Trin

Wow. Can I ask that you not refer to another scholar's work as "gross"? Yes, I am presenting a paper this spring on embodied transgender inclusion in ritual. I also have a lovely scholarly foundation in theology. I expect that I'll end up being focused on translation and interpretation of Cairo Genizah texts. AND I'm an HDS applicant, because, as you point out, it's a great fit for me. That said, I think it's possible to comment on another's interests without making insulting value judgements. If it's not possible for *you* to make such a polite comment, can I suggest you refrain from using my academic work as some example of "gross" work?

Wow. Can I ask that you not refer to another scholar's work as "gross"? Yes, I am presenting a paper this spring on embodied transgender inclusion in ritual. I also have a lovely scholarly foundation in theology. I expect that I'll end up being focused on translation and interpretation of Cairo Genizah texts. AND I'm an HDS applicant, because, as you point out, it's a great fit for me. That said, I think it's possible to comment on another's interests without making insulting value judgements. If it's not possible for *you* to make such a polite comment, can I suggest you refrain from using my academic work as some example of "gross" work?

I'll be 45 later this year, and at least 50 by the time I get my PhD. I initially thought it was unlikely I'd be able to become a professor this late in life, but as one of my profs said, "Oh, you'll have 20 good years left to teach!" :-) I'm going to school because I had to give up my academic career to care for my children; now that they're in college, I want to continue where I left off. I think that the program I'm applying to would consider me a stronger candidate because I'm older, in part because they try to maximize diversity in their program.

Eeek, just realized you wanted PhD only. Sorry!

I love "Their loss!" as a response, because it's flattering, but not gushy. *grin* I hate "It's all for the best" and I particularly hate any version of "I/noone/your friends didn't expect you to get in/thought it was a long shot/thought you were being unrealistic."

I am also not affiliated with a particularly tradition, especially academically. I'm used to telling students who ask that within the academic study of religion, we usually bracket our own beliefs, blah blah blah. Just last week, I was sitting in on a class that was studying Quakers, and I made some comments about a doctrinal issue and worship practices. As *soon* as class ended, three different students announced to me, "You're a Quaker, aren't you? We can tell!" I was like, noooo, I'm a religious studies scholar -- it's my job to know these things. :-)

When I get asked outside of academic contexts, I usually explain that I'm culturally Episcopalian and have a liminal relationship with paganism, but I self define simply as a theist. Technically speaking, I"m a monist with strong panentheistic leanings, whose beliefs are more informed by a Jamesian Mystical Experience than any other influence. Practically speaking, I'm an orthodox Santaist with reconstructionist leanings -- I believe in the literal truth of Santa Claus, but reject some of the later teachings that have passed into orthodoxy (particularly on the issue of Rudoplh.)

Applied to HDS, Candler, and New Mexico State (anthropology). I got accepted to all three programs, HDS offered the best financial aid package. I am moving to Cambridge in June!!

With the faculty its not a problem. With the students, who you'll have to deal with much more, it's a totally different story. As far as the students go, any tradition that's not pluralistic will have some combination of feminists and homosexuals making T-shirts in protest, etc.

My husband is currently a PhD student rocking the socks off his program, and he started at a local community college. He started taking classes to shut up my parents (we've been dating since high school!), took the "hardest" class he could find (Chemistry) and fell head over heels for the subject. He worked his butt off through community college and a local, tiny, Jesuit college, and is now working under a nationally recognized inorganic chemist and has already been published twice. "This is what Community College Looks Like", INDEED.

Glad that's over

No, I copied it out of an Oxford University Press (2010) book: "Understanding Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality: A Conceptual Framework," by a Lynn Weber. I'm not familiar with her, it's just a book that was assigned. Not a "sociology 101" book by any means, though.

It's just as "naive" to say that it is a "myth." Just as one may reductively say "It's exclusively based on gender," you can just as reductively say "It has nothing whatsoever to do with gender." It's similar to discussions over race, and minority races not getting paid as much as whites. It's very complicated, but it's not wholly unrelated to race.

I already acknowledged with Tahuds my mistake, you may have missed it:




So, no need to freak out .

Here's the thing: it's bad in the humanities, period, but especially in our field. Now, how can we make ourselves more attractive? Well, while your Masters is going to be at a school with explicit faith commitments, your PhD doesn't have to be. Interested in Niebuhrian Christian realism in dialogue with liberationists perspectives? Consider a history or American Studies PhD. It makes you slightly more competitive. Also, this would make you able to teach at a seminary or secular university setting. Diversification is key. The more you matter, the more you're hired.

Just accepted my offer from HDS!

It's certainly true that "it's complicated," and complex. And I don't want to be reductive and say it's exclusively and solely based on gender differences. I simply wanted to point out that it is no "myth" that women make much less than men across the board, all things being equal.

