Alyanumbers

Is anyone else watching/listening to Introduction to Theory of Literature by Open Yale Courses? I've downloaded the audio files, but now find it easier to watch the lectures on Youtube. I took a theory course last year, but it concentrated on the short-story in France, so this complements it pretty well by giving me more breadth in this subject. I'm watching a lecture a day--taking notes and all--and reading the texts provided in the course material zip, and totally intend to start the Modern Poetry course next. What do you guys think about this? Is anyone else using these or other online resources to complement their undergrad curriculum?

Uhhhh, see a different therapist. This sounds quite serious, and I'm a little shocked at how casually she's treating it.

Well, problem solved (prof got back to me and told she'd do the recommendations in English ), but just for future reference, if anyone else has the same problem, both Cornell and Edinburgh welcome recommendations in French. SOAS asked for a certified translation, submitted with the letter, in a sealed envelope.

Hi! Egyptian here, so I might be biased, but I would recommend either Lebanon or Egypt, maybe Syria, for a simple reason: biggest media producers. Egypt and Lebanon practically have a monopoly on pop music, movies, TV shows, etc., and Syria's starting to catch up to Egypt in TV series. Also, because of that, Egyptian and Levantine dialects are understood throughout the Arab world. Yemeni, by contrast, is difficult to understand for a non-Yemeni. If you do choose Cairo, though, AUC is a bad idea (overpriced), but there are a lot of language schools in the downtown area, and in northern Cairo. ETA: I will also add that the Syrian/Lebanese/Jordanian/Palestinian dialects are all very close to each other (as in, I can barely tell the difference, frankly), so it may be more advantageous to learn one of those rather than Egyptian.

Ball gown.

Thanks everyone for your answers. I'll write the departments I'm applying to again, and in the meantime, I'll ask my linguistics prof for a LoR, regardless of what I do with the other prof. Some schools will accept 4 LoRs, so I guess I could have an extra one submitted in French.

So, I asked for a LoR from this great professor in my department. She's actually head of department this year, and a prominent scholar in her field; she taught me three semester courses, and I got As in all threes; she's seen at least 3 of my papers, including one that won an award; she's quite impersonal, but overall, she likes me and just seems like the best choice for a recommender. However... When I asked her for recommendations, she expressed disappointment that I don't want to continue my studies at my alma mater. She agreed to do the LoRs, though, so she gave me her email address, then added: "But I hope it's not English! I don't like writing in English." ... Long story short, she refused to write me LoRs because she doesn't like writing in English. That was her wording (translated, obv.). It's a matter of principle, it seems. She might also be using the English thing as an excuse to get out of doing this, since she doesn't agree with my decision to study abroad. So I wrote to my schools, and asked if they'd accept recommendations in French (or Arabic, for ME studies departments). Out of 6 schools, 3 responded; 2 said yes, one said I'd need to provide a certified professional translation (which I'm ruling out, for various reasons). So okay, I'll ask her to do those two recommendations, but I'm wondering if the three schools who haven't responded would also accept French LoRs. Is it unheard of to send LoRs in a foreign language? I mean, I'm applying to Comp Lit or similar programs, and they have lots of French specialists... And apparently, refusing to write in English is quite common in French academia, and I guess professors in the US are aware of that. If they can read it, it's okay, right? I really don't want to get another recommender, since my other option would probably be a linguistics prof, and I'm mostly applying to literature programs.

Free association.

Berkeley is very attractive, but the funding isn't. :/ As an international student, I need guaranteed full funding for five years, or there's no point moving across the planet and then being unable to afford continuing my PhD. Harvard doesn't seem to have anyone working specifically on modern Arabic or Egyptian lit. My top choices are Yale and Cornell, though I know I'm reaching, there. They both have amazing French specialists, and flexible programs that would let me take lots of courses outside my department. They also really encourage interdisciplinarity, and have interesting programs in Art History and Film Studies that would be useful to me. Oh, and of course, they have Egyptian/modern Arabic literature specialists. Some of them even work specifically on the Egyptian novel and film! I'm also considering working on Latin America. I don't know that much about the literature, though I speak Spanish and understand Portuguese, so I'd like to be somewhere where there's a strong American Studies/Hispanic and Latin American Lit department, in case I do decide to go down that path. Good luck, everyone! I hope we all have a successful application season.

OuLiPo and Nouvelle Vague. I want to work on the similarities between France in the 60s and contemporary Egypt, in literature, film and socio-political movements.

Do you accept Comp Lit candidates/French majors who intend to focus partly on French 20th century lit and film?

I may be a little late, but I'm interested too!

Hamster wheel.

Purring cat.

A lot of applications will convert the .doc files to PDFs, anyway.

I'm sorry, but that information is incorrect. Students educated at the American University in Cairo, for example, do not have to submit TOEFL scores. Double-check with the department; include the name of your university, the location and how many years you've studied there (some places waive the TOEFL requirement after just 2 years of English-based instruction).

I keep dreaming of my SoP and writing sample! Like, dreaming that I'm typing new stuff and editing. It's very specific.

Food fight.

Under pressure

Oh god, I have a feeling I'll do something similar! ._.

My understanding is that the length requirement is in part a way to see if you can construct a deep, thoughtful argument. Writing a 5-page paper is less demanding and requires different skills than a 20-page one.