j.alicea

@Bopie5 congrats! Currently at Villanova, it’s a really great program with wonderful faculty. You might want to look into Jean Lutes and Travis Foster (if you haven’t already). PM me if you have questions, or want to see what courses are being offered (if you haven’t received it already). Congrats again and good luck on funding!

I wouldn’t worry too much, but definitely reach out to a poi, or a current student, or the director of grad student services, or all three to get a sense of how difficult it is to get funding for the last year, or if there were any students who were unable to get funding for that sixth year. My understanding is that quite a few universities do this, and many of them really want you to get a dissertation scholarship for at least one semester, so that you can totally focus on writing and researching, but still getting paid a teaching salary. Some schools guarantee that sort of funding for the dissertation year, and others want you to apply internally and externally during fifth and sixth year. (This is the case for both of the schools I am deciding between.) It’s probably good to apply for external funding and additional internal funding every year regardless of what you are guaranteed, for the experience and for the extra wages.

@victoriansimpkins I was interviewed maybe two weeks ago, and was notified that I was on the waitlist yesterday. The professor that interviewed me made a point to say that there’s usually a fair amount of movement on waitlists. I wouldn’t take it as a rejection, it sounded like they were still making decisions and doing interviews. I also got the sense that they may schedule interviews according to research interest - the interviewer pointed out that she was interviewing other candidates interested in Latina/o and Caribbean studies. for those asking about Davis, I imagine they have a waitlist, but They may not reach out to you until you move off of the waitlist. good luck everyone!

@swarthmawr @3131 @barshmie Love the convo btw, I think it's very important that we interrogate this crucial field, its power and its limits. So thanks for engaging! But I will continue to push back... I am not altogether certain that a Mexican writer would describe their work as "Mexican literature." (Would they not just call it, well, literature?) Also, did the Rutgers application use the terminology "Ethnic studies" or "Ethnic Literature"? Because Ethnic studies departments typically do distinguish between different ethnicities, and would admit that our current American canon is already "ethnic," but perhaps not as open to different ethnicities as it should (this is the fall out of hegemonic, Anglo-centric notions of "ethnicity" that Hall has written on at various points int his career). I really must recommend (again) reading Hall's "New Ethnicities," which does an excellent job of contesting the ideological meanings ascribed to "ethnicity" by the British, and also formulates black subjects as conjunction of ethnic similarities and differences as an alternative to the supposition of an authentically black subject during the civil rights era. I think this can be applied to Latina/o people as well, many of whom would find the term "Mexican lit" a little concerning, since their experience comes out of the explosion of various ethnic trajectories (Hispanic, Anglo-European, Middle Eastern, Asiatic, Native American, etc.), and the notion of a concrete Mexican aesthetic without these ethnic differences in mind would be hegemonic to Mexican writers that don't quite fit the dominant mold. This is a useful quote for the conversation at hand (I think) from Hall's essay: "What is involved is the splitting of the notion of ethnicity between, on the one hand the dominant notion which connects it to nation and 'race' and on the other hand what I think is the beginning of a positive conception of the ethnicity of the margins, of the periphery. That is to say, a recognition that we all speak from a particular place, out of a particular history, out of a particular experience, a particular culture, without being contained by that position as 'ethnic artists' or film-makers. We are all, in that sense, ethnically located and our ethnic identities are crucial to our subjective sense of who we are. But this is also a recognition that this is not a ethnicity which is doomed to survive, as Englishness was, only by marginalizing, dispossessing, displacing, and forgetting other ethnicities. This precisely is the politics of ethnicity predicated on difference and diversity" - Stuart Hall

