CulturalCriminal

My question with those numbers is how many of those rhet/comp folks are hired as tenure-track professors? There seems to be this common knowledge that a rhet/comp degree is marketable, but there might be a failure of communication as to why. Is the demand for established professors who’ll teach special topics on rhet/comp, or is it to snag experienced lecturers or non-tenure profs for writing center posts and first-year rhet/comp classes? 
At the end of the day, I don’t know how you could get through an MA (much less PhD) in an area that isn’t your primary interest. If career stability is dictating which program, go into admin or a career that is actually stable. Grad level course work and teaching is exhausting, with the only rewards being enjoying teaching and getting to explore the ideas that fascinate or haunt you. If you chose a discipline (or go to a poorly fit program) that doesn’t actually capture your interests, all you have left is the joy of teaching. You don’t need a PhD for that, or even an MA if teaching high school.
All this is to say that, while rhet/comp seems to be expanding well, you shouldn't go for certain PhD degrees on the basis of job security. There is no real job security, just slightly less awful placement numbers. Even if the numbers continue to grow for rhet/comp, you’ll struggle to finish a dissertation and put out research, if you aren’t especially interested in it beyond the level of interests most lit folks have. Go to a program that will match the interests that will drive you to pump out book after book, article after article. Even with interdisciplinary programs, if the fit and reputation is there and it’ll best suit your interests, I vote go for it (though having a discipline focused MA or postdoc in addition to an interdisciplinary PhD can arguably be an asset in finding jobs in discipline focused departments).

@Melvillage_Idiot I'll suggest another explanation for the research projects you're finding dissatisfyingly jargony: people just thematize their research in different ways. I think of literary studies work as going in one of two directions:
You examine a specific archive (e.g. early modern poetry), its social and historical contexts, and a cluster of issues that arise in that archive and those contexts. Or, You trace a cluster of ideas across several archives, making connections and noting differences across different contexts. The second kind of work tends by nature to be more 'theoretical' because the theoretical framework is driving the inquiry, as opposed to the period/archive doing the driving. This kind of work, or at least the work I've read that I'd bucket in this category, tends to need to spend much more time defining key terms, teasing out resonances with existing philosophical conversations (which already have their own key terms proliferating...), and negotiating competing theories--all of which can leave you with a ton of specialized terminology to juggle. (If you can't tell, this is the kind of work I want to do; theory is totally my favorite thing about literary studies...)
If I'm reading your posts right, it sounds like the first kind of work resonates much more with you than the second kind. That's rad; I'd just wonder if scholars who are being 'jargony' may be trying for a different way of thematizing their research than what you/others may want to do, as opposed to just doing a failed/obscurantist version of the same kind of research you have in mind, if that makes sense.

I guess the question you should be asking yourself is whether someone like you (applying to English PhD programs) is the intended audience. My guess is that the intended audience of one's interests on a departmental website are those currently pursuing or holding a PhD in English or a closely related field. 
@Jožin z bažin, the question of audience is key here. If you're commuting with experts in your field, then they won't necessarily think of these things as jargon. Rather, they become a sort of lingua franca such that one term can be used to avoid a lengthy explanation.
FWIW, this example actually says a lot to me now due to my graduate training (not in English/literature, btw) than it would've when I started my master's or even my PhD. The idea that someone will look at issues/questions around race, class, gender, sexuality, etc. and early Victorian poetry tells me that this person is bringing concepts from geography and cultural studies to bear on Victorian literature. But again, that's come from years of study. Don't let it intimidate you at this stage because, as I said above, you aren't really the target audience for these websites anyway.

I just want to jump in here to advocate for the importance of words like "intersectionality," especially in the case of "intersectionality." In fact, without intersectionality, concepts like feminism are not inclusive and actually isolate women of color, the LGBTQ+ community, etc. By making the move from just plain "feminism" to "intersectional feminism," these "certain types of people" are actually included in the conversation and welcomed into academic space rather than kept out. So, in some cases, what some might consider jargon is absolutely important and shouldn't be shrugged off as meaningless. 

Most schools are open. Those that aren’t may also use the day to contact.

I’m a contemporary Americanist, but I do appreciate pre-civil war personal narrative (e.g. de Vaca, Rowlandson, Dana jr, Melville’s Typee and Whitejacket, Jacobs). Cooper and Irving are likewise of interest to me.

Lol, I just read your Americanist post, so not at all surprised on McCarthy. Have you read Harrow County, House of Penance, Pretty Deadly, or Southern Bastards? They all seem up your alley.

I'm mostly a dabbler Americanist - let's just read all of it, dammit! - but I lean pretty heavily into contemporary Southern and Western writers from the Modernist period to today. I did my MA thesis on really contemporary Southern Gothic authors (like, post-2010 contemporary) who live and write about characters outside the traditional South. At the PhD level, I'd like to do something with Appalachian literature, which almost nobody discusses and which really took off in the 1900s.
My theory background is pretty weak, so I hesitate to align myself with any particular school of thought.  *severe Imposter Syndrome begins to kick in*
Fun fact: When you announce to a room full of other English students that you do things with Southern Gothic, there's always this one Brit Lit specialist who really wants you to know how much they hate William Faulkner. Never fails.

