Two Espressos

I cannot say that I've totally decided what thematic subfield(s) I'd like to specialize in, but I suppose that's a good thing: I'm still an undergraduate and shouldn't limit my focus too much! Some things that I'm strongly interested in (not sure if these qualify as subfields or not): language and its role in discourse; aesthetics (what makes certain works "good," whether canonicity is possible or not, etc); ethics, especially environmental ethics (more of a philosophy thing, but I figured that I'd list it anyways); literary/critical theory (especially as regards aesthetics and language). Honestly, I see myself, at this point, as a traditionalist when it comes to aesthetics (I believe that canonicity is possible, and that art is not *entirely* subjective); however, I feel like such a stance is unpopular nowadays, and I worry that many departments will be hostile to my point of view. Some things that I'm certainly NOT interested in (at least not enough to specialize in): psychoanalysis/psychoanalytic criticism; strict historical periods (medieval, renaissance, etc); composition and rhetoric; cultural studies (I'm lumping in postcolonial criticism and minority studies with this); queer theory. I realize that my interests are diverse and (probably) incompatible with a specialized course of study. My interest in language has made me consider going for philosophy (Philosophy of Language is popular and growing subfield in the discipline) or linguistics (I find it fascinating), but honestly I'm strongest in English literature (and certainly not prepared, course-wise, for linguistics programs), so going for English seems most natural to me. Then again, from the advice others have given, perhaps that isn't the case. Maybe I should focus on philosophy or linguistics programs? What a conundrum! I appreciate any advice you or anyone else on these forums can give.

You mentioned that "going by subject matter is fine": do you know of any programs that would be more open to someone doing this?

Yeah, your advice corroborates with what others have stated: programs essentially require their students to specialize in a historical period. I'm still very opposed to this, however. Maybe I'm just being overly recalcitrant; maybe I'll come around eventually. I'd much rather specialize in a thematic subfield (or sub-subfield) rather than a historical period, so I'm going to research more interdisciplinary degrees as well as philosophy programs.

It's comforting to know this. Thanks for your feedback!

Another question: Do any of you know anything about Aesthetics? I know that Philosophy has a subfield in the Philosophy of Art; do literature departments have something similar? For instance, a student would study aesthetic properties of literature (and perhaps theory associated with said aesthetic properties), as opposed to a standard program in literary theory, where one would apply the critical lens of Marx, Lacan, Derrida, etc.? Thanks again for all the input! I greatly appreciate your advice.

There is a lot of very solid advice here! I'm aware of the contentious nature of theory--it scares me, to be honest. I haven't had nearly enough exposure to theory/criticism to pick a specific mode of thought (psychoanalysis, Marxist, cultural studies, etc), and I worry that if I try to do so, I'll end up finding that I'm really not as adamant about the mode that I chose. If that happens, I feel that ultimate burn-out is more likely to occur. To further complicate matters, I read accounts of various academics outside of literary studies--Dr. Leiter, a philosophy professor at the University of Chicago, instantly comes to mind--who vehemently discredit literary theory as being total BS, merely a case of academics one-upping each other and writing extremely dense prose that doesn't say much of anything. Many academics outside of literary study feel that literary theory, which by definition (at least Jonathan Culler's, above) takes modes of thought outside of literary study, actually is completely anti-intellectual and applies modes of thought that are (in their view) unapplicable to literature. Frankly, many philosophers discredit literary study and English departments altogether. This worries me, as I value their work highly (including Dr. Leiter) and feel that perhaps they've come to some grand realization that I have not? I second your notion that one must think about job prospects and must keep everything in perspective. I think my problem might be that I cannot stick to a perspective? lol It seems like I know only what I DON'T want to study at the graduate level, not what I DO want to study (I know, for example, that I do not want to study medieval, renaissance, 18th-19th British literature, or modern/postmodern literature exclusively). I'm starting to think that perhaps I should look more into interdisciplinary programs, as perhaps they would better accomodate my interests. Thanks again for your input truckbasket: you've been incredibly helpful!

Firstly, thanks for your input! I appreciate it. I didn't realize that Literary Theory was too broad of a spectrum! If it is, and if admissions committees would find it to be, then I guess I'll have to think intently about the specific area(s) of literary theory in which I'm most interested. The aversion to historical periods mentioned in my previous post referred to adhering to a period strictly, something I cannot see myself doing whatsoever: I love all areas of literature equally, and I cannot see myself specializing in a period, as opposed to a topic or theme. I realize that one cannot study all of literature in grad school (I don't want to sound like the intentionally naive girl on the "So You Want to Get a PhD in the Humanities?" YouTube video, lol), and if one really must choose a historical period, then perhaps I should reevaluate a PhD in Literature, and instead look into much more interdisciplinary programs, or perhaps philosophy. Thanks again; I'll take all the advice I can get!

