Hilversum
-
Posts
18 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by Hilversum
-
-
I received a full tuition waiver to study at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC! Initially I was told that there were no more available, but then I received an e-mail from the department chair telling me they added on and it was mine if I wanted it! Needless to say, I am very very excited
Congratulations - I'm very pleased on your behalf, and wish you success and fulfillment in your studies!
-
Johns Hopkins sent out their admission letters. I didn't make it. Overall I only made it into one school out of nine, and I'm still waiting to hear about funding from that school....
It's a ridiculously competitive field, and if it makes you feel any better my application success rate was very similar to yours. As long as the funding comes through on your acceptance, you should be alright. Best of luck to you!
-
1. Many (most?) adjuncts have to work at multiple schools in order to eke out something that might approach a living wage (the "freeway flyer" phenomenon).
2. Many adjuncts do not have PhDs, whether they are ABD and writing, "terminal ABD," or just never planning on going beyond a master's.
As I have said before, if U.S. News & World Report started making "percentage of undergrad classroom hours instructed by tenured/permanent* faculty" and "percentage of undergrad classroom hours instructed by faculty with the terminal degree in their field" part of their college rankings, the PhD 'oversupply' would shrink overnight.
Reducing the number of grad students by a handful per program--especially given the dropout rates--is not even going to put a dent in the problem.
* ETA: My undergrad has a "permanent non-tenure" track for faculty who have a job for 'life' like tenured profs but focus on teaching rather than research.
That helps clarify the issues, thanks!
-
the oversupply of PhDs argument is a myth. when universities see a tenured professor retire, they replace that prof with 3 adjuncts rather than another tenure-stream faculty member. it saves them a ton of money and there's always someone desperate enough to take a $2500 per course adjuncting position.
If there are easily three qualified adjunct professors available to fill every position vacated by a retiring tenured professor, then surely there is an oversupply of PhDs?
Thanks for posting, Virmundi!
-
The Hebrew of the Masoretic text has God telling Moses to write them down, so Moses would be the best bet!
-
I know of someone who was already notified by Hopkins.
Really? Did they interview? What was their subfield?
-
Hey all!
I applied to...a bunch of schools (Cornell, UPenn, UChicago, Brown, Brandeis, Catholic University of America, Hebrew Union College, University of Toronto, and Johns Hopkins).
I was accepted to CUA, which I'm extremely excited about because it is the only Semitics department in the US. I haven't heard about funding yet, though. Apparently they don't send out that info until the end of March. Anyone know how much they typically give? What's funny about CUA is if I'm rejected by Johns Hopkins, I would still take classes there because these two schools pair together sometimes...
I was rejected by Cornell, Toronto, and Chicago. I was accepted to Brandeis' Master's program, but I wasn't offered enough money, and I honestly can't afford to take out any other loans.
Anyone know when I should expect to hear from Johns Hopkins?
I think Johns Hopkins should be sending out decisions either this week or next.
-
No, actually I'm an Egyptologist. My specialty is Ramesside Egypt. Although I did name my pet rabbit "Tiglath-Pileser III"--only an archaeologist would do something like this. I had an interview yesterday from the University of Liverpool and received an acceptance into the PhD program from them today. To say that I am thrilled is an understatement. This is my ultimate dream school.
A massive congratulations to you! It must be a great relief to finally hear some positive news and be able to take your life forward in the direction you've wanted to! Best of luck in Liverpool.
-
Just thought I'd let you guys know, I called the Brown Egyptology program today and was told that the interview invites have already gone out. Just as I was about to accept rejection, the woman on the phone said "the first round anyway", so I'm assuming there is a second round? either that or they enjoy trying to keep that little bit of hope alive only to crush our dreams.
Thanks for sharing, agripley - I hope you get your invitation soon!
-
I'm wondering about the Brown interview as well. I'm wondering if it was maybe a specific question from a POI? Or maybe I'm just trying to avoid the fact that I was not invited and am utterly heartbroken
I think (and hope) it's premature for heartbreak! I've yet to hear from most of the places you listed - it seems NELC programs are just being particularly slow this year. Best of luck in any case, and keep your spirits up. There could well be good news to come!