Things I won't miss:

1. Having EVERY major course I take be full of non-majors fulfilling breadth requirements, especially when they brag about how little they read/learn/retain in the classes.It's hard when there are only 2 or 3 majors in your department.
2. A two hour commute (each way) to class.
3. Classmates who whine about having to read 15 pages a week for a class. Seriously, you consider 15 pages to be an unreasonably heavy reading load? Wimps.

Things I will miss:

1. My SO.
2. Bay area weather.
3. The Pacific Ocean
4. San Francisco style burritos

I decided to live in the dorms my first year of Grad School. I went for the cheapest thing on campus...

BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a freshman (yes, an undergrad freshman) roommate who loves to stay up until 4, playing WOW (including the night before I had a midterm), and the building smells like weed most of the time. I don't think it's until now that I realized how immature underclassmen are! So if you stay on campus, splurge a little bit for a graduate apartment, because this 4am World of Warcraft crap and the weed have got to go!

It certainly may not be "adequate," but what's "adequate" will vary. We're only on casual message boards, so I'm not rallying peer-reviewed articles to do a thesis here. But the U.S. Census Bureau data isn't wholly inadequate for our purposes. We can bicker about an "adequate" amount of support, but it remains the case that generally speaking, women make less than men, all other things being equal.

The Census data isn't merely comparing "men" and "women." It's men and women who both (1) work full time, (2) are year-round employed, (3) have college degrees, and (4) are over the age of twenty-five. So, the data is at least narrowing it down.

But again, people can debate over what's "adequate" all day, so I'll just drop my point with you here .

Oh, phenomenologist, I want to have your thought babies. :-) Kuhn! I heart him. And of course, Kuhn tells us that that tenured professors are the standardbearers of the existing paradigm, and shifts come from the graduate students, TA's, and the untenured. :-) Kuhn's ideas have certainly played out in the fields of religious scholarship over the past 200 years.

No problem, I understand what you mean now . Sounds like you have great plans to practice medicine, I hope that works out! You'll have a great interdisciplinary background.

Thought babies, LOL -- that's a new one . Thanks, I enjoy Kuhn as well (as is obvious). But I like postmodern hermeneutics generally. And postcolonial!

I'm choosing between YDS (full tuition, 5k stipend) and HDS (full tuition, 15k stipend). I'm leaning heavily towards Harvard b/c of the funding and because it has been my first choice for years. I'm 95% sure I'll be accepting my HDS offer by April 1st. Good luck all!

You have "nothing against it," but you describe it as "make-things-up-as-you-go"? I don't think they would describe it that way.

The idiom is true: "History is written by the victors." And by extension, "Theology is written by the privileged." So these projects are simply a recovery of lost theological voices: women, ethnic minorities, the poor, etc. It's hardly "make-things-up-as-you-go."

In our day, when women who have an identical education as men receive only 75% of the pay, why would any educated person in higher-academia (especially at these institutions) *NOT* be a feminist?

I'm finishing my first year at HDS and on top of having top credentials recs and so forth you have to "fit." I would say a lot of the fits are "non-traditional", but they are still specific. For the MTS, Womens Studies in Religion and Queer Theology are the mainstays, half of our student body is gay and I'd say at least 75% would identify themselves as feminist. Are you gay? Are you a feminist? If you answer is no to both of these then your research interest are not aligned with about half of the school. Of the half that are left you have traditional biblical studies and theology and non-Bible related religion focuses. If you want to study something relating to the Bible that isn't feminist or queer you're really applying to about 1/4 of the spots.

I was admitted because I've had some blow your mind experiences at the borders of Christianity Judaism and Islam in addition to having really good stats and recs. But I know I was admitted near the back of the pack because I only got partial funding. As much as it irks me, and you it seems, an unshaven lesbian from Wellesley that's never opened a Bible but has good stats and wants to study feminist theology will probably be admitted before you. Before you knock yourself too hard consider the possibility that it wasn't that you didn't meet their "fit" requirement, but that they would have not "fit" for you.

What do you mean by in your possession? Some places won't allow you to handle your own transcripts. They need to be sent from your school directly to them. One time, I had requested transcripts and they were accidentally sent to my house instead of where they were supposed to go. Anyway, I tried to deliver the transcripts to where they were being requested and they refused them. I guess it has something to do with legitimacy. Like they don't want there to be any chance that you could have fraudulently changed your transcripts or something.

Things I won't miss:

1. Having EVERY major course I take be full of non-majors fulfilling breadth requirements, especially when they brag about how little they read/learn/retain in the classes.It's hard when there are only 2 or 3 majors in your department.
2. A two hour commute (each way) to class.
3. Classmates who whine about having to read 15 pages a week for a class. Seriously, you consider 15 pages to be an unreasonably heavy reading load? Wimps.

Things I will miss:

1. My SO.
2. Bay area weather.
3. The Pacific Ocean
4. San Francisco style burritos