veniente

In line with some of the above thoughts and recommendations and your own suggestions gruby, you might also like to consider the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and the Humanities Center at Johns Hopkins. (I'm not sure about the future of USCS' HisCon. programme; it may be advisable to contact them if you're considering applying.)

My programme requires me to pass another language proficiency exam, so I'm looking for study tool suggestions. Two well-known books that I would recommend in preparation for French proficiency exams are: - Edward M. Stack, Reading French in Arts and Science, 4th Edition - Karl C. Sandberg and Eddison C. Tatham, French for Reading Has anyone used, or does anyone know of, books of similar quality and usefulness pertaining to Italian?

An application tyro. A grad cafe novelty. I couldn't have wished for more. But no, I jest. Both myself and my MA supervisor were somewhat surprised I didn't get a few more offers, funded or otherwise, however, the other schools that I did apply to were all ranked similar (or higher?) to the one at which I was accepted. I don't really know if I have any recommendations; or, if I do, they would be entirely person-specific. If you want to ensure that you get accepted somewhere, I guess I would suggest apply to a range of schools - that is, as far as rankings are concerned - and definitely speak frankly to your LORs about which schools, or range of schools, they believe you can get in to. Of course, like everyone else's, weigh their thoughts on the matter against your own .

I third the Rivkin and Ryan edited opus, and second the Norton and Richter suggestions. For a more pithy text, I would mention Jonathan Culler's Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction, which, from memory, was a pleasant read on the subject.

I'd have to say that there are many more terrible adaptations than admirably handled ones. That said, a few good (literary) adaptations that immediately spring to my mind include: Ford's A Single Man, Huston's Under the Volcano, Von Trier's Medea, Potter's Orlando, Cronenberg's Crash, Haneke's The Piano Teacher, Taymor's Titus, Winterbottom's Tristram Shandy, Visconti's The Leopard, and Kaufman's Unbearable Lightness of Being. My guilty pleasures are American Psycho, Howl's Moving Castle, and Rumble Fish

I greatly appreciate this helpful information, girlmostlikely! Am applying this week.

Yes. It's pretty decent, but if you've read Agamben's Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life you will find it doesn't offer a whole lot more to conversations on indefinite/(illegal) detention.

Anyone know the start date this year? Just thinking about booking some flights. Thanks in advance!

Massive congratulations on your decision Trip! CUNY's grad centre English programme looks fantastic.

Columbia University in the City of New York.

I have pages of word documents and some flashcards that I made for the GRE Literature in English. Very happy to share, so feel free to PM and I can email them.

Admittance and funding to Rutgers' PhD program is very impressive. A Chicago MAPH is less so, unless you are able to use it as a stepping stone to something more suited - because there's not much, if anything higher than Rutgers - which seems less than guaranteed (not to mention issues of considerable debt and annoying application time-frame).

A contribution: Vilém Flusser - The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design Edit: While it's definitely not presented 'as' Critical Theory, I think Pierre Bayard's How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read, which I 'read' a while back, will be a text I take solace in at grad school.

Although we may all be rightfully sceptical of the GREs, for a plethora of reasons, it seems that one disparages or neglects them at their peril. Like, you know they're a component - yes, one among others - in your application, and thus carry some weight, so why not spend time ensuring you do really well at them (of course, as others note, not at the expense of your SOP, your writing sample, and your GPA), even resitting them if necessary. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but if a school is asking for the subject test, especially given many of the schools that do ask, wouldn't you want to do well at it? As others state, 'bad' GREs have the potential of keeping you out of places, which should be enough of an incentive to make you want to achieve really competitive scores, something that is fairly doable (I speak not from experience) if you decide that the GREs have significance (which they surely do when they're a compulsory requirement, and when departments need to whittle down 750 applicants). Some places even specify a minimum GRE score, such as, Columbia, who want their U.S. applicants to be achieving at least in the 96th% for verb., Duke [English], who want a minimum of 1200 (in the old score format) verb./quant. combined, and Berkeley, who implicitly ask you to consider achieving a 97% verb., in keeping with their average. Whether adcomms always keep to these benchmarks is another matter, but, I would suggest, one which shouldn't really be the basis for your verdict that 'GREs don't matter'. Of course there are always going to be those stories of people getting accepted to Stanford, or Princeton, or wherever with a 12% quant., or with a 84% verb., or with a 3.5 analy., or with a 50% sub., but as far as I can tell these are the exceptions rather than the rule. Like Stately, I scored a 570 on verb and 4.5 for writing. I also got - please laugh, I did - a 380 on quant. I resat the thing (did the revised one), got better scores (but not good ones) on everything but analy, Combined with my mediocre sub. of 570, and despite other shit like scholarships, TAing experience, 4.0 GPA equivalent, solid SOPs & writing sample, I feel nearly certain that my average GREs performances, how shall I put it, Contributed Negatively to my Application, perhaps even keeping me out of places.

I think that at graduate level admittance is based primarily on potential, prior academic achievement, and fit.

Some schmuck down-thumbed you - rectifying it now. Good thread; I like reading the reasons, compelling and otherwise, that people have for pursuing graduate study. 'The crisis of the humanities' has been a hot issue in recent times; without having read it, I (probably) recommend Martha Nussbaum's recent Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities.

You might like to check out The Iowa Writers' Workshop (at The University of Iowa). It looks as though they offer an MFA and a PhD with Creative Dissertation. I would certainly welcome the opportunity to write alongside Marilynne Robinson who I am sure would be amenable insofar as your religious interests are concerned.

Thanks heaps for the feedback girlmostlikely! I appreciate it. Did your visit help confirm your decision?

Lovely is good. I can handle lovely.

When I was a child I remember being confounded by the term 'euthanasia' which, owing to my folks' religious background, was always mentioned with something of a questioning tone. Meanwhile, I just couldn't figure out what was so wrong with the 'Youth-in-Asia'.

Hey fellow prospectives, just wondering if anyone could give me a report on how the campus visit went and your impressions of the place? (Feel free to PM me.) Thanks!

Hah, yeah. I'd consider trading you a C for an H hazelbite, but know that H already took a guy/girl who looks like me. All things considered, when you know the percentages you're up against to crack the 'top 12' schools - only just over 2.0% admit rates at C and S, for example - you've pretty much got to expect to take a pummeling. Truly impressive are those who have a wide range of 'top 12s' to pick from.

Congratulations user_name! Nice job.

Hey trip, I see your signature has changed - has Rutgers come through for you yet?

Congratulations bespeckled!!! I'm so happy for you I have been pulling for you all along and my day just totally got brighter seeing your acceptance.