crunchyfallleaves

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Has anyone heard from or reached out to UW-Seattle for a timeline?

Has anyone heard from or reached out to UW-Seattle for a timeline?

Has anyone heard from or reached out to UW-Seattle for a timeline?

!!!
Thank you so much, I was thinking the same thing. Well, the email is sent to I'll see where it goes. Thanks again!

If I were you, I would choose to just be honest. The reality is that a professor has let you down and it is not your fault. I really doubt the new recommender would read that far into it so as to think you are implying she is some last choice. Professors interact with recommendations from a far less grand scale -- many of them write them every season in significant number and while they care, it's less massive than from the applicant perspective -- and they are aware students need to make sometimes arbitrary decisions around whom they ask, and hopefully she sympathizes with your bind. I'd say something along the lines of:
"In the interest of being forthcoming, I had a professor agree in MONTH to write this letter who is now entirely unreachable and so I am now a bit stuck. Typically I would never ask for a recommendation on such short notice, and I so apologize for this, but it is looking like my only choice. I would really value a recommendation from you for x, y reasons, and if you are able to swing it, it would mean the world to me. If however for any reason you are unable to, I completely understand."

Thank you both so much!! I really appreciate your helpful suggestions! I was eventually able to shorten the paper to 4000 words (felt like half of my soul just left my body lol). 
And for people with similar questions: the program director also got back to me saying that the paper should be as close to 4000 words as possible. I guess it's always good to ask them in case of uncertainties!

@Magic Lantern to my knowledge Oxbridge takes word limits very seriously. I.e. I know that you can and will be marked down for exceeding the word limit on essays at Cambridge for example and you are typically required to include the word count on your cover page. I would very much recommend finding a way to cut the 700 words, even if it feels unimaginable, so that your app doesn't risk being disregarded on that account. Maybe try calling in some outside readers, even if they have no familiarity with your topic, just to identify passages that could go. I find another set of eyes is often far more equipped to help with this because our brains get so wrapped up in our own work.
In short, I could be wrong, but based on my knowledge, I don't think this would be a situation where exceeding the limit by that much and writing a note apologizing would bode well. Hope you are able to make it work and best wishes.

I'm in a different field (but humanities) so not sure if there is a stricter standard in History, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it. It's an incredibly hectic time for faculty with many schools preparing to go online after Thanksgiving, recommendation season, and general pandemic craziness. The vast majority of programs don't seem to require faculty contact, and I don't see a world where it would ever hurt you that you reached out but didn't hear back. Maybe your name rings some deep-seated bell when the adcom sits down to review, maybe it doesn't, but I don't think you should worry.

This is understandably a frustrating situation to be in. Don't give up! My advice would be to research MA programs in the Environmental Humanities. I know at least of Utah's program https://environmental-humanities.utah.edu/prospective-students/degree-options.php, and Oregon State https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/environmental-arts-and-humanities-initiative/academics. Those programs will likely be really receptive to your background. I think you're right to envision your background as a strength, just work on translating its connection into your work. Phrase it in a way that shows your coursework experience is in fact an essential and compelling part of why you should be the one to do the research you'd like to do. I'd still apply to English MAs, but I think adding Environmental Humanities programs would also allow you to lean heavily into humanities work that will help you get into a PhD program.

This is understandably a frustrating situation to be in. Don't give up! My advice would be to research MA programs in the Environmental Humanities. I know at least of Utah's program https://environmental-humanities.utah.edu/prospective-students/degree-options.php, and Oregon State https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/environmental-arts-and-humanities-initiative/academics. Those programs will likely be really receptive to your background. I think you're right to envision your background as a strength, just work on translating its connection into your work. Phrase it in a way that shows your coursework experience is in fact an essential and compelling part of why you should be the one to do the research you'd like to do. I'd still apply to English MAs, but I think adding Environmental Humanities programs would also allow you to lean heavily into humanities work that will help you get into a PhD program.

This is an old thread, but I feel like it would be really helpful if more people responded to it!