lyonel_

I peruse the History forum every now and then, and I thought this post was rather touching for those of us in the throes of early worry during this time. I think it speaks to us as literary scholars as much as it does to historians. 

I peruse the History forum every now and then, and I thought this post was rather touching for those of us in the throes of early worry during this time. I think it speaks to us as literary scholars as much as it does to historians. 

Rather than attempting to read the tea leaves of a process that is now beyond one's control, please consider the benefits of managing your stress by
assuming that you're going to get into a program somewhere and somewhen; accepting the fact that all of you are already historians because you are focused on the study of change over time; understanding that the majority of what you learn as a historian will be self-taught (for better and for worse); realizing that nothing is stopping you from learning more about the craft while you wait for the results of a truly grueling process with moments of pain and even despair. Even if you don't know which continent or century or nation or event or dynamic will be at the center of your endeavors, there are still shelves and shelves of books, monographs, periodicals, and unpublished works that are waiting for you. The essential reads, the books that change everything, the works "one ignores at one's peril," the literary masterpieces, the methodological trainwrecks, the prize winners, the memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies of key academics--they are waiting for you.
Believe it or not, in a couple of years, many of you will be dealing with stress and intellectual challenges and personal crises that will make you think of your present circumstances with wistful yearning. Now is a good time to start building up the skills and resources and resilience that will serve you well in those ghastly moments of terror that come when preparing for qualifying exams. 

The first poem of hers that I fell in love with and one that basically encapsulates what made her so special to me

Maybe an interview shortlist? They seem to have beaucoup applicants these days
Edit: lmao

I love listening to stuff like this while writing, reading, etc. so thank you for these recommendations! All new to me!
The diverse music taste in this group is awesome; I'm happy to see so much more than huge pop artists haha. My music tastes are all across the board. Any Ásgeir fans? Or maybe because you guys seem to know and love the National...Dismemberment Plan? 

Right now I’m really into sample-based electronic and vapor wave! Like George Clanton, Nicolas Jaar, James Ferraro, etc. I’d highly suggest Clanton’s recent album, Slide. 
Also, i thoroughly enjoyed the 1975’s new album!

Hi guys, I'm one of the Emory interviewees. Have been lurking here for a while and y'all seem like really nice people. Does anyone have any idea what the interview is supposed to consist of? The DGS emailed me and said there'd be dinners, social events, a city tour (??), and interviews with faculty. It's a four-day thing and that feels like a super long time. Let me know if anyone knows anything about the interview process. I'm super anxious about it.

Oh my goodness the live performance is absolutely harrowing.  And I love that Sufjan is low-key super awkward and sways his hips all weird when he tries to dance but is totally making it work.
 
Wow, I totally share that dream.  I've taken a few classes where we dabbled briefly with particularly poignant song lyrics but we never went as in depth as I'd have liked to.  Also a huuuuge National fan here, and Matt Berninger has been doing a lot of solo work and has been so successful--I absolutely love his music outside the band as well!

@lyonel_ @The Wordsworthian @Bopie5 I just set my youtube on autoplay earlier, and it led me back to this (the side D of all delighted people), so I thought i'd just share it here, just in case anyone, like myself, was ignorant about its existence until recently. 

Totally agree here—The National and Sufjan are my go-to music for crying. And @The Wordsworthian I have this pipe dream of someday teaching a “Lyric as Poetry” course analyzing lyrics like poetry, focusing on significant albums of the 2010 decade. Carrie & Lowell would definitely be a week of the syllabus. Idk how Sufjan will ever top it!
And @lyonel_ I second this! The live performance wrecked me on another level.

You should watch the performance of C&L Live, if you haven't already. The whole Live record puts a lot of beautiful interpretations on the album's songs.

Hi everyone! Long time lurker here! I posted the UIUC acceptance. Still in utter shock. I applied to many, many programs and I'm surprised that the first one I've heard back from is an acceptance.

Idk about all of you but I’m getting pretty tired of the fact that I experience time passing at a normal rate! Wish I could just KNOW decisions already and move on with my life one way or another.

