Smokydog

All of these sound really good!

Thanks for the info! Does anyone else know about other universitities, just in case?

Hello! Does anyone know about professors specializing in those genres? I would appreciate any information on the subject. Thanks in advance!

You are right on that one! Thank you for the advice. Well, actually I got an apology from them so now I feel better.

I have just sent this to Penn Sate: Dear Penn State Staff, Since applying last January, I have not heard from you. Now the April 15th deadline has passed and I suppose that by now I can be sure I was not admitted. I suppose that you have your reasons for that, specially with so many applicants. Nonetheless, it is very dissapointing for me to not even receive a formal refusal by email. I expected more from your Department when I decided to apply. At least because I payed my application fee. I just wanted to let you know my dissapointment in that matter. I hope you may consider to improve this aspect in a future. Regards,

Me too! But I think that a rejection on time would have been better than this.

Gee, I din´t know about those people. I had to Google them. Well, it bothers me that the April 15th deadline has passed and I have not heard from them since I applied.

And to think that I still have not heard from Penn State... It bothers me that they did not contact at all...

Sad thing to hear... But oh well. That's life.

I am still waiting on any answer. But who knows, my last name letter is "O". Perhaps I will be receiving something these next hours or early tomorrow... I don't like this kind of pressure.

ECGscholar, I will keep you posted on where i finish up! And of course I will be glad to discuss anything you wish. Since right now I am in Spain and I will be here until June I am afraid I won't be able to go to the visiting weekend. Do tell us how it goes!

Still waiting for news and getting nervous. *Sigh*. I would really love to go there!

Well, inspiration means many different things for the Greek and the Judeo-Christian tradition. Democritus, for example, saw it as an arousing of atoms and material things such as bodily fluids. For Plato and Aristotle inspiration was more being out of oneself (ekstatikós) or possesed (enthousiasmós). It depends which Greek thinker you choose. Though I agree that "Holy" is something different in the judeo-christian tradition. Nevertheless, holy things are many times unspeakable and mostly untouchable for the jew tradition (for fear of blasphemy) while they are very close to christians (due to the Father-son relationship they have with God). It is very interesting to see how a Christian may be talking about Providence all the time while the Jew tradition is more careful when talking about God's actions for fear of being wrong in addressing them. I love this subject!

Right now, I am feeling partly relieved to know I didn't lose (yet) the interview round. But another part of me is not looking forward to be interviewd and "grilled" as hedgerows says they did with him. :/

Yes, I suppose they will be handing the answers this week. Just one question: do you know if the Literature department did any round of interviews?

Well, I am still in limbo. Though I applied to the Literature program. I am still waiting for any kind of answer...

Everything is always leading back to the Greek. Aristotle would say that one of the first ways people start learning is through imitation.

Well, so it seem we will have much to discuss. Nice.

Thank you, rainy_day!

Thank you, Myriadways! Starlajane, I am sorry about the comment if you found it offensive. But, well, I must tell you that this applying process is entirely new to me. I am an international student and I already have an MA in Political Theory. The thing is that during my MA studies I got interested in the the intersection between politics and Literature (I have a BA in Spanish). That is why I applied to Comparative Literature Ph.D. programs. And I did that after consulting with many departments (they told me to go ahead). But now, as it seems, a Comparative Literature MA would be a good option in order to make my application stronger. The US application process is extremely complicated and sometimes Graduate Schools are not that supporting with explanations. No one told me, for example, that my stipend would be taxed. And I found this forum just a week ago. I did not mean to be offensive. But I also consider my question is completely valid. If not, I would have been edited by the admid, I suppose. And I know some other people have had the same idea. In fact, I got the idea from a thread in this same forum. And that persons was not criticized for that decision. Please don't interprete it as something offensive, which was not the intention of this thread. Rather it is a way to know more about universities that may be offering some help at this moment for people that didn't make it to the Ph.D. this year. Best,

@EGS Scholar, I have been accepted to SC's Com Lit but I am waiting to know about the funding. I am also waiting to hear from 6 other universities (been rejected from 7 already). There is still some time to make my decision to go there definite but it is certainly an option. Since I cannot rely on only this opportunity I am looking for other options, such as a funded stand-alone MA (just in case). Perhaps we will meet! Don't worry about the SC Comp. Lit thread. It did help me. I did get more information about the ACLA. Thank you for your help!

Thank you all for your advice. I have already contacted those departments just in case. If anyone else knows about other MA programs please let me know!

Where I said rethorics I meant rhetorics. Sorry! I am still not used to that "h". In Spanish the word is "Retórica".

Your are right! It may be a broad deal and I would like to make it a more detailed project while being there. Right now I am very interested in Aristotle's statement that all art manifestations are mimesis praxeos (imitation of actions). As it seems, sometimes art works can be more an imitation of ideas (dianoia) than an imitation of actions. I consider that this particular distinction allows a study of the presence of ideology in Literature/Film. My approach is more of a classical sort. I would like to investigate the difference between Poetics (as Aristotle understood it) and Rethorics in fiction.

So, I suppose that when one finds out he or she has been rejected to many Ph.D. programs, the idea of getting into a last-minute MA can come to mind... Particularly if that can help you make your application for next year a stronger one. Does anyone know of any last-minute MA that may offer some kind of financial assistance? I am very interested in Comparative Literature and Classical Studies. Please let me know if something comes to mind!