Sanchéz

Maybe this is a bit of a wildcard, but I'm a huge fan of Burton and August's adaptation of Daniel Wallace's Big Fish. It may be debatable whether or not Wallace is "literature" (though I would argue he's one of the more creative voices of this generation of writers...all four of his novels engage narrative in such a playful way, but underneath it all, there's still a touching reverence for the act of storytelling), but I found this adaptation to be so visually and cinematically pronounced...a declaration of the power of film narrative. What Big Fish was to Burton is what Hugo was to Scorsese...an incredibly personal film and love letter to two things they deeply care about: storytelling and the medium of cinema. Not to mention, the film is bolstered by wonderful performances by Finney, Lange, McGregor, Cotillard, and Crudup.

Hey Julianne, I'm sure once the semester is all wrapped up, you'll be able to talk to some professors and get everything straightened out. Given that none of this was your fault, I'd be willing to bet that at least a couple professors would be willing to add you into their class. If none of them are at all flexible...well, I'll begin questioning my decision to go to CMU, too. Keep your head up. I have a good feeling it will work itself out.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she just copied and pasted last year's email for those accepted. Hopefully we'll get some more information soon. Did you end up getting all the classes you wanted? I got two of the three; Lit and Cultural Studies I must be full.

Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up. I got an email today from Susan Kelley that assigned me an Andrew ID. She said I could access my schedule, etc with it. There was some other information in the email about orientation and things, but nothing terribly significant.

I've been meaning to watch Diabolique for a while now. There's just so many gems in the Criterion Collection, and since they all went up on Hulu Plus, I've been a huge movie glut. There are many a movie night to be had for sure. My name is Bret by the way. LCS I and Renaissance Studies were 2 of my top choices, too. See you in there. It's going to be a great fall.

That's so cool. Though he started right at the beginning of Soviet Russia, I've done quite a bit of research on Eisenstein. It's so interesting to see how Soviet film developed somewhat divergently to Hollywood. And I'm a huge fan of some Dario Argento horror films. Carnival of Souls from '62 is great, too (if you haven't checked it out, it got Criterion Collection treatment). I look forward to meeting you this fall. Maybe I'll see you in Kathy Newman's "Golden Age of Television" class?

Haha, yeah, it's funny to see when some people on here applied to almost the exact same programs. I feel like there were a lot of people with the UW Milwaukee, CMU, Oregon, Chicago, and PItt package this year. And I'm entering the Literary and Cultural Studies track (just changed my signature to show it), hoping to particularly focus in classical Hollywood cinema and, more tangentially, American modernist lit....essentially early 20th-century American narrative. How about yourself?

Sorry, Juilanne, I meant to PM you when I got that registration email. Completely my fault. The email I received went out to six students, so it could assumedly have only been sent to the PhD students. All the classes and their times and descriptions are up on the CMU registration website, though. I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience at an MA program, if you really want to take a class, a prof will let you in even if it's over the limit. Now I'm just wondering when we're going to get our CMU ID.

I just officially declined my offer and fellowship to the Films Studies track of the PhD program. I'm all too familiar with the purgatory that is the wait list, having applied last year, eventually failing to get in...so here's to hoping one of you gets some good news soon.

Finally, 100% going to Carnegie Mellon LCS PhD. I'm pumped (especially since...well, maybe this an unfortunate thing...I'm a Pirates fan).

I was just curious if anyone that was accepted is attending the March 29-30 open house. Though they give $400 in travel reimbursement, I'm still not sure if I can dish out the money. Do you think it's worth it? My dad went to CMU for engineering back in the day, so I've seen the campus multiple times...but I'm wondering if I'd be missing a good opportunity to meet the faculty if I didn't attend. What do you guys think? Even if I can't make it, I look forward to meeting you all sometime in the near future.

I was fortunate enough to receive the acceptance for the Literary and Cultural Studies PhD track. I got a call from David Shumway around 4 yesterday, and we had a 20+ minute conversation during which he outlined some details of the program. Seems like an extremely nice guy, and his current research is very well aligned with what I hope to do. He mentioned they're only taking 3 PhD students this year (though he didn't specify, I'm sure that's for the LCS track). I have roots in Pittsburgh, so I'm thrilled I have the opportunity to go back and study at a great university. I hope all on this thread make it in, too. Best of luck to you.

I think what it all boils down to is whether or not one believes in the inherent value of knowledge. I do. I fiercely do, in fact. That's not to say that some of the arguments against going to graduate school don't have any traction...but after having taken a year off (after receiving an MA), experiencing the other side of things, and earning a good bit of money, I'm counting down the days until I get to return to the classroom as a teacher and a student. Sure, there are those weeks when I got 10 total hours of sleep, there are those papers that were painful to grind out, and there undoubtedly were those moments (sometimes days or weeks) when I weighed all the opportunity costs of not entering the non-academic world...perhaps more money, consistency, security, etc. Yet (and forgive me for sounding like an 80s TV movie here), I don't know if I've ever been as happy as I was when I returned to the school at which I earned my masters last week. Three of my former students formed a cinema club, an outlet for undergrads who just want to watch good films and talk about them...and it's been very successful so far at a school where one can often be drowned by its 30,000+ population. Knowing that I was a central part in opening up this new world, this tremendously large, influential, and beautiful cultural institution to them (I taught a class themed around the classical Hollywood cinema) to the point where they felt compelled to share this world with others....well, it was rewarding beyond words. And it was my work as a student, doing research that I loved doing and taking classes that I loved taking, that informed my teaching. I apologize for the overly-sentimental post (what do you expect from someone whose profile pic is Capra, right?)...but only in academia can inquiry and the realizations of that inquiry be so intimately attached. I'm so grateful I get to continue this next fall. P.S. - And in regards to tenure-track jobs...though I don't have any sources to back this up, I'm anticipating that the baby boomer professors (many of whom were hired during the humanities boom of the 70s) will start to retire in the next 5-10 years...opening up several positions. Who knows, though? If I end up working at a small liberal arts schools, I'll still have a better job than most. I have a great friend/mentor who's a professor in engineering, and he told me that if you enjoy your job 25% of the time, you have a damn good job. I'll just say...I easily enjoyed my two years in the masters program more than 25% of the time. If you truly feel like this is what you want to do...do it. I hope that your life will be the better for it. I know mine has been.

I was wondering the same thing....the late posting of those acceptances is making me question a call from a "restricted" phone number last night 9 EST that I wasn't able to answer. It's probably more wishful thinking on my part, though.

I'll claim the acceptance. I got an email from Lane Hall, coordinator of the Media, Cinema and Digital Studies track, and though I'm accepted at this point, he also added, "While financial aid, TA, and scholarship decisions are yet to be made, your name has been put forward in our top rankings for financial support. TA's and scholarships are quite competitive in this regard but I will let you know as soon as we know the status of our funding." So, I'm accepted, but without the assurance of funding. Nonetheless, I'm thrilled. It's a great program and a near perfect fit for what I want to do. Best of luck to the two above posters, I hope you guys get the good news soon, too.