HelloFeminists

Thank you for your thoughtful and warm response! And to all other responses I know I started this thread awhile ago, but I thought I'd update others and let you know that my advisor has the same sort of "stark" outlook about not bothering to go unless I'm going to get a publication out of it OR if it is the major conference in my field [which this was not; I ended up not going]. Ironically, I am in a similar situation right now in which I was accepted to a major conference but the paper I proposed is not my central project, I'm already getting an iteration of it published in an anthology, and the registration is WAY more than I thought it would ever be. No discount for grad students. So that's another hard decision I will have to make...

Hello! As someone who is in a WMST/FEMST/GNDST Ph.D program and hearing everything about the trajectory of the field, I would say that certificates and minors are carrying less weight the more that holding an actual interdisiciplinary Ph.D in WMST/FEMST/GNDST is becoming a thing. I'd say that if you did something else interdisciplinary like American Studies or African American Studies that it would help you get a gender studies-type job a lot better than would something more traditional like English. Conversely, if you want to be hired as an English professor, don't get a Ph.D in gender studies Hope this helps!

Hi all, I'm an interdisciplinary scholar in the social sciences/humanities who just got accepted to a conference that took me by surprise [our panel got rejected from another conference, we applied to another one at the last minute, and literally 24 hours after we applied after the deadline, we were accepted]. While I know I can pull the paper together [i'm basing part of it on a book chapter that has already been accepted for publication, albeit in the distant future], I'm worried about the cost of flying across the country in April. I didn't plan this expense at all, I have no funding because I've already exhausted my allotted reimbursements for the year, and the original conference I applied to was in the same state as me [and thus far cheaper]. However, at the same time I think it would be very good for me professionally - it's a national conference and in one of my research interest areas. All this comes down to: how many conferences do you think one should present at per year in the social sciences/humanities? I'm a third-year grad student and I've already presented at two national conferences this year, both on my dissertation research, and this third one would be about a side project. I'm also going to be in a much smaller conference in February hosted by my department at my home university. Do you think there is a point where conference presentations are overkill? Does having more actually cheapen the value somehow, or do you think it's a situation of "the more the better"? I'm going to be asking my advisor all this when I meet with her, but I thought I'd see what you all had to say / how much you present a year. Not to stroke everyone's egos but for genuine feedback Thanks!

Hello, I saw your posts on this forum and I wanted to say congratulations on your acceptance!! I am a current grad student in the Feminist Studies department at UCSB and I am super excited to learn about the newly-admitted students There are five total, for those who are curious. I just wanted to let you know that if you're worried about the cost of housing, you should apply online to get put on the list for family student housing. Since you mentioned that your partner would be moving out here with you, you qualify for the family housing. You also might be guaranteed access to that housing with your fellowship - I would double-check, but mine was. I live in the family housing with my wife, and another student in the department does as well. The waiting list can take a really long time, so you should do it now. It's of course ok if you change your mind later since you obviously haven't committed to any one program yet The website is: http://www.housing.ucsb.edu/application/default.htm Hopefully this post doesn't sound creepy or anything, haha! I just was on here a lot when I was applying to programs and thought you might want to know. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have!

I think it's because I became accustomed to being worked into the ground at my undergrad, so I thought "grad school" would be somehow even more over the top. Then I thought it's because it's only my first quarter and it'll be harder later...

In general, I tend to agree with the few people who have said something else besides "DROP OUT OF SCHOOL NOW!!" It's really hard to get much work in this economy with just a B.A. in the social sciences, so with your type of debt, it seems that a grad degree would be a lot more helpful in the long run. But yes, please do try to get something funded [as if that's not what we all hope for!]. Good luck to you.

Wow... it's interesting to contemplate the vast differences in experience with this whole "what to call Professor ______" thing. I went to a small, private liberal arts college in which [undergrad - there are no grad students, of course] students and professors routinely call each other by their first names and in which students are pretty much afforded the intellectual respect of equals. My alma mater's environment is one in which students and professors form close bonds and in which professors openly thank students for providing insights in classroom discussions. Thus, for me it seems overly pompous to refer to faculty as "Professor _____" for an extended period of time. I start out by calling them "Professor _____", but as soon as they indicate otherwise [and I'm used to them indicating otherwise], I switch it to the personal preferred name. As for all of this still not feeling real... yeah, it's kinda weird. It's also especially weird to be at a completely different type of institution - large-ish, public university - in which certain profs and grad students openly discuss undergrads as idiots incapable of higher-level thinking. As someone who just graduated from undergrad, and at an undergrad institution in which the climate was one of expected intellectual rigor and treating undergrads basically like grad students in upper-level courses, each day can be very mystifying and even frustrating.

I did great in two classes, though I am *still* waiting on a grade from my last class. Ugh. So far grad school has been far *less* intense and engaging than my undergraduate experience. It is a bizarre feeling. I may create a separate thread to discuss this, but has anyone else experienced this?

I can see a lot of reasons why it would be a problem, especially depending on how someone identifies and what type of "Christian" the environment seems to be. I personally would never apply to a conservative religious school or a school in a conservative religious area due to my own strongly-held progressive positions as well as my positioning as a lesbian and a married lesbian at that. Given the fact that conservative Christian environments can be extremely alienating [to put it mildly] for those who don't identify that way, I would definitely research the situation more. I agree that the original poster should determine how strong the environment is, how big the area is, etc. It would most definitely be a red flag for me.

Because professors aren't trained to manipulate people's emotions and distort reality / make people feel bad about themselves for a profit, thankfully

Ah... yeah, I don't have one of those [a car]. So I'll be sticking to the places accessible by public transit / bike

What do you mean by "sad", exactly?

Alternately, there's a same-sex kiss-in campaign scheduled at Starbucks chains around the nation on tax day as a show of solidarity for all the same-sex couples who get SCREWED by not being able to have their relationship status recognized by the federal government, thus being forced in many circumstances to pay more money in taxes than they would if they'd been recognized as married and able to file jointly. That's the kind of righteous protest I can get behind. Link: http://www.samesexkissday.org/

A! A! A! Follow your heart! Carpe diem!! It's YOUR life! I agree with the other statements made by the pro-A people. Especially the part about how no one can possibly fault you for going with the better financial offer. Enjoy!

Actually, I do have some advice that I recently heard from my friend who grew up in L.A. She told me that USC apparently gives out less funding for film projects - if you're going to be actually filmmaking - than does UCLA, which is why USC is often called "University of Spoiled Children": because they attract really rich students who can afford to fund themselves. However, if Film Critical Studies doesn't involve actually producing films, you can ignore this It might only apply to the MFA programs.