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vesperalvioletta

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Everything posted by vesperalvioletta

  1. I guess I'm just feeling generally disconnected from English Literature right now. I enjoy doing scholarly work and being in the academy, but I don't feel like I fully fit anywhere if that makes sense. I feel like I'm supposed to at least have a sense of my areas of interest by now and I don't, aside from some very broadly conceived concepts.
  2. Hi all, I'm currently pursuing an MA in English Literature, and the further I get into my program, the more I feel like the constraints of the field might not be right for me. I've been exploring Ph.D. programs trying to get a feel of what sort of program might be a good fit for me, but the thought of having to pigeon-hole myself into either British or American lit just isn't sitting well with me. I'm very interested in interdisciplinary work in fields that are adjacent to English such as film and media studies, popular culture, and women's and gender studies, and I think for me those interests as separate entities outweigh my interest in exploring literature through them as critical lenses. In this case, I'm not even sure what kind of programs to look for. Would an MFA program maybe be a better fit? I've also considered comparative lit as I have a sub-interest in post-Soviet Russian culture, but again, it's the culture rather than the literature that really speaks to me. I'm also not up to snuff in terms of the language proficiency requirements that most comparative lit programs have, so that feels like another door closed. Slavic Studies aren't particularly en vogue at the moment anyway. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you all!
  3. I've recently been offered a graduate assistantship with my university's rowing team, and I'm trying to figure out if I might be able to negotiate a more substantial stipend from the athletics department. Has anyone had success doing something similar in the past? To give some context, as it stands right now the initial offer is full tuition remission plus a stipend of $10k a year (if I choose not to take a summer course, this would drop) for a 25-30 hours/week commitment. GA positions at my university aren't regulated under any sort of union, so pay and levels of tuition remission vary wildly from position to position. For instance, I'm sort of still in contention for a different position that offers full tuition remission and pays $20/hr for 20 hours/week. Most GA positions at my university require little more than basic proficiency in Microsoft Word and the ability to do simple office work. In contrast, I had to have years of specialized training and coaching experience to be eligible for the rowing position, not to mention that it's a greater time commitment than any other available GA position I've seen at my university. If I break down the offered stipend (before taxes) into an hourly rate, I wouldn't even be making minimum wage. The school I go to is located in the metropolitan area of a mid-size city, so while the cost of living isn't NYC or LA high, I still fear that I won't be able to afford to live on the stipend, plus the salary I make at my additional part-time job. Do you think I have a case to make?
  4. Thank you for being so supportive through this. You've honestly been more understanding than my family or my partner have been, and it truly means a lot to me. I'm going to take some time to think things through, but right now I'm leaning towards not going. I'd love to chat some more.
  5. I appreciate you saying that. I'm really quite heartbroken and as such I haven't thought much about my options yet. The same thing happened to me in the 2017 cycle, except that I didn't apply until June, so it was really no surprise when I didn't get any funding. I did everything right this time around, so to come out with the same result is really difficult to swallow. Since it's my second time around already, I'm not sure if there's any value in waiting it out another year. I'm getting mixed opinions on what I should do. My mentor in the department is trying to figure out exactly what happened since she wasn't on the committee this cycle as she was teaching in Italy at the time - but the general consensus among those I know in the department is that I shouldn't accept the offer. Professors I'm still in touch with in other departments think I should just take it and see if I can get any funding after my first semester, but (and not to sound vain) I know my worth, and it's certainly more than what I'm being offered at this point. I really don't know what to do.
  6. I got accepted to the MA program at my alma mater, Duquesne, this morning with no funding offer whatsoever. I'm absolutely devastated. My letter writers are all shocked, and quite frankly, so am I. I can't afford to go back to school without some kind of support. I thought this was finally going to be my chance to get out of a job I can't stand and be able to pursue what I'm passionate about, and all that hope is crushed.
  7. Oops, sorry about that. Ended up in the wrong thread by accident. Thank you for your advice though! ?
  8. I'm starting to get pretty worried having not heard back from the school I applied to, and I can't tell if I'm being realistic stressing myself out over it. I'm an MA applicant and I applied to solely to my alma mater's English program. The application period closed on January 15, but seeing everyone here talk about acceptances has me pretty nervous that I haven't heard anything. It seems like most people on here are Ph.D applicants who had to apply before the end of last year, but I can't help but make the comparison when others are hearing back and I'm not. Ugh. It's killing me.
  9. I didn't go to CMU, but I work very nearby and went to another Pittsburgh university, so I may be able to offer some insight. In my opinion, it's going to be all about where you live. CMU's campus is fairly compact, so navigating while there shouldn't be a problem, but if you're planning on living anywhere other than Oakland, Shadyside, or parts of Squirrel Hill, you'll be pretty heavily reliant on the bus system to get around. Pittsburgh Port Authority runs just about anywhere you could want to go in the city, and I know CMU has their own shuttle buses through parts of the aforementioned neighborhoods and to the CMU Technology Center closer to uptown, but it just depends on what you're comfortable with. There's a small population of people I know who like to travel by bike when the weather is nice enough for it as well, but I can't say I exactly trust Pittsburgh drivers...
  10. Thank you!! ? I was a hot mess undergrad at the time, but I had a lot of fun writing it.
  11. Most notable misses for me are The Catcher in the Rye, Romeo and Juliet, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I feel a bit sacrilegious saying so, but they're all so deeply ingrained in American culture that I don't feel like I've missed much ?‍♂️
  12. My writing sample was a selection from my final paper for an 18th Century Drama course studying the connections between prostitution, authorship, and social/political commentary in Aphra Behn's The Rover and John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. I argued that Behn's elevation of the "good" prostitute over the "gay" heroine representing a demasculinization of feminine desire and reclamation of moral and bodily autonomy, a theme throughout her body of work, was a reflection of Behn's Tory and royalist political associations, but also a rendering of the inextricable connections between female authorship and prostitution. I suggested that the prostitute character in The Rover, Angellica Bianca, is an autobiographical character for Behn, and that Angellica Bianca's usurping of her own commodification yet ultimate downfall is indicative of Behn's own operation and commercial success within a male-dominated marketplace however plagued by criticism and dismissal for her daring material. I used Gay's work as a foil against Behn to reconnect with the political commentary thread in support of my claim that prostitutes in dramatic works of this time often acted as representations of power, intelligence, independence, and even morality due to their unique ability to exist in both masculine and feminine spaces.
  13. Another Pittsburgh transplant here! I've lived in PA for about 10 years now, but I grew up in Charlotte, NC, so I totally get where you're coming from in terms of missing the mild weather and scenery. I can't say we're in the exact same boat as I moved here as a teenager with my family and had more opportunities to build relationships through the built-in socialization that high school provided, but I totally sympathize with how hard the adjustment is to make. Not gonna lie, I hate PA too - once you start getting into bland farmland outside the city it's just not for me, but the people here can be some of the warmest, kindest, and most generous I've ever met once you get to know them. I was depressed for at least the first two years that I lived here (which I know doesn't really help, but I came from an even warmer climate than you did where winter was basically non-existent, so I attribute a lot of it to the weather), but it does get better, I promise!
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