Yeah, I'm going to need to heavily research programs. As for what kind of theory I'm interested in: I'm most interested in the history of theory, intersections between philosophy and literary theory, and (perhaps) ways in which literary theory could change in the future, perhaps by drawing even more from philosophy. Really, all of literary theory fascinates me, so further demarcating my interests is going to be challenging! Also, I hope that I won't have to "pick a time period eventually": I realize that many programs require one to pick major and minor concentrations, so in that case I'd probably pick literary/cultural theory as my major concentration and then choose a period as a minor concentration. I'm averse to strictly adhering to a time period though, so hopefully I won't have to do so! Thanks for your help, by the way!

Yes, Cornell seems like a top choice at this point; it's good to have more firsthand knowledge, thanks for your input! I'll have to look into Dr. Bogel's work. I agree, I need to research a plethora of programs across the "rankings": I want to apply widely across the spectrum, but only to schools that explicitly match my interests and preferences. Also, it's good to know that one can achieve their graduate admissions goals, even from a tiny college! Your undergraduate school is even smaller than mine--I believe we have eight or nine English faculty--and you were quite successful, so that raises my spirits a little bit.

That's true! I'm just worried that my undergraduate university's lack of prestige will negatively affect my chances for admission to an excellent program. I'm not sure how much one's undergraduate institution factors into admissions decisions, but I suspect it plays some part at least.

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to look into those programs, but just from the scant information I have about them, they all sound like good (possible) choices. I think my chances of being admitted into those schools is highly suspect though! haha

Thanks for the school suggestion! I know that I'll need to take courses in a variety of periods/genres for most university programs, and I'm perfectly fine with so doing: I just want my main focus to be literary theory--I want to be the "Literary Theory/Criticism Guy," not the "Renaissance Guy" or anything like that.

Hello all, I hope I can phrase my question/dilemma/quest coherently... This fall, I'll be a junior English literature major, one who is seriously considering graduate study. I plan to seriously begin my application process (and all the hell that that entails!) by this time next year. For a while, I was very unsure of what I specifically wanted to pursue, but now I have settled my mind on a specific subfield/aspect of literature: literary theory. By theory, I mean explicitly theory, not theory situated in any specific historical period. I don't want to exclusively study theory in medieval literature, for example. My question(s) proper: I am looking for programs that place a strong emphasis on theory in itself, like programs that specify literary criticism/theory as a potential concentration for students in their program. Do English programs like this exist, or do I need to seek out more interdisciplinary programs? I'm interested specifically in the history of literary criticism, interconnections between literary theory and philosophy, and ways that literary theory/criticism could--or should, in my (relatively uninformed) opinion--become more like philosophy. I'll state again, I don't want to concentrate specifically on a historical period. What programs should I be looking into? One that comes to my mind is Berkeley's Rhetoric program (maybe that's not exactly a good fit, though?). If any of you could provide me with other programs to look into, or advice in general about this, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks a lot!

I'm in the same boat as you: I'm a sophomore studying English and am interested in pursuing a PhD. In asking around the English department at my university, the most frequently-recurring advice I've been given is to gain a strong proficiency in a foreign language (I'm taking French). I've been advised to take more French classes than my school requires (4 semesters) so that I can possibly minor in it. The other major piece of advice I've been given is to take a wide berth of courses outside my major: for example, a bunch of history and philosophy courses. From what I've heard/read, taking more English courses than is required for one's major isn't a particularly good idea (many graduate courses are simply more-difficult reiterations of upper-level undergraduate courses). As far as criticism goes, I don't really know. I personally have a very underdeveloped hold on literary criticism, so that's one area that I'm going to have to improve.

Haha! While I can understand (and appreciate, in some sense) this guy's mission, I must agree: he is pretentious as all hell. The feedback on the article is absolutely nauseating; this guy is not a hero, just like Chrisopher McCandless was not a hero.

Thanks for the advice! Another question: how do graduates from Cultural Studies programs fare placement-wise as opposed to, say, a graduate from a regular PhD program in English?

Hello. I'm new here, so I apologize if a post like this has already been made! I'm wondering if any of you know of English programs (both MA and PhD) that place a strong emphasis on/encourage/foster interdisciplinary work in English. I'm somewhat jaded with the standard canon (medieval, renaissance, modernism, etc) and have found that my eclectic research interests do not really align with standard programs. In fact, I'd say my interests are evenly divided between the fields of English, Philosophy, and Modern Culture/Media Studies. Do you know of any good programs that would allow me to work in all three mediums? Thanks a lot.