressing faculty members. Feel free to use a split screen, half the Skype video/half your notes/questions. You may want to put your computer on some books to make it eye-level so you aren't looking down into the camera.
  22. @weakbutscrappy, interviews almost always mean that the school is interested enough to at least wait list you. Faculty are way too busy to entertain interviews, even Skype ones, for applicants who they wouldn't think about admitting. Most of the time there are about four groups of applicants: 1) The immediate rejects 2) The non-interviewees that are at the bottom of the waitlist (sometimes granted a future interview if enough people turn down their offers of admission). 3) The interviewees that get waitlisted 4) The interviewees that get accepted in the first round. Exceptions exist (e.g., don't curse out the profs who interview you unless you would to become an interviewee who gets immediately rejected), and some interviews may be given on the basis of glowing letters of recommendation from highly regard colleagues over say a stellar writing sample, SOP, or just an overall good application. But hopes should also be realistic. You still may be one of 10-15 people interviewing for 1-2 slots (more or less people and/or slots depending on the year/school).
  23. Most programs don't care about the quant score, but are looking for at least a 160+ verbal and and 5+ in writing. One DGS I spoke to said as long as their average for quant is 40-60% percentile, they are ok (because the graduate school cared about overall rankings across graduate programs....).
  24. Meeting in person is not necessary, though it may very well be beneficial, as you note. An email exchange with one/a couple prof(s) who you may be interested in directing your dissertation is pretty typical. This also can help with developing a SOP for that particular school/department (and how these profs might be of help, since department websites are notoriously out of date with professors' research interests). However, I know of some people (including myself) who have gotten in to funded programs without previous communication with the department beyond the application. In these cases, there are typically other factors that help (a reference from a graduate of the program still in communication and good standing with professors, etc.). But I wouldn't worry too much. Enjoy your break. Wait to see what happens. If nothing lands this year, wait till June or so and start reaching out to profs via email for next year.
  25. It really depends on what level Hebrew class you get into. The most common graduate language courses are the introductory courses, which in your case may be redundant. However, an intermediate or advanced Hebrew course that works closely with a full grammar (Jouon, Waltke/O'Connor) would definitely be of service to you. Even if you hope to focus on NT in your PhD it is likely you will need to pass a Hebrew competency exam. And many departments are looking for Advanced competency in Greek and intermediate in Hebrew even from an applicant. Moreover, deeper knowledge of Hebrew through your MTS may help facilitate an easier transition to Aramaic or Syriac as research needs arise.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use