Anyone else here love just about anything Louise Erdrich writes?

I audited an amazing history class while I was working on my MA called "Gender and the American City." It was so cool!

Hey all! Thanks for starting this thread!
20th and 21st century Americanist here (mostly contemporary) focusing on race, ethnicity, identity, assimilationism. I also like to look at national identity and immigration.
I enjoy doing interdisciplinary work that involves politics and history.
I mainly work with 20th century and contemporary ethnic American lit.

My heart breaks just seeing the title of this work! It was one of my first encounters with Victorian literature — an incredibly depressing start! 
In a completly different vein, I’d also recommend Ellison’s Invisible Man, which is in my top five for most technically impressive works. 

This is a little late but I GOT INTO STANFORD MODERN THOUGHT AND LITERATURE!!!!!

@Melville @evanmarie @Kilos In all likelihood, I will turn down my UConn offer in the next week or so.

I recently got invited to a preview weekend that was very last minute. I looked up airfare and realized there was no way I could cover it. I told the director that while I'd love to visit I didn't think I would be able to make travel arrangements so soon- in those words without saying anything about money. She emailed back that they would arrange and cover the costs of my flight, hotel, and meals. 
My husband however was invited for a visit and they said they could cover the cost of two nights at a hotel. We looked up flights (all $400-600) and emailed back asking if there was anymore funding considering we live so far away (we're in MI,  school is in Florida). They emailed back that they could reimburse  $300 for the flight.
I would be honest. Say you've already booked travel, but you're concerned about costs and wanted to see if there was anyway to be reimbursed for some or all of the flight. Sometimes asking is all it takes, plus if it saves you money it's totally worth it. Directors know what students make, they also know the process is pricy. They won't think it's weird or awkard. 

Thanks @hotpotato! Best of luck back at you.
I'm doing everything I can to not get my hopes up, but it's hard to be so close and so far at the same time.
If there's a silver lining, it's that I got into a fully funded MA program close to where I live. It's no perfect-fit-UConn-Ph.D. program, but I love the faculty and the school.

Congrats to whoever the Brown acceptance is. Here's hoping Brown just started notifying.

I'm a little disheartened by some of the responses I've received here, especially because you don't know my situation at all. I'm not entirely sure I owe anyone an explanation. I think I'll be taking a break from the forums for a while. If anyone would like to connect over Twitter or FB, let me know, because I've met so many lovely people here  

Congrats to whoever the Brown acceptance is. Here's hoping Brown just started notifying.

Given that my partner has another year on their degree, the deal was that I apply to programs in the area I won't regret going to. This means that I am going to be doing things much differently if I go into round 2. I plan to apply to at least 10 programs, of various 'tiers.' That said, I think I'll stick to American Studies or Lit/English programs next time around. I applied to comm and media studies programs this time, but am not sure I'd repeat that decision again. Likewise, I don't think I'll apply to multiple different types of programs at one university.

I feel for your post and sincerely wish you good news soon. That said, as thankful as I am for my acceptance, I also have a boatload of additional concerns--like will my husband be able to get a job in said location, will the schools there be good for my kids, will we be able to afford living there, etc. I very much hope to have options so that I can increase the odds of finding the place that works for all of these other factors. Not to mention that I carefully and painstakingly chose schools that I thought would be the very best match for my life needs AND my academic goals. So, as thankful as I am for my acceptance, each rejection still stings because I poured my intellectual heart and soul into that chance. 
All of that is to say that, as much as I know it stings to not have good news (yet--I'm still hopeful for you), please consider also that each of us have unique life experiences that go into our thoughts on acceptances/rejections. Again, I really am hoping you hear back soon--and, if not, that you find satisfaction in whatever you decide is the next step for you. 

I’m a lurker. I’ve applied to 11 programs. I’ve been told that I was an extremely strong candidate, yet all rejections so far. Not even a waitlist. What bothers me most is the demeanor of some people on these boards who have already been accepted to more than 1 school, yet they are complaining about rejections. Gratitude. Be thankful you have been accepted to ONE. I’m sure y’all don’t mean to sound that way - but that’s how it comes across.  Not a troll. A sad person, who will pick myself up and continue my pursuits. Best to you all and congrats to those who’ve been accepted. 
 

I always worry that academia is waaaay too small for self-aggrandizing fits to stay truly anonymous.
I'm also petty enough to hope that they lost their spot to someone from an itsy-bitsy state school with no pubs and no conferences.

Hi all, I'm a lurker but was accepted off of the waitlist at UMN for Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society today!!! I switched from Cultural Studies to History and Philosophy of Science (doing an HPS MA right now), but applied to UMN because the vibe of the program and people who work there have always been really attractive to me, so I figured I'd apply to one Cultural Studies program this time around. I truly didn't think I'd be accepted -- congrats to the other admits as well! 

I DIDN'T GET SHUT OUT LOL 
University of Kansas--teaching assistantship for the whole time.