MadameNon

John Greenwood, Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam, c. 1752-58

Thought some people on this forum may need a funny distraction. http://whatshouldwec...ory.tumblr.com/ In particular this post on grad application season - http://tmblr.co/ZxsjAuUEx_7j Best of luck to everyone this year!

If it makes you feel any better, it feels like fewer and fewer Americanists are doing 19th century stuff any more, even if it is their background. Also I think it isn't such a problem for you to have the visual culture component to your interests.

I guess I just don't feel like it's my job to nanny the behavior of a bunch of young adults. Plus, I'm not going to run after students forcing them to accept my teachings. That's not part of the contract. They can pay attention and participate, or not, and they'll get the grade they earn.

In my terminal MA program the TA ran discussion sections, so it's basically just more in-depth study of the material learned in class (taught by the professor). For me, that usually consisted of leading group analysis of a text vis-a-vis the material from the lecture class. I'd also give quizzes, hold office hours to answer questions about grades or assignments (or other things, if they didn't want to ask the prof), and I was responsible for grading exams and assignments. The prof in charge of the class was pretty great and made it a learning experience for me. I was the "guest lecturer" one day and had to write and give the lecture on the day the class topic was closely related to my research. I also had to write one of the short essay questions on the mid-term and final.

I allow them, and I honestly don't care if the kids are on FB or checking email. I think the legitimate reasons for having one (I find printing so much kind of wasteful, I can type faster and more legibly than I can write plus I can keep my head up and my eyes on the board or projector screen as I type, they are handy for looking up information on the spot) far outweigh the rather infantilizing they-might-be-on-FB argument. They paid for the class. They're welcome to spend the time however they please. They're adults and they have to learn about consequences some time.

UC Riverside probably isn't the best choice as their 19th and 20th century European Modernist just retired. I know she still works with some students in the department but I doubt she'd advise a new one. Be careful with these MA programs - most of them don't have a lot of funding to offer and they may not have a great track record placing grads in PhD programs or jobs (I don't really know the stats, but you should do some serious research on this).

Unless I'm quite mistaken, if you're going to be an Asianist, you have to know two Asian languages for your PhD. Learning German would be pretty unhelpful, as most European writing on Asian art tended to be pretty, um, let's call it unfortunate, back when so much important Western art history was being written in German (and obviously, still is). I'd go for Chinese if I were thinking of focusing on Japanese art. I'm surprised there aren't opportunities for your interests to intersect. Japanese design principles heavily inform dec arts and design in the West at certain times, and I don't see why you couldn't specialize in Japanese design if you found the right department. Also, the OP said that academic work is meaningful and important to him/her. Reading comprehension FTW. No need to sell everyone on this forum on a non-academic career. Unless you're trying to take out the competition early in which case, well played. To the OP - definitely figure out what you want to do before you jump into anything.

Those are not the expectations of a specific person. Those are the expectations of the field. It isn't about being flexible with how you use your PhD. If you want to be flexible, don't get one. You'll have much more flexibility.

fullofpink - Honestly I think that is an overly rosy outlook on the situation. For the vast majority of humanities PhDs, you have to go where you're lucky enough to get a job and beggars can't be choosers. And I think more to the point here, if you're already planning to not use your PhD because you are inflexible about location, why take up space in a program in the first place? I don't mean to sound like a jerk but we all know how competitive our field is. And despite your anecdotal evidence, having a PhD is not generally a favorable trait on the job market outside of the field.

Wow, holy gender generalizing, Batman!

Decidedly not. It's actually rather poor form, I believe.

I'll be going for a PhD in Art History. I haven't given apartment hunting much thought yet. I'm hoping I can room with someone from my cohort, maybe pool our resources to rent a house. I don't think I'm going to get to visit any time soon and I've never been there so this will be quite an adventure!

Also, if he is making advances to you right now, I think you should reconsider your relationship aspirations with him. While I agree with the above poster that stranger things have happened and there's nothing really wrong with having a (carefully considered) romantic relationship with a former prof or supervisor, if he is not respecting this boundary that exists in a very real and important way right now, that's a problem.

While you are his student, it is inappropriate for him to make himself open to or make advances in any way, shape, or form. And while it's also not appropriate for you, HE is the professor and HE needs to meet his ethical obligation to keep an appropriate working relationship with you. Your marriage, while something you will have to reconcile with your conscience, is a separate issue. Be careful. Is it possible that you are perceiving him differently now that you have this crush? Are you sure he has taken a liking to you other than that of an encouraging professor to a promising student? An unhappy marriage can play tricks with your perception of close relationships.

ILL = Inter Library Loan.

As a current UC system MA grad student, I've seen my tuition go up 52% in the last few years, TAships and classes slashed, amenities like printing budgets, new library books, and ILL either cut or severely diminished. And we're not out of the woods yet. I actually declined a PhD offer from UCSB, with a 4 year central fellowship, partly because I'm just a little uneasy about what's in store for the UCs in the coming years. But I had a similarly funded offer from a similarly ranked program to accept. So short answer, yes it should affect your decision but don't let it be the only deciding factor. Job prospects are also very important.

Owl Post.

You will need German for medieval as well.

I did an MA because I didn't get accepted to any PhDs that application season. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, basically stuck to it and managed to angle almost all of my coursework papers and such towards that interest, and I'm now going to start a PhD in what I've been focused on all along. So, moral of my very short story is that it's okay to stick to your guns as well, if you know what you want. Some people in my program switched their focus midstream and had a bit of a rough time because they didn't have a strong enough foundation in it.

I sent a personal email before officially declining. Basically i just said that it was an incredibly difficult decision and thanked him for all his kindness and support during the process. They do understand about these things.

I just declined mine, so I hope it goes to someone waiting!

I've accepted Washington University in St. Louis

I agree with Snooze. While interdisciplinary work is important and I'm sure you gained a lot of useful skills as an English major that will serve you well in any grad program, there are specific writing skills to art history, I'm thinking of visual analysis and weaving it into your argument, specifically, that you want to demonstrate. Are you in touch with any of your art history profs, who might help you expand a paper (and help you revise it)?

I was accepted at UCSB around the beginning of March with a fellowship.