dilby

When I graduated in 2017, I got each of my thesis advisors (now LOR writers) an art print + reasonably priced frame, and wrote each of them a thank you card. I like the idea of a gift that can stick around as a reminder of the work we did together.

incidentally, "there's nothing that a good meme cannot fix" is a perfect line of iambic pentameter. go forth, my friends.

I was fortunate enough to take a seminar on DFW in college that included 7 weeks on Infinite Jest. that was a nice time to be figuring my shit out pre- discovering a lot of other stuff. I think that class made me a much better person

oh boy y'all there is so much more where that came from

nothing to comment but wow this was a long week. here's a Shx meme from a secret fb group I run with my friends

Same. From what I've seen Chicago CMS doesn't interview though? At least I don't think?

The only other one I know about for sure is Rice. At least, they interviewed my friend last year.

The Winter's Tale, pretty much always Here is a top-notch full audio production that I have listened to probably five times, including once today: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06d27b2

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

Amazing!

Anyone here to claim the Chicago interview invitation ?

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

Ow, my heart ?

I've heard the same about Duke English/Literature.

If I were to pretend that I actively explore new music rather than simply replaying the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack and Phantom Thread score 4-6 times per day while working, I would recommend Andy Shauf (The Party), Owen Pallett (Heartland) and Miya Folick (Premonitions)

And it looks like another UIUC acceptance has been posted! Anyone want to claim it?

That's incredible!! You'll have the distinction of being the first 2019 admit for all the nervous kiddos checking back in future years

This was hilarious. Welcome and good luck I hope you enjoy your Didion novel!

I got you, hold on a sec. Wow, here we are in mid-late February! You're welcome everyone !!

As a matter of fact, there is something VERY similar for French, also offered by UT Austin (hook 'em): http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/ When I started taking French in undergrad, this was the main teaching tool we used. As for learning another language during graduate school—on my apps that asked explicitly what my plans were, I said that I intend to enroll in undergraduate language classes in addition to my grad seminars for my second non-English modern language. But I'm sort of assuming that everyone in the cohort will be figuring language plans out together and not really worrying about it until that point.

Yes! It's hard to escape the Winedale alumni community if you're at all involved in theatre in Austin. I was walking out of the grocery store a few weeks ago and someone came up to me and said "Hey, didn't you play Edgar last summer?" I've done the same to a few people around town.

I doubt that adcomms are looking for reasons to disqualify someone's application! On the contrary, a lot of departments will email you if they notice that you're missing documents. I'd say that giving the department a call during business hours tomorrow is probably the best course of action. UCLA didn't show my GRE scores on the day I submitted my app, and the graduate coordinator I talked to was very reassuring. They want everyone's application to have a good shot!

Yeah, Pom Poko is a bizarre and fun film, and fairly radical in its environmental message. Isao Takahata was a really wonderful animator—losing him last year still hurts.

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.

I think because of how quickly one year in my current job has gone by, it's not so stressful for me to think about the possibility that I'll have to do it again. Being away from academia has certainly given me some confidence that research/teaching is what I want to do, but having a year where I don't owe my free time to anyone but myself has, for the most part, been really lovely. When my mentors (professors) ask what I'm up to, they sort of envy being able to dive into anything I'm curious about (like, say, reading biographies or Shakespeare plays instead of books that are strictly or even tangentially connected to my research areas). And the time has just blazed by. If any of you find yourself in a similar situation, I think/hope you'll have a similar experience. A year is no time, and you will keep getting smarter while you're away from school—even if you're not doing something you think is "special" like joining the peace corps or whatever (although that would of course be a wonderful way to spend your time). In fact, when I came back to my thesis to start working on this cycle's writing sample, I was amazed at how much the distance from my writing enabled me to think about my argument differently and reconstruct/strengthen it. If I get shut out this year, I'm almost excited about the possibility that another year of life will make me an even stronger applicant. I also haven't been able to do any plays since college (where I did 1-2 per semester), so if I don't get in I think I will probably actually audition for some stuff around town this spring/summer rather than thinking I have to set aside all of my mental energy for applications. I know someone who is putting on Cymbeline in June and that one is a blast.