fossati

In the humanities, where research plays the most important part of your degree, coursework is that moment to build your fields. This is the moment to read things you won't read in the years doing research and writing the dissertation because your focus will be very narrow. Coursework reminds you of the big picture as you dive into your research and as you come out of it. It reminds you of your interlocutors. 
However, PhD programs vary from program to program and courses vary enormously even within the department. So your courses should be useful to you. How can you tell if they are useful? Well, you asked about employers. That's one way of thinking about it although I have never heard of anyone asking for courses taken in a PhD for employment purposes (it may vary in your field). 
Courses at the graduate level can provide: 
Mentorship. Sometimes we take courses to work with a professor that we want to include in our committee and who might eventually write a LoR. I took courses with specialists outside my department to bolster potential letter writers for the job market.  Diversity of assignments. In my program, several courses had non-traditional assignments which really helped me down the line. Eg, a course midterm was an annotated syllabus and in addition to the final project we had to write a grant application. It was the first draft I ever wrote and helped get started. Networking. Depending where you are taking courses, you can encounter students from fields that you wouldn't have found otherwise. Interdisciplinarity helped me better hone my project for audiences outside my discipline. I've also known people that because they took specific courses, they found out about internal grants that eventually funded their dissertation writing years.  Methods. Some courses offer good exposure to methods that maybe you won't use in your project but it is worth knowing they exist. In my case, this is more methods in textual analysis.  YMMV

Hey! I hope this helps.   I ended up doing some research and got an E-Reader called the Onyx Boox Note Air, which runs on a limited version of Android 10. However, it's great for reading PDF's and taking notes on the actual device and the transferring process is relatively easy. I am also in the humanities and it's been wonderful thus far. I cannot speak about the longevity of it, but I enjoy using it. 

Hello colleagues in the humanities,
I've read some of the previous threads on eReaders but they're all from around 2011. I'm particularly interested in updated information on quality eReaders as well as how they would function for someone in the humanities. Do you recommend using one or not? If so, which eReaders would you recommend? How is using an eReader in class?
I'm in the languages, and I've heard you can find books in the target language for cheaper on eReaders and then you have the added benefit of a built in dictionary and can take notes more easily in the text. I'm very old-fashioned so the idea of using an eReader isn't particularly thrilling, but at the same time, neither is lugging around copious amounts of books. Any information on the great debate of eReaders would be appreciated.
 

Nice to meet you too!
At the moment, I have a very long list which needs refining. I’ve only ruled out a few programs and am still researching the rest. But, so far, the ones I like the look of most are Northwestern, USC, UT Austin, IU Bloomington, NYU, Rochester, and UC Irvine. No doubt the list will change a lot over the coming weeks and months.
What programs are you looking at?

Hi everyone, I was taken off the waitlist last week and accepted UT Austin's offer. I can't wait to join! Sometimes it can take until the very end, but the outcome can be positive. I'm so happy!

I concur with pretty much everyone's responses that have commented on this. Deciding to pursue a PhD is not a light issue. And if you intend to get a job in academia, you should know that may not be necessarily possible. On that note, some people pursue PhD's in Film and Media studies and may have other career options in mind. A person from my Master's program is doing their PhD at a "top program," which also gives them the resources to work on their own films and publish their own film criticism. They are not necessarily in interested in becoming a tenured professor, but instead want to get paid to do research so they can also publish in non-academic journals. I also know people who have opted out of academia after getting tenure-track faculty jobs and decided to become an editor at a journal. 
All in all, I would really consider what you're doing. For me, I have also been in the working world and have worked a day job, and nothing has been as fulfilling for me as academic writing and research, so I enter my PhD program knowing full well about the difficult employment options.
This has been a tough year for admissions, and we are also uncertain of academia's future. So this climate is particularly difficult. I know people who have found jobs during the pandemic, and I know others who are struggling. It is my hope that this pandemic situation is temporary and things will go back to normal, but of course, we don't know for sure how things will change since academic institutions have taken a hard hit. 
Anyway, those are just some thoughts that I have. I have a ton more! But I do agree with other people, it's not a light decision. 

It's a tough choice. At Columbia, you could work with Higonnet. I'm just sharing something below I've posted about Columbia in general, but I'm in art history, so perhaps it's most relevant for you. I know these things are a a mix of crazy excitement and anxiety about making the right decision! If you're currently at CU you (hopefully) know all about the strike. As a prospect, you could contact the admins (see below) to express your concern about how they treat grad students, if you are considering becoming one! Good luck choosing!
 
