TripWillis

Just a suggestion for you guys. A couple of my professors often publish here: http://www.radicalteacher.org/ I agree that the university is essentially a form of containment, but you also get to influence a lot of young minds, even if they've already been brainwashed and there's no hope left.

This.

You still have some dogs in the fight, ekant! We'll all be pulling for you! It's going to feel so amazing when it finally happens.

People historically get waitlisted this monday, but that's a holiday, so maybe Tuesday? I have my fingers crossed.

Clearly.

Ah shit. Time to lightly erase the cross off mark.

It's his Malcolm X avatar.

Trudat. On a related matter, I need to go add Claude McKay's Banjo to the books TO read thread.

This is also very good. You are all making me very excited to start my PhD program this fall!

So good.

I don't mean to add to the tense and controversial nature of the forum lately, but there's something kind of authoritative and bourgeois about this post, and the not so inconspicuous pairing of the terms "emasculate" and "traditional/originary" has me on edge. Edit: I mean, to address the issue, I think anyone in any discipline has to, to an extent, defend the worth and use value of said discipline. I know for one that I am very judgmental of bankers and accountants, though I try not to be. I can't imagine living in that kind of cultural condition. I guess they can't imagine living in ours either. I know we're at a disadvantage in terms of public perception, but I'm not ready to hop on the cross and say, "Woe is me! No one appreciates good scholarship anymore!" Sometimes I think we compartmentalize our studies too much in the first place and that's what's made us look like such useless eccentrics to everyone else. Just saying.

I read George Chauncey's Gay New York over winter break and, though I tried to skim and selectively filter the content, wow... I want all the informations in books, please.

I always cry when I eat burritos. I don't really know why.

You're right! They are largely co-extensive! I'm interested in my knowledge gaps, and my proposed areas of expertise. I'm interested in literature, and I'm hoping to learn a lot more about it over the next five years. I'm also very type-A; I need highly structure plans in order to succeed. It's probably because I'm so working-class, muthafucker.

Ah shit. Time to cross it off.

Congrats, so cool! I wish an ad-com would call me at Taco Bell!

If you did well on the subject test, I imagine it won't be too much of a problem for you. If you got a 530 (like me!), you might want to start studying. Comps are "comprehensive exams" and are usually taken after the first or second year of study. They are essentially very long written exams testing your reading abilities and knowledge in a wide range of genres and periods in the discipline. At CUNY, I get two chances to pass this. The next year, I take oral exams which test my expertise in three fields of specialization as part of the process of ascending to candidacy (the other being the approval of a dissertation prospectus). I think if I cram a lot of classes in where I have gaps of knowledge this year (maybe 6 classes) and organize study groups this summer and next, I'll be able to skate by. The next year, for the orals, I'll probably take a lot of coursework that more closely aligns with my fields of interest (queer, Af-Am, eco, 20th C.). But yeah. Tests make me crazy. It'll be weird. I am very thankful that I already have my M.A. and that CUNY accepts so many transfer credits, because this could've been a lot worse. This is basically my plan: First Year: Knowledge Gaps Second Year: Build Expertise Third Year: Continue To Build Expertise, Prepare Prospectus Fourth Year: Ascend to Candidacy, Publish, Begin Dissertation Fifth Year: Job Search, Dissertation

I haven't checked out what Amherst's comps/orals look like, but CUNY's seem like maybe a nightmare. But I guess rigor is what we all want, eh? That's why we apply to the best...

Glass half full: You will not have to start freaking out about taking a comp exam, as I am doing right now, and I haven't even chosen a school yet. (I am not a very well-rounded student when it comes to literary periods)

I think you're going to get into Harvard. Duke and Chicago love you, so I bet Harvard will too.

Glass half full: If you don't get into grad school, you don't have to spend the next 5-7 years living on ramen noodles.

26th -- I picked C for every one. Really.

So are mine! Yay for awful stats!! High five! Have any African-Americanists gotten a call from Rutgers? Just curious.

So with one dubious and non-specific post later on a Friday, I assume we can still call this pretty wide open, eh? Funny that we're already at 3 pages over one little post. Oh, Harvard... but if I can't get into Rutgers, Davis, or Maryland, I'm not relishing my chances here.

Um okay so there's like a thousand acceptances now. Cool.