blkfemanthro

So difficult! I was rejected by 8 of the 9 PhD programs I applied to, and never heard back from 2 of the 3 MA programs I applied to. Rejections hurt a lot, but they aren't a reflection of our worth, whatsoever. This year was exceptionally tough to get into PhD programs, and even in a "normal" year it's pretty difficult to get into grad school. I sincerely wish the best for everyone who applied this cycle, regardless of the outcome. As far as good news, I'm excited to say that I accepted my offer to attend CUNY's Cultural Anthropology PhD program with full funding and a stipend, health insurance, and a fellowship! CUNY was my top choice, so I'm absolutely ecstatic. Congratulations to those who received offers!

@bonesandbakes I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts! I know Penn Anthropology has suspended PhD admissions, but I'm considering applying to the MA that leads to the PhD. And Deborah Thomas is actually one of the faculty I'm interested in working with.

@reverend_doctor Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate it. I had no idea about CUNY's treatment of adjuncts and faculty. I initially became interested in the CUNY Graduate School after attending a professional conference and speaking to some of the faculty members from the anthropology department. I also like that the department has very diverse faculty, many of whom have research expertise in my specific areas. I would prefer to be in the Midwest or East Coast, but I am open to applying elsewhere. My undergraduate thesis was a comparative ethnographic study on Black women's experiences using social media in their antiracist/feminist activism in the U.S. and Brazil. For graduate school I'm interested in using participatory/community-based ethnographic research to investigate the implications of overt and covert manifestations of state violence via surveillance/policing among Black communities in the urban U.S. and Brazil. Currently, I've been researching departments that have faculty with a strong Latin America focus and curriculums that include cross-disciplinary/cross-listed coursework in Black/African Diaspora Studies.

I will be applying to PhD programs in Sociocultural Anthropology this December to enter in Fall 2021. I'm trying to find programs that would be supportive of activist anthropology, and treat social justice as an important aspect of the graduate program. Not all my research is centered around activist anthropology, but I want to be in a department that won't fault my work as being somehow "lesser" than the more theoretical-based approaches and projects. More specifically, my research interests are in surveillance, policing, Black feminist theory, and violence, with a regional focus on urban cities in Brazil. So far, I'm looking at the CUNY Graduate Center, Yale, NYU, University of Michigan, and University of Pennsylvania. Any insight into these programs or others would be very much appreciated!