@3131 I will agree that the field is broad, but its openness is, I would argue, its strength. Ethnic studies, which really only came into being through coalition building among Black, Latin American, Asian American, Filipino, and Indigenous American student unions during the Civil Rights era, is an interdisciplinary, transhistoric, transnational, and translingual methodology that, in its conception, is meant to resist the Anglo- and Eurocentric trajectories of American canon building and historicism (though it has certainly expanded, its goals and its scope now more global than hemispheric). In a way, Ethnic studies departments are continuing the work (more so in the classroom than in the field of action) of the Rainbow Coalition. Additionally, current Whiteness studies theorists come straight out of Ethnic studies, so I wouldn't say that the racial category of whiteness is erased by Ethnic studies. While Jewish, Italian, and Irish literature (in the diaspora or at home) were not always at the center of Ethnic studies, today the field is certainly more open to these "white" ethnic groups. Finally, the idea that ethnicity refers to people of color - as opposed to a complex concept of identity that transcends concepts of race, nationality, periodicity, and language - is an Anglocentric construct (see Stuart Hall's "New Ethnicities" for more on the colonization of the term "ethnic"). This last point is crucial: part of what is liberating about the (revived) meaning of ethnicity, especially around the civil rights movement, is that it counters the idea of hegemonic and ethnically "pure" identities with an acknowledgement that the ways individuals are identified - as white, as black, as Latina/o, as Asian, and Indigenous - are constrictive acts of categorization, and that each of these categories is comprised of various ethnic differences that go unacknowledged when the many disciplines within Ethnic studies are not engaging. Thus, rather than studying Latinidades from a closed perspective that is only surveying Hispanic texts, an Ethnic studies approach to Latinidades might consider the Latina/o identity by considering the nexus of Anglo, Hispanic, Arab, Indian, and Indigenous influence in Latin American history and culture, across many periods.

@barshmie and @3131 I’m not sure I understand the issue with “ethnic studies.” It is widely used (Rutgers, Berkeley, Riverside, Irvine, Boulder, to name a few institutions). Also, it would perhaps be more problematic to subsume Ethnic studies into American Studies, Global studies, Latina studies, Chicana studies, Asian American studies, Afro-American studies, etc., as some have pushed for in the past. I mean ethnic isn’t a deragatory term, or at least I as an “minority ethnic person” don’t interpret it that way. But please correct me if I am wrong about this. While ethnic studies is a broad category, I kind of like it that way; it encourages interdisciplinary approaches to problems of the “assembly” of race, ethnicity, identity formation, indigeneity, etc., no?

Has anyone received funding/award letter from UCSC yet? I also haven't heard from the DGS - just the department recruitment day email.

Has anyone heard back about funding from UCSC comp. lit? I saw someone on the results board posting that they received the DGS email and are expecting funding info this week - can anyone expand on this?

Duke: Feb 21-23 UC Boulder: Feb 28-March 1 University of Alabama: February 28-March 2 Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL): February 28-March 2  Indiana University: March 1 U Wisconsin-Madison: March 3-5 Illinois (Urbana): March 4-5 Stanford: March 6-8 Northwestern: March 7-9 Saint Louis University: March 8 University of Minnesota: March 14-15  UC Santa Cruz: March 14 Kansas: March 17-19  Vanderbilt: March 21-22 Rice University: March 21-23 USC: March 24-26 UT Austin: March 28-30  UC Davis: April 2  U Oregon: April 4-6 ** made a mistake on my entry

Duke: Feb 21-23 UC Boulder: Feb 28-March 1 University of Alabama: February 28-March 2 Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL): February 28-March 2 Indiana University: March 1 U Wisconsin-Madison: March 3-5 Illinois (Urbana): March 4-5 Stanford: March 6-8 Northwestern: March 7-9 Saint Louis University: March 8 University of Minnesota: March 14-15 UC Santa Cruz: March 14-17 Kansas: March 17-19 Vanderbilt: March 21-22 Rice University: March 21-23 UT Austin: March 28-30 UC Davis: April 4 U Oregon: April 4-6

@charliekkk From what I've heard and read, they only accept 0-3 students per year, and funding is not a guarantee, and you will be competing for jobs with grads from Lit and philosophy departments. From my understanding, it would be better to apply to either the PhD in philosophy or in literature, since both would allow you to take courses (up to four or five maybe) within the HOC program, plus you will still have some access to that departments faculty. From those I've spoken with who have recently graduated from the lit. program, they were able to secure funding for all the years, though they had to apply for external funding in the last 2 or 3 years.

@Sav Perhaps we'll meet at visiting day - or even be future cohortmates! Congrats!

Just received call from POI to inform me of acceptance to Davis! From what I could glean from the call (with very poor reception), they are calling the accepted students and sending out emails tonight. Also was interviewed by Riverside (don't think this is normal, probably has more to do with the fact that my work doesn't quite fit regionally with what UCR is presently doing). With that said, it sounds like people should be hearing back from them sometime next week (once they know more about funding). Good luck, fellow UC applicants!