You're exactly right  I feel lucky to have a very close relationship with Shakespeare because of a regionally famous English department program at UT (with its own cute little Wikipedia page!) where students perform plays in a barn-converted-into-an-Elizabethan-theater in the middle of rural Texas. The alumni community is huge because the program has been going for 49 years and the audiences are pretty huge and really enthusiastic. When they did Cymbeline a couple of springs ago, people literally screamed when Iachimo emerged from the chest in Imogen's room. And (lol) when the shepherd boy emerged from offstage holding Cloten's head. And (lol) when Zeus showed up.
Unrelated to Cymbeline, last spring Winedale did one of the best Midsummers I've ever seen, complete with Hippolyta suggestively delivering the line "I was with Hercules and Cadmus once" to a packed, inebriated audience who had NEVER heard it delivered that way before. It felt like the roof was going to come off of the barn.
 
I hope you both are hanging in there. It's always hard to make a change to the structures of comfort/affection/affirmation that are built into your life--that's clearly one of the reasons this process is so difficult for so many people.
For me, those moments of fear and/or loneliness and/or vulnerability are usually where Miyazaki's films come in to make me feel like, hey, at least this old dude in Japan thinks that the universe errs on the side of kindness to the afraid & downtrodden. I'm sure you have your own sources of comfort, and I hope they're working for you right now (and if you're looking for a new one, try this wonderful film).
......just stay the hell away from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for a little while. It'll be there for you later.  

@pdh12 congrats on the interview!!
i got an offer from the university of york in england today (!) - it's slightly less exciting because funding information isn't released until march so it's not really an actual acceptance, BUT it is still a thrill to know that someone read something i wrote and liked it!

Comrades!!!!
The dreaded and most desired hour has arrived on this end—-Penn State requested an interview (Comp Lit!) !!!
What Do I Say?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!! please send help! 
 

This sounds tempting Thanks for passing this along. I've been getting into narrative games lately (Quantic Dream was where I started with Indigo Prophecy and Detroit, but some really astounding ones have been released this generation). I've heard very fantastic things about What Remains of Edith Finch, and the fact that it's also free makes this even more tempting. I'll add this to my gaming backlog.
Ngl same here lol. And I'm also going through RDR2 myself rn haha. It's an insanely good timesink though and I can't help but marvel at the open world that Rockstar has created. (it also definitely helps pass the time, Arthur Morgan is a great distraction from my e-mail and from checking admission portals). Glad to see another person here playing Red Dead though.

this looks amazing! I wish I wasn't so basic with my games– literally still working through RDR2 lol 

It's because we officially live in THE AFFECTIVE TURN, my friend
dread it, run from it, affect theory still arrives

For visual culture, I cannot suggest Radical Sensations by Shelley Streeby enough. Less of a contemporary analysis of visual culture as it is a late-19th and early 20th century look at sensational media depicting state sanctioned violence against indigenous and racialized citizens. Her overarching argument is that that these medias were disseminated throughout the world, and then they became transnational catalysts for social movements in the U.S., Mexico, and other countries. 

She is! However, in my research, I'm less focused on just the visual culture aspect of her work and more so on sensational mediums 

Ugh. You seem like such an optimistic and positive person– definitely needed right now. The idea that I'm not defined by my academic pursuits, regardless of the decisions, has been one of the hardest parts of this process, to be completely honest...

Eeek. I can see how anxiety and frustration and insecurity could cause those kinds of movements toward the chaotic. Also, at this point in the process we're largely powerless, so I could see how someone could want to feel like they had control over something, even if that something is the anxiety of others. I think it's important for all of us to keep in mind that what will be, will be. Not to get too esoteric/New Age-y, but if we let go of the need to see time as linear, you could also say that in some sense, what will be already is. Even without that, at this point, we've done all we can.
Whether or not we get accepted, all of us are thoughtful, intelligent, gifted people who can do good in the world and for ourselves whether or not we go to grad school. It feels so all-important but also ultimately grad school isn't the only path to a meaningful and fulfilling happy life. 
Trying to keep all of these things in mind as decisions start to roll in. Just gotta keep deliberately reminding myself that I'm a whole human who isn't only defined by their research and academic pursuits haha.