wreckofthehope

Nice! I was just re-reading "Of Other Spaces" and Discipline and Punish this week. I'm interested in literature's role in shaping our response to certain landscapes as sites of alienation and exile.

I know someone who is just finishing up their thesis in the Draper Program and by all accounts has really found it worthwhile. I would think that its benefits come largely from it functioning as a space of facilitation for students who have a clear goal and the motivation to make the most of the facilities/faculty that are made available. I'm pretty sure that the same benefits could be achieved for a lot less money by other routes, but you would probably have to work a lot harder to access them. My friend has had some very good Ph.D offers this application season (in another Humanistic dicsipline), but I don't know how much of their success can be attributed to the program and how much to their own self-motivation to succeed... Random question: Is your username in reference to J.G. Ballard? He's my favourite writer - I just wrote my M.A. thesis on his 60's eco-catastrophe novels!

Hi indalomena, welcome I'm also a British student. I'll be heading to Boston in August after a gruelling application season - I'd be happy to answer any questions you have - feel free to PM me if there's anything a fellow Brit' could be most helpful with! Do you have any ideas about particular places you'd like to apply yet?

WOWOWOW!! HUGE CONGRATS!!

Did you email Rutgers? I emailed the grad sec last week and they got back to me within a few days letting me know that I was waitlisted. Still waiting in that regard though!

Anyone thinking of declining Rutgers Comp Lit? Also - I've pretty much lost hope for UBC now, but if anyone has a last minute change of heart I'd be delighted

I imagine, the issue is that you have specifically applied for the funded option, so in order to accept you on the unfunded option (which in most subjects in the U.K. is the usual kind of acceptance) you need to specify that you'd like to be considered for it - seems like a simple administrative requirement... or at least that is how I would be inclined to interpret it.

Hey, I actually just heard last night that I'm no' 1 on the waitlist! Super excited Hope you hear something good soon from them!

Hey sorry can't be of help with your question, but just wondered something: would you be an international student in the U.K. - how does that work with this particular course, am I right in thinking it's part-time?

I take it that admits have heard and visited but has ANYONE else heard ANYTHING?

Ha, yes, I'd be inclined to approach something like that from a psychoanalytic/ mythic/ archetypal criticism approach (probably because that's what I did my MA in!) - but that's probably veering a bit close to Joseph Campbell territory. I was just talking about something similar this week end with my fiance: I was trying to explain to him why Star Wars was basically a Medieval quest narrative by making the same kind of argument. But yes, I can see what you mean - I would think the authorial voice area would be particularly rich, perhaps more so with dream visions than Romances...

Yes, I notice a lot of Medievalists with interests that span the two - when you say the "connections" between postmodernism and Medieval are you talking about postmodern theory or postmodern literature? I'm on the PhD waitlist. The department and university is just ideal for me, it will break my heart to get this close and then not get in. Congratulations on your acceptance! - Are you a non-Canadian applicant like I am?

Hey. I'm waitlisted (and desperately want to get in!): my field is postmodern and contemporary lit and literary theory (ecocriticism/ space and place/ psychoanalysis). So, totally other end of the spectrum from you!

Was that a PhD or an MA offer? Congrats either way!

I just noticed it - Thanks for posting it, and commiserations on not getting in. I'm still anxiously waiting to hear from them... I imagine my chances aren't great - I've heard bad things about funding for non-Canadians but, oh, I really, really like UBC!

Landor's Tower; or, the Imaginary Conversations - Iain Sinclair. It's impossibly good. I didn't read Sinclair for such a long time because I feared disappointment (he is a vocal disciple of my very favourite writer J.G. Ballard, and something of a demiurge himself in London's left-field literary scene)but, oh-my-goodness, I really should not have feared anything. This book is absolutely brilliant, it makes me chuckle maniacally to myself on the train with its cleverness.

I saved mine from the "print" button and then uploaded it to my photobucket then embedded the pic using the forum insert image option. Couldn't figure out any other way - though there obviously is one.

I love this thread - it's so fun to see everyone's SOPs! I was a bit wary of putting mine up for a while because I think it would be really easy to identify me from it... but now that this process is almost over that doesn't worry me so much, so here we go:

I received a rejection letter here in London (U.K.) today. I specifically said I did not want to be considered for MAPH, because I already have an M.A. - so, I would think there's a good chance that your application has been referred, unless the mail in MA is super slow

Thanks so much for this - it's very helpful. I had no idea the walk to BC would be so short from Brookline, or that the walk from the D line to BC was only 15mins - this is great information to have, and widens the areas for consideration quite a bit. I currently have a 20min walk at the end of my train ride as part of my daily commute, which I love doing (perhaps trudging through a Boston winter will change my mind, though) - so would definitely not be averse to taking the route you suggest.

Hey all - Very helpful thread -thanks for everyone's contributions! I will likely be attending BC in the fall, and will be moving to Boston from the U.K. with my fiance, he'll probably end up working in the financial district or the Back Bay so we're looking for a place to live that is between downtown and Chestnut Hill. I've identified three areas I lke the look of: Coolidge Corner/ Brookline generally, Fenway/Kenmore and.... that little bit of Allston that is below Comm Ave towards Brookline (around Kelton Street/ Brainerd). The last is by far the cheapest - is it really that undergrad-saturated and unbearable? Any thoughts on all three areas generally, but particularly the last? Also, I really like the look of Jamaica Plain, but it seems like it would be a bit of a pain to travel to BC from there - is that true?

Yes - what is going on there?! I have not heard a peep... and haven't seen any results on the board.

Hi NNmsw11, I still have to hear back from quite a few schools, but I've been accepted to BC for a PhD in English - it's quite possible I'll be heading there in the fall so - pleased to 'meet ' you!

Thanks! - U of T is one of my top, top choices - I may get back to you with some questions actually. Goldsmiths is the "creative" college of the University of London, I'm not sure about Sociology there but have a vague recollection that it is quite strong - my sister did her M.A. there and enjoyed it a lot, it's in a fairly gritty part of the city and has a very arty and alternative vibe. Also - Oxford is not really known for Sociology... I think that's somewhat down to it being a more modern subject which was picked up by the modern universities earlier, it's not necessarily a bad department - I did my undergrad' there, in another subject, and know people doingthe DPhil there in Social Policy (which is its own little department ..but somewhat tied in with Sociology) who find the department plenty rigorous and the experience rewarding - but it's not known as a powerhouse of Sociology research. I would say that Cambridge is probably thought of more as the social sciences place. In the U.K. you apply and are accepted first, and then you apply for funding separately. There's not a lot available at all - hence my looking to North America (among other reasons). At Essex, most PhD students become graduate teaching assistants, and similar is available (to those who search it out) at other universities, but this is by no means a given, or mandated, part of doing a PhD here. Oh - also Joan Busfield is at Essex, and she's very big in Sociology of Mental Health!