-
Princeton's program is very prestigious - perhaps the most prestigious - when it comes to the modern Middle East, so I certainly would not rule them out if I were you. Congratulations in any case, mimiuchi, you are truly facing dilemmas of luxury, which are the very best sort of dilemmas to have. Well done.
On a separate note, would anyone care to claim the Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies interview at Brown and provide more details? Like subfield? Thanks and congratulations on securing the interview!
-
It was turned into a novel by Michael Chabon I believe ... The Frozen Chosen?
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - a good detective story!
-
Would anybody care to claim the Chicago acceptance and specify the relevant subfield? Congratulations to you in any event, it must be a relief to have an offer like that in at this stage!
-
You'll do yourself a favor to understand the non-Sanskitic roots of Urdu. There are a lot of similarities, but Urdu writers in Urdu will use considerably more Arabic and Persian root words than a Hindi speaker writing in Urdu. Also, there are confusing differences in syntax if you try to approach Urdu through Hindi.
I'm not suggesting anyone approach Urdu through Hindi or vice versa. I'm simply pointing out that mastering Arabic and Persian - while useful for the study of Urdu in much the same way that it is useful for the study of Turkish - will not take you very far at all when learning Urdu (or Turkish), which is a language influenced by but not otherwise really related to them. Hindi, on the other hand, although subjected in modern India to a different set of influences than Urdu, is, especially on the colloquial level, hardly distinguishable from Urdu.
In any event, claims to the effect that Urdu is "based on" or "similar to" Persian and Arabic are simply too bold. There is overlap, but knowing Arabic and Persian simply won't give one that much of a headstart when learning Urdu. Hindi will - but those who want to learn Urdu should probably just learn Urdu and be aware of the simple fact that Urdu and Hindi are linguistic twins that have been subjected to different influences in recent history.
-
I'd just like to point out that Hindi and Urdu are to all extents and purposes one and the same language with only minor variations - they simply employ different writing systems. Knowing this will be useful to those who want to specialize in South Asian history.
-
I think a lot of the lack of activity has to do with the fact that the field is fiercely competitive. They are all reading GradCafe but no one wants to help the competition by posting. It's quite sad really.
Do you think the field is competitive to the point that it discourages discussion even after all of the applications have been submitted and all we're doing now is waiting on results? That would be a sad reflection on the prevailing state of affairs.
Surely the whole point of the forum is to allay collective anxieties and lend a helping hand to people in predicaments more or less identical to our own? If Tiglath-Pileser - that mighty conqueror of long lost lands - is right, and there is a multitude of silent NELCies out there, maybe we'd all benefit from sharing?
Afterall, it's too late to do anything about our applications now, and it might help us to realistically appraise the playing field if we had more information by which to judge it. Share please, ye lurkers!
By the way, are you an aspiring Assyriologist too, Tiglath? And what's your specialty, Khayzuran?
-
In contrast with previous years, there does not seem to be much Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations activity on the forum. I doubt that this is because there's less interest than usual or fewer applicants, so maybe it would be a good idea if everyone in the field came together in this thread to share what we're applying for.
I've applied to a number of Ancient Near East PhD programs, generally Assyriology related. It's a niche subject, so I'd be delighted if there's anyone else out there with similar interests.
Anyone else?
Schools for Assyriology
in Interdisciplinary Studies
Posted
Your observations are accurate to the best of my knowledge, but I think you're missing some great schools.
There's Johns Hopkins, which has Jacob Lauinger and Paul Delnero - both of whom are great.
And then there are places like NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, Berkeley, and UCLA, each of which offers different but great opportunities, depending on your interests. ISAW is especially flexible in what it will allow you to do.
As for foreign schools, Cambridge, Oxford, and SOAS could all be great places to at least obtain an MA before moving on to your PhD, though funding is nigh on impossible to obtain. Leiden would be more affordable, but perhaps not as rigorous. Unlike US schools, Toronto requires you to have an MA before going on to do your PhD.
I don't know what your background is or what your primary interests are, but there are more opportunities than you'd think if you know where to look. Let me know if I can help in any way!