gradschoolwannabe
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Posts posted by gradschoolwannabe
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Yeah for us. How're you finding the harrowing task of finding a place to live in D.C.? I feel like I've spent more time in google maps the last three weeks than teaching my students.
I'm thinking Columbia Heights. But I might have to go for Silver Spring or Rockville. I'm applying for jobs like a crazy person as well, as I don't think I'll be receiving any funding out of the gate.
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Woo! After endless worry about admissions, and then endless worry about funding, I'm going to Georgetown's MA program with funding! Now comes endless worry about my girlfriend finding a job and an apartment and getting my a$s back to the U.S.A. in time.
Congrats! I'll see you there!
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I will be attending Georgetown for my MA in the fall! Wooo! Thanks to everyone here for being so helpful!
- Gwendolyn, christakins, Datatape and 2 others
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I have also declined Texas Tech, I hope that helps out somebody.
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Anyone declining Indiana? I'm waitlisted for the MA.
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Just got the same email. Probs not going to Georgetown either.
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Ok, this was my a-ha moment. The socially constructed definition of "human" has been utilized throughout history to oppress and marginalize groups of people:
- Women are merely less developed humans, compared to fully developed men.
- People with disabilities are more monster than human.
- Africans are animalistic, not human, which is why they need the care of guidance that slavery provides.
Excellent point! Interrogating the human (from the humanist perspective), and the presupposed qualities that make it up and then placing that into larger contexts about life on Earth is fascinating to me. And this is just one route that posthumanism is interested in.
And that is exactly why the humanities has such a bad reputation. I think an articulate person actually SHOULD be able to describe why their field is interesting to outsiders. It shouldn't be an impossible, or monumental task. We need a better sort of language if we are only able to convey what we value to the people in our immediate vicinity who already share exactly our background and our interests.
This can be done in one sentence: Posthumanism is important because it forces humans to rethink the ways that they address the environment, animals, computers, and other f***ing people.
For example, N. Catherine Hayles draws from several science fiction authors to illustrate how silly the concept of downloading one's consciousness into a computer, an idea which many people think is totally possible and/or a good idea! Totally fascinating to me.
But I'll probably end up without a place in academia, according to many on this thread. Oh well, I'll try and find somewhere that'll let me teach.
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I actually applied to grad school with a major interest in posthumanism. I would not identify it as trendy, or trying to force science into literary studies. In fact, it has a lot to do with study of history of consciousness mind-body dichotomies, animal representation in literature and representations of human bodies, which are relevant to many different periods of study. I personally am very interested in the concept of disembodied information.
N. Catherine Hayles's book How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics is a totally fascinating read, as well as much of Donna Haraway's work. Judith Halberstam has an excellent book called Posthuman Bodies that I would strongly recommend.
- asleepawake and bfat
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Woo! Just got a Georgetown acceptance! No funding as of yet, but I'm remaining hopeful! Does anyone know how people who aren't funded make this work? Tons of debt?
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I spoke with someone in the English department, and it sounds like they keep their applicant pool open and send out rejections after April 15th, to catch those people who turn down their offers then. Hope that answers anyone's questions about MAs. It sounds like they make more choices when MA candidates turn down offers.
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I called them, and the secretary told me that I have been rejected. Nice to know, I suppose.
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I think it's probably safe to say I'm out of the running.
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Anybody heard about the MA from UI Urbana-Champaign? There was an MA acceptance back in January, but that's the only thing I've heard about.
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I would love to hear back from Florida as well. Illinois and UC Boulder would be great too. I just want all the decisions to be made, so I can decide what I'm doing with my life.
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I got an informal email from Indiana Bloomington yesterday. Waitlisted for their MA. It's one of my dream schools, pretty stoked! Got rejected from there last year.
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I emailed too.
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I was offered admission to that program last year, and it definitely seems like a cash cow to me. 20k+ on student loans was way too much for me without any sort of institutional support.
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Bummer, I didn't get an email from Georgetown. Probably out.
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Yeah, did you see the stats, though? IDK why, but I get the feeling there's someone intent on screwing with the UF applicants this year.
I dunno about that, my stats are pretty similar to that person's. I need to keep hope alive.
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Anyone claiming the Georgetown admit?
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Anybody else out there just applying for MAs? Is it killing you waiting to hear back from all these places? Places that I applied to keep notifying PhDs, and I definitely am feeling second-class right now.
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Everyone remain calm. We'll all know soon enough.
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Applying for MAs is stressful. I want to just make a decision already, but UC Boulder, Indiana, UIUC, Florida and Georgetown are leaving me hanging.
Research on Posthumanism and bioethics
in Literature, and Rhetoric and Composition
Posted
Check out Bruce Clarke at Texas Tech University. He has some interesting things to say on the subject.