Not trying to be a downer, but something to consider if anyone is thinking about Columbia:
Among your choices, you should also consider which programs have a grad worker union AND treat grad students right. I am a current 2nd year PhD student at Columbia. The majority of grad students are currently on strike for a living wage, better healthcare, and protection from harassment and discrimination. I have been watching the process of our new graduate union try to bargain for our first contract for over two years. In these sessions, I have seen admin (and their sleazy lawyer, who charges $1,500/hr) do everything possible to stall negotiations, belittle us, and play down heartfelt testimonials that make clear why our demands are reasonable and necessary. Every time we've gotten a raise in the past, our Columbia rent magically goes up by a higher percentage. Our wages are not enough to live in NYC. There is no dental or vision coverage, and they recently removed the better health insurance plan option. The school has a terrible history with harassment and discrimination cases brought by both undergrads and grads (Google it), and at the moment they are doing everything possible to avoid meeting our contract demand about changing the investigation process to give more rights to the complainant (see link below). 
We're entering the 3rd week of the strike, and Columbia has made very clear that they plan to not only doc our bi-weekly pay (which we receive for TA/RA work), but our academic stipends--yep, they are going to debit our student accounts, thereby jeopardizing course registration, degree progress, visas, and health insurance. We have a legal right to strike, but this later action constitutes illegal academic retaliation.
Long story short: I'm sure a lot of schools are as corrupt as Columbia, but I've just seen first hand how rotten this place is to the core. They only care about profit (their endowment grew $300 million during the pandemic alone), squeezing as much our of grad workers and adjuncts for as little pay as possible, sweeping bad press under the rug, and gentrifying Harlem with multi-million dollar campus expansions.
I encourage folks thinking about attending/applying to Columbia to express concerns to department chairs and administrators, and ask them why they insist on denying grad workers a fair contract: 
President Lee Bollinger officeofthepresident@columbia.edu, Phone: (212) 854-9970 Provost Ira Katznelson provost@columbia.edu,  +1 212 854 2404 GSAS Grad Admissions: gsas-admissions@columbia.edu  
https://gothamist.com/news/columbia-grad-students-strike-over-wages-and-harassment-policies-nyu-counterparts-vote-similar-actions

For context I'm in an MA now and starting my PhD in the Fall.
Have you done a Masters in film studies? If not, I would recommend trying to apply to (what few there are) funded MAs. I think USC offers some students partial funding and some full and maybe UW and Toronto ? Anyone know of others? 
You will hear a lot of people warn of humanities PhDs not being worth it or that the job market is abysmal. My #1 advice is to arrive at a personal decision about what matters to you. I realized that while all those warnings are sound, none of those people could actually offer me or point me to an alternative that would make me happier. All of the constituent parts of doing a degree are things I love: reading, writing, exploring new topics just for the sake of it, being in dialogue with peers and faculty, etc. There are of course things I don't and won't like, but I've also worked a desk job and know that this path is really better for me for now. Yes, the job market is horrible, but knowing that I have years of funding and license to study what I love for 5+ years feels like a really huge and amazing win for me right now. Some corners of academia are really distorted and toxic, for sure. But so are so many workplaces. We don't even know what world we will have in 5 years, and I'm just really happy to take it one step at a time. 
So, all this is to say, you need to make peace with the question of why you want to do a PhD. What do you want to get from the experience? If you fall more in the area of wanting the experience in and of itself, I would encourage you to keep researching and searching for the places that you think would be able to offer that. If you fall more in the area of wanting some kind of outcome, I would probably not pursue a PhD.
If you are struggling to get in touch with current students, try reaching out to the department coordinator and saying that you are a prospective student hoping to have an informal chat with someone in the program. They may be able to help connect you with someone more easily than just cold outreach to someone on the webpage.
I hope some of this is helpful to you!

I had a similar conversation with my undergrad advisor back when I was in my second year. I am currently in a master's program for some perspective. I never brought up my interest early on  in eventually applying to phd programs, but my prof could tell i was very intellectually interested in film studies. So when I did eventually tell him, he wasnt surprised though he did give the caveat that he would never advocate for anyone to get a PhD in this academic climate. That said, he has been encouraging and was one of my letter rec writers when i was applying to master's programs. 
 
I think after seeing my full intellectual growth, he seems more supportive and encouraging  in my interest in applying to PhD programs. I have other friends who are currently in PhD programs and/or just recently graduated, and they've all been pretty honest about the harsh realities of attending. Mind you, they are in top ivy league/ivy league level programs and even then, they seem to paint a very drastic picture of what it means to actually attend. My friend who just graduated from MIT a year ago is currently doing his post-doc in Europe, and he has had trouble getting any job interviews. 
 
Like most humanities programs, film studies is very interdisciplinary meaning anyone hypothetically could apply to a PhD program in film studies. One of the professors in my undergrad film department did her undergrad and masters in a STEM related field but ultimately moved to film. This was probably uncommon during her time but not quite so these days. Because of this growing trend of interdisciplinary work in the humanities, we're seeing an influx of applications in nearly every films studies program. And mind you, this is already competitive when the top programs are accepting 3-5 students per cycle. 
 
