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Lord Horatio

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Everything posted by Lord Horatio

  1. My instinct says you should try to get teaching experience (particularly if you didn't teach at your M.A. institution), since ad comms generally expect more from M.A. applicants than they do from B.A. or B.S. applicants. In fact, some English departments explicitly mention this on their FAQs page. Moreover, I think having some teaching experience could potentially help you to win a teaching assistantship at your Ph.D. institution.
  2. Defending in two days. Despite a few moments of anguish and, yes, the occasional bout of writer's block, I actually surprised myself by staying on top of self-imposed deadlines. My (master's) thesis proposes a reappraisal of three novels by Malcolm Lowry, a late modernist most famous for the novel Under the Volcano (1947) and his alcoholism. Basically, using a theoretical apparatus that incorporates cultural anthropology (the concepts of liminality and the transnational are central) and postcolonial theory (its critique of nationalism and valorization of exile, in particular), I argue that Lowry should be re-considered as a world writer, whose portrayal of exile explores the character of postwar/postcolonial anxiety among British expatriates on the outskirts of a diminishing empire. Anyone have any tips for conducting the defense? Should I bring a shield or something?
  3. I'm wrapping up a terminal M.A. and getting ready to enter a Ph.D. program this fall (1 acceptance, 1 wait list - final decision not yet made). While I'm fortunate to have a second income supporting my household (my girlfriend has a "real" job), I think I can speak briefly to some of the issues you've raised here. Incidentally, I created the post with the online petition link (plug). As I was saying, I'm in my last semester as a thesis option M.A. student at a very large state university. I have been supported, over the last two years, by teaching assistantships. At this school, assistantships almost always include a tuition waiver, health insurance coverage (a recent addition to the package), and a very small stipend. The stipend is not remotely competitive with some of the numbers I've seen associated with nationwide Ph.D. programs, but M.A. programs generally seem to have far less money to throw around. I've had the luxury of simply working as an assistant at my current institution and attending classes. However, I've heard that several Ph.D. students take on work as adjuncts at local community colleges to supplement their income (usually, a completed M.A. is required to do this kind of teaching). My understanding is that the university officially disallows this kind of extra work, but students take it on out of necessity, anyway. Most professors turn a blind eye to the practice, recognizing that graduate study poses major challenges, financially. I certainly can't fault the afterhours folks, at all, since they have bills to pay, though I would seriously discourage taking on this extra work if one can avoid it. Grad school is not only a lot of work: it is super competitive. Superior work requires concentration and focus. Teaching four classes a semester, as opposed to, say, two, doubles your extracurricular workload and detracts mightily from your ability to succeed in your own classes / individual research. I'm not saying that balancing extra jobs and school work can't be done, but I am saying that I wouldn't recommend trying it if I didn't have to. Consider taking out some manageable loans (subsidized, federal loans, more exactly) to cover fees, books, and other expenses. If you're getting a waiver and a stipend, you are already getting an excellent deal on your education, so the additional financial burden of a few small loans is miniscule, relatively speaking. Also, consider the fact that grading English 101 papers is pretty much the worst thing ever.
  4. Hi Folks, I'm involved with the Graduate Student Association at my current home institution where I'm an M.A. student (Lit and Cultural Studies). The organization is currently trying to encourage grad students on our campus to sign the following petition (see link below) to restore tax exempt status to graduate and postdoctoral stipends. Personally, funding represents a tremendously important factor when it comes to pursuing a Ph.D. in the Humanities. In fact, there's really no way I would be able to attend grad school without such funding. Nevertheless, stipend sums are typically modest, to say the least. Therefore, I hope you will take a few moments to look over the petition and, hopefully, add your signature to it. The website (whitehouse.gov) requires you to register before signing, but you can opt out of additional emails by unchecking one of the radio buttons. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/#!/petition/restore-tax-exempt-status-graduate-and-postdoc-stipends-gradtax/NrB1FcZn I hope it's all right that I've posted this here. Many signatures are still required, so please encourage your grad student friends to support this, as well.
  5. @helldog: Thanks, I appreciate it. The notice came in an email from the Director of Grad Studies.
  6. Thanks for letting me know! I'm not sure what spot I hold on the list, but hopefully its a high one. Really sorry to hear it, bespeckled. Best of luck with your remaining schools. I had all but given up on any more positive responses, since I've already received a ton of rejections, but apparently not all of the latecoming emails are outright rejections.
  7. I got waitlisted by USC (English Ph.D.) today. They very sympathetically pointed out that, due to "the depressed state of the job market," their incoming Ph.D. cohort is about 60% of what it was fifteen years ago. I guess I'm going to have to hold off on making my decision until closer to April 15th after all. God I wish I was doing this in the '90s.
  8. Postcolonial theory / Transnationalism and 20th Century English and Anglophone Literatures. Also Modernism.
  9. I am midway through the MA program in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies at UCF. I have an assistantship, but it doesn't cover the summer. As a result, I'm trying to scrounge some money for books (exam prep guides, certain stuff pertaining to my thesis). The graduate student association offers travel aid for conferences, probably not as much as $400 at my institution, but I'm certainly going to apply there. Thanks for the advice. Funding is definitely a top priority in my search for Ph.D. programs.
  10. I was wondering if anyone might be able to give me a clue regarding scholarships for graduates in the humanities field (I'm an English Lit student), or even scholarships that don't require applicants to be from a certain field. I'm mostly interested in scholarships that are not school-specific, i.e. NOT Purdue's ____ scholarship, or Berkeley's _____ fellowship. Also, I am definitely not limiting my search to big time fellowships and grants, since even minor scholarships, say $250-$1000 awards would be enormously helpful for covering expenses like books and money to attend conferences, etc. Maybe I am being naive and sniffing after awards that don't exist – the multifarious missing links, yeti's of financial aid – but any leads here would be hugely appreciated.
  11. Anyone have anything to add regarding UVA and Duke? I'm interested in applying to their programs and my interest areas are literary modernism and postcolonial studies / theory. Coming from NYU (BA) via UCF (MA).
  12. Based on what I'm seeing on the websites for various English Ph.D. Programs, they are not nearly as interested in applicant scores on the quantitative section of the GRE. Below I've pasted two instances where these grad programs state that they are primarily interested in the verbal score. Mind you, these are just two examples, and I would certainly agree with Mal83 that you should contact admissions at the schools you specifically want to know about. From the UC Davis English Department website: "NOTE: There is no required minimum GRE score for applications. In practice, most of our successful applicants have a verbal GRE score above 600, an analytic score above 5.0, and a subject test score above 550. (Math score is irrelevant.) The most important element of the application is the writing sample. An outstanding writing sample and overall strong application do in some cases lead us to overlook GRE scores that do not reflect the quality of the application as a whole." From the Duke University English Department website: "The average GRE scores of students entering our program in a recent year were Verbal 670, Quantitative 640, Writing (new analytical) 5.72, but there is wide variation among the students we accept. There is no special reason for concern if your quantitative score is considerably lower than your verbal score."
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