I don’t think the elimination of fees would increase the number of applicants in the same way that having a general app pool for all universities to dip into would... plus, the SoP seems to me to be an indispensable document that demonstrates an applicants ability to enter scholarly discourses; to not only relate their work to professor x’s, y’s, or z’s work, but also to fill gaps in the department. A professor who assisted some with one of my SoPs raises this point several times: the SoP isn’t all about how you will benefit from the department, but also about how they will benefit from your presence. This brings us to a very important point made by @Warelin, that the whole application process helps us to understand what different universities and their scholars are doing, and it prepares us for the job hunt after grad school and other application processes we will likely face during grad school (fellowships, research grants, summer opportunities, etc.). My thesis has absolutely benefited from reading the work of countless scholars from universities that I applied to, as well as those to which I did not end up applying. It’s a difficult and painful process, with plenty of missed opportunities: this sentiment can be applied to the experiences of applying to and attending grad school equally.

@kendalldinniene I am sorry to hear that. Hope the Oregon state becomes an acceptance. Also, you will probably hear from UCs in the next few weeks! @alexisnj and @jadeisokay It's only 2/1, so don't give up hope! That said, I understand the feeling (went through the same thing around the same time in my first shutout season). Truth is, what you can do to improve your odds is going to be rather different from what others do, so really you should talk to your LOR writers, who should be familiar with your materials, interests, and the programs that will fit, and see what they suggest. That said, here's what I did between my first shutout season (2014) and now. (I am no expert, so hopefully others join in with their experiences. Each journey is different) I applied to philosophy PhDs straight out of undergrad with BA double major in philosophy and mathematics, and was shutdown. I then took several years off and taught high school math (don't recommend this) and eventually decided I wanted to go back to studying literature. I applied to MA programs to (1) see whether it was for me and (2) zero-in on my research interests (was initially interested in Anglo and Hispanic American modernisms, so that has shifted quite a bit). I spent about a year researching dozens of programs, down to a list of five programs that were best fit for my research interests. This "fit" part is difficult, and ultimately we never really know what an adcomm is looking for. That said, read their mission statement, look at who the chair of grad studies is, look at who is teaching past upper level grad courses, look for their most recent hires, check the departments job postings to see who they intend to hire over the next few years; these are all good ways to get a better understanding of the department culture. Past dissertations and current students are good to check out as well. I had been working on my writing sample for years, and I don't know what to say about that, other than make sure it's as flawless as you can get it (I had four faculty and three peers provide edits; for me, good work cannot happen in a vacuum). For SoPs, spend a good amount of time relating your work to POI's. I did tons of research on this; read articles and books from multiple faculty members, and if I found a faculty member whose interests matched my own, I made sure to find out who their colleagues were, and then read their work. One of my mentors advised to say "Dr. so-an-so and their colleagues," thereby casting a wider net. Also, reading past years Grad Student Handbooks will give you a better idea of how you will be getting your funding, language requirements,and course requirements, all of which tells you more about the department and whether you fit/how to show the adcomm that you fit

What a reading list, @Sav! I would take your class!

Maybe check Rob Nixon’s Slov Violence: Environmentalism of the Poor; great read, and he definitely cites tons of other sources that are more focussed on intersection b/t ecocrit and postcolonial lit and theory. His book is probably more concerned with transnational perspectives and trajectories, but he has been doing postcolonial theory for a while, so you’ll get some of that, too.

Law schools do not have a common app. You submit lsat scores, transcripts, and minimum of three LORs to CAS (credential assembly service), which is a requirement for most law schools, but not all. Once you do this, you still have to search for schools you want to receive the report. Then you have to submit a personal statement tailored to the program, highlighting particular interests and POI, and the page length varies from school to school, and some schools require additional written documents. So, by and large, it’s a similar process. And, personally, I find that differentiation as opposed to homogeneity is a good thing; different people have different interests, learning habits and strengths, and visions for how a university should function. It is difficult to have to go through so many programs to figure out where you think you may fit, and I agree that departments should be more transparent about what they are looking for. Still, some universities care about GRE’s, others don’t. Some will prefer applicants who are pretty set on what they want to do, others want students they can mold, and still others want a combination of those types. Some universities are all about teaching, others are research driven, and again there are those that want to strike a balance between the two. Plus, I like that departments choose their own standards, or choose how they approach Literature in the Americas (should it be just English or Comp. Lit., or is there space inbetween for American lit programs?) It’s important that we know what we want, what will help foster our growth and facilitate our goals, when we apply for something as big as a grad school.