At this point, it really is a big responsibility of the applicant to be as informed as possible of the pros/cons of attending given that a doctorate/graduating from the best program does not equate to receiving a job in academia. But I do think this needs to be stressed. I have not seen this specifically in film studies, but in other forums online, there are always a couple stories of students being in denial of being unable to attain a job in the months after they receive their doctorate. I do question whether these kinds of students were responsible enough to really do their hw and see the harsh reality of academic life... 

Just got accepted into Emerson!!

*for Creative Writing.

Honestly, good job everyone waitlisted and accepted. This year was exceedingly tough for our field. UChicago, UCLA, NYU, Brown MCM, Harvard FVS, some of Yale, plus other related humanities programs closed their doors this year. I am positive I am forgetting some schools. This year was not an easy application cycle, at all! 

Honestly, good job everyone waitlisted and accepted. This year was exceedingly tough for our field. UChicago, UCLA, NYU, Brown MCM, Harvard FVS, some of Yale, plus other related humanities programs closed their doors this year. I am positive I am forgetting some schools. This year was not an easy application cycle, at all! 

I c ... UT Austin seemed to wait list a lot of folks this year and I was rejected sadly. 
UW is my last hope this cycle so keeping my fingers crossed and everybody who is waiting! 

Got my Brown rejection but I also just got my first acceptance! California College of the Arts sent me my letter of acceptance last night and it feels like a huge weight off. Of course, the world is keeping my ego in check by giving me my first grad acceptance followed by a grad school rejection, and a job rejection in the course of 10 hours, but we keep pushing forward! 

Thanks for this. Agreed. This is my first time round and when I started researching this MFA process I read a lot of stuff about it, as did probably most people here. I recall some one saying "people get rejected who have published in top-tier lit mags or have book contracts with prestigious publishers." Of course, Adcoms may decide such accomplished writers may not get much out of an MFA, but it's impossible to know what they are looking for. I sense from this community a ton of intelligence, articulateness, passion for the transformative value of language, and I am sure any number of us could thrive in most programs. I know from personal experience, having been writing on and off for 8 yrs with some published success and a lot of rejection, it's hard to tell with whom your work will resonate. At the end of day, the rejections have been good for me because I've developed a rhino skin, which has helped me in this application process. But whatever happens (I am still waiting on most of my decisions), I know I have to keep writing. It's what I think about all the time, even when I'm not writing (which is not good sometimes for my job life). Writing is how I try to make "sense" of our precious existence; it's my therapy and, when the work comes together, I feel a rush like nothing else and I suspect most of us here feel the same. 

Hey ya'll I just got my rejection from Brown (Not surprised!) 
Does anyone know when Iowa will send their rejection letters? 
I want to make sure I am deprived of any glimmer of hope so I can confirm my enrollment for another graduate program. Lol. 

I just got an e-mail from NYU that said they suspended PhD admissions for Cinema Studies. 

Hey ya'll I just got my rejection from Brown (Not surprised!) 
Does anyone know when Iowa will send their rejection letters? 
I want to make sure I am deprived of any glimmer of hope so I can confirm my enrollment for another graduate program. Lol. 

No word on how many are on the waitlist. To be honest I have no idea how many people universities traditionally put on a waitlist, let alone in the midst of a pandemic. 
I spoke with my recommenders to understand my chances in being accepted and the overall influx of applications to universities, scholarships and fellowships. This year is overwhelmingly competitive. 

I received word yesterday that I’ve been waitlisted at UW. Not what I was expecting, but I hope I still have a shot here. 

Venting about ethics of this: I actually find it so concerning that schools are comfortable taking prospective students for a ride, neglecting the labor, cost, and time of applying to their specific program, all in the name of this final-hour decision to support current students. Many, many schools made the decision to suspend admissions in the Fall, and NYU, I am sure, was more than aware of this discourse and demands of their students. And yet somehow they are only now, mid-March, communicating this decision to us. Rather than provide current students and us with the clarity we both needed, they decided to keep everyone in the dark until now (assuming current students didn't know about their funding extensions until last/this month). This is the type of stuff that perpetuates access issues in academia.

oh thank you!! let's hope it's good enough to get me into brown & mich lmaoo

I just got the call from Julie Agoos!! I’m in at Brooklyn for poetry!! 
 
I have not heard a single thing from any of the schools I applied to until today.  So to say I’m shocked & thankful is an understatement.   

I also heard USC does offer some funding for a few MA students. 

I would recommend you apply for both PhD and MA programs. 
It is indeed possible for an undergrad to be accepted by a PhD program. I just talked with a friend and they said that in their program, a highly competitive one, she was one of the few people with a Master's degree. Most of the other students came straight from undergrad. 
That being said, my other friends pursuing film studies were rejected from every PhD program without a Master's. You can't go wrong with a Master's degree. It will make you more competitive and show your commitment to pursuing scholarship, strengthen your academic interests, etc. I think most people who apply to a PhD from undergrad are generally have very competitive or recognized achievements in their respective fields. So you should work on publishing a book review, applying to conferences, etc to compensate for a lack of a Master's degree. 
But by all means, apply for both!