Oh!!!! (Last post I swear) The Bridge by Hart Crane, of course!

Oh, and Pietri routinely dressed as a reverend and gave out free condoms to his audience... not sure how that fits with Eliot’s Christianity and that bar scene at the end of “A Game of Chess” ?

This sounds like a fascinating essay! I don’t really have an answer... but I always found Anne Carson’s poetry to be reminiscent of Eliot’s poetry and prose, plus she is very engaged with the classics and Ancient Greek... not sure if there is anything there. Take this recommendation with a grain of salt: one critic (Ramón Soto-Crespo) suggests that the book Puerto Rican Obituary by Pedro Puerto (comprised of “Puerto Rican Obituary,” “The Broken English Dream,” “Beware of Signs,” “Suicide Notefrom a Cockroach in a Low Income Housing Project,” and “Tata”) is a Puerto Rican, anti-colonial and anti-modern rewrite of The Waste Land... I am not totally convinced, and Soto-Crespo doesn’t do much more then say it and draw a few parallels (strong parallels indeed, but not exhaustive). I can send you the pdf tomorrow if you would like, or you can find it on JSTOR, or check out his book, Mainlnd Passage (the longer version of the essay appears as chapter 4 and is titled “Out of the Mainland”). This might be too much of a departure from what you’re doing in your paper, but it could just be fun to check out, especially since Pietri, as a spoken word poet who was influenced by both lyric and “projective” verse, as Charles Olson has it, bears many similarities and differences to Eliot.

@Ranmaag Much appreciated! And I will take you up on that offer if they accept me! Is the new hire Armando García? @mwils15 Super stoked to see someone taking on crime/detective fiction! Are you familiar with Leonard Cassuto? He does some cool work in that field, and many others (including baseball). I am very new to the genre, so I think I will check out The Hansom Cab this summer - thanks!

@Ranmaag ❤️ Muñoz - may they rest in peace. Sounds like a stellar application of their theory!

I unsurprisingly have zero reactions to you scholars! Really cool stuff! @dilby I am especially interested in yours, since I love anime, and yet I've never had the gumption to write on it (or any filmic works aside from documentaries), so kudos to you! NeMLA this year has one or two panels on anime and aesthetics that I intend to attend. (anyone else going to NeMLA to present? or just to see Hommi Bhabba?) I recently read a bit of an essay on the aesthetic of metastasis in Akira and the works of Marx, but it's unpublished and not sure if the person who wrote it would allow me to share... My ws considers some poems/performances by Pedro Pietri (Puerto Rican Obituary, El Puerto Rican Embassy, and El Anthem) and Los Out-of-Focus Nuyorican photo series by Adál Maldonado (essentially an exhibit of fake Puerto Rican passports where all the headshots are out-of-focus) through a regional lens (specifically Antonio Benítez-Rojo's theory of the Caribbean as a meta-archipelago or a "repeating island") and argues against the flat nationalism or non-nationalism binary that is typically ascribed to Puerto Ricans and Puerto Rican artists. Instead, I read, or rather I hear and see these works as attempts to supplant the aesthetic hegemony of the West with a curative aesthesis (thinking of Mignolo and Anzaldúa here) capable of generating actual spaces for identity formation, imaginary-nation building, and resistance to Anglo American hegemony. (examples: the takeover of a church in Harlem that became the First People's Church, which began with Pietri's reading of PRO; or the Embassy and Anthem poems that accompany the passport series and other art installations, which, taken together, compose the imaginary nation of El Spirit Republic, roughly ten years before Anderson's notion of the imaginary community hit the shelves) Apologies for all the parentheticals - that's just how I write pre-editing phase.

@kendalldinniene I just thought of one more piece of advice for conferences: make sure to avoid the future tense in your abstract. Essentially, the abstract should read as though the paper you plan to present is already written (even if it isn't, which is often the case). So, instead of saying something like, "This paper will examine such and such and do such and such," it should read, "This paper examines x and does y."