toasterazzi

Here's another collection of resources from the NY Times: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/the-death-of-michael-brown-teaching-about-ferguson/?_r=0 

In today's academic melodrama, Episode Eleventy-Million:
 
Getting accepted to present at the 2015 International Society of Anglo-Saxonists conference in Glasgow = OMG amazing.
Getting accepted FOUR DAYS after I submitted my application to my top choice school = WHYYYY?

I've become extra invested in my activism in the last few months. I've long been involved in certain causes, but as a Black woman in America, these last few months have really kicked me into high gear. I've benefited from being in a program that has scholars who are really passionate about activism as well. And I see their examples of thriving in scholarship while also protesting and such as something that I can really aspire to be. Also, a lot of the people in my cohort are equally passionate and that helps to create a great environment. I've been collecting resources for future writing as well as possible classroom use in the future, and one of the best things I've come across is: http://zinnedproject.org/2014/11/teaching-about-ferguson/. They've collected some great resources there. Also, check out #fergusonsyllabus on Twitter.

I have just now submitted my final application. What a relief! I can finally get a good night's rest. 
 
Sending bright, shiny, sparkly vibes to all those still laboring away!
 

Haha this was me last year. I did 6 as well. I almost did 7, but I got my first acceptance before the due date for that last one  

Thanks Shaun! I'm trying to breathe, but everything feels like its piling up. If anything, at least the application was free   (Huge thanks to whoever it was that posted about the CIC fee waiver. I was granted 3 of them!)

DONE WITH ALL OF MY APPS!!!!
 

Hey people. We all have freak out moments in grad school. I don't see the reason to pile on C&C. The professor ended up agreeing that C&C did A-level work, C&C ended up with an A. The conflict has been resolved. What's the point of harping on someone who responded to a stressful situation differently than you would have? 

I'm glad everything is resolved! I'm glad there is a space for us to vent and troubleshoot stressful moments in grad student life without judgment. 

Long-time lurker, but I needed to chime into this conversation and support dazedandbemused's account. 
 
This happens everywhere, even if you're in a city known for its rich activist history. Being a person of color (especially a queer person of color) can be extremely alienating. This ranges from aggravatingly racist ("Let's be real, the only reason we read genre fiction by Octavia Butler is because she's black") to uninformed ("My work on the global city has nothing to do with race"). This isn't to bash on my program; I feel well-supported by the faculty and I have a wonderfully kind cohort. But (micro)aggressions still happen.
 
I always support having open conversations about difficult topics such as race and police brutality, because social change is impossible without dialogue, as difficult as that dialogue might be. Maybe, just maybe, a conversation will bring us to a space of greater understanding and empathy. But without trying, it'll never happen. This is particularly important to me because I entered academia in order to allow my activist and teaching spheres to overlap and mutually inform each other. My scholarship is community-engaged work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm sorry dazedandbemused.  Since I'm not in your program and not familiar with the environment you work in, I in no way feel entitled to tell you what would be an appropriate way to deal with this.  I'm often disappointed by the apathy I see at my SLAC, but this is the kind of stuff that would not be allowed to fly here.  Maybe it's just because of the environment I've spent the last 4.5 years studying in, but "micro-aggressions" (though these seem, to me, more blatant than that) such as these would be totally fair game for classroom discussion where I am.  The things you've listed (war without imperialism, antebellum south without race discussion) seem completely irresponsible, not only socially, but even in a scholarly "vacuum" (a notion I reject -- too much Marxism in my blood I suppose).  As for the use of the "n-word," come on.  Again, I don't know your comfort levels and the acceptance of this where you are, but it seems to me that you should be able to call attention to such things.  In class.  In my experiences here, which I recognize are different than many peoples', calling someone out on this type of thinking could lead to a rich conversation that could benefit everyone.  If a professor is letting this stuff be said without comment, I would definitely try to have a conversation with him or her if you aren't comfortable bringing it up in class discussions. 
 
Best of luck to you and anyone else who experiences this bullshit.  This is the kind of shit that I think people need to have a better outlet for discussing.  How can we eradicate this sort of crap without discussion?  People saying these kind of things may have the best of intentions, but in my mind, they ought appreciate being called out on saying things like that because it will only improve their ability to be responsible with respect to both social interactions and scholarly research.  I know if I were saying things like that I would want to be called out on it because I wouldn't want to be walking around saying shit like that without realizing it!  The best way to learn is to learn to recognize when you are making mistakes.
 
EDIT: to add that I think that duran0 and toasterezzi's points above are excellent ones that I sought to reaffirm in my above post.  People at my institution make an active effort to be more racially conscious, at least in my experience -- which isn't to say I haven't encountered problems.  They were often able to be talked out and I've learned a lot about becoming more conscious of my own words and actions and noticing others' simply through some of the people I've befriended and had discussions with inside and outside of class.  As a queer person who only came out during the course of my college career, I'll say that I've encountered way more "micro-aggressions" due to that -- but then again, I'm "white."  When I started dating a girl after being with boys for a couple years I couldn't even tell you how many times my girlfriend was told that it was "impossible" that we were getting together, or that being gay had been a "phase" or a call for attention or that I wasn't "really gay."  I also had to really interrogate myself to get over a lot of presuppositions, language, and ideas that I had simply from growing up around very racist, homophobic people -- many of whom were good friends of mine and even close family members.  It can be painful to have these sorts of discussions with people you love and discussions of sexuality and race with my own parents caused tensions and alienation that we still haven't completely overcome.  But there has been progress.  My mother grew up very poor in the Deep South and encountered a lot of angry riots just going to school where she felt genuinely frightened on a regularly basis and had Black cohorts who came from more money than her getting college scholarships that she couldn't get -- these things require honest, painful, and sensitive discussions to address very deep-set problems.  But I won't say that I regret the conversations, even if I regret the way I personally went into them at times.  So I take these things very seriously and personally.  I think "white" people in general ought to as well.  People with white skin ought be disgusted when they hear racially insensitive things coming out of their own or out of other white peoples' mouths.  I really do believe that.  There used to be a wonderful online journal called Race Traitor that is unfortunately defunct now, but their website is still up and their mission, I think, still relevant: http://racetraitor.org/.  I only wish that it would have continued so as to contribute to the conversation today.  As for the use of the n-word, yes, there has been much debate on it, but I think if a text that uses it a lot is going to be used in a class, it is the professor's job to check in with the students and see what they're comfortable with beforehand, even if they believe in the importance of not "censoring" the text when reading out loud.  Because you never know the life stories of all your students, if any.

I've become extra invested in my activism in the last few months. I've long been involved in certain causes, but as a Black woman in America, these last few months have really kicked me into high gear. I've benefited from being in a program that has scholars who are really passionate about activism as well. And I see their examples of thriving in scholarship while also protesting and such as something that I can really aspire to be. Also, a lot of the people in my cohort are equally passionate and that helps to create a great environment. I've been collecting resources for future writing as well as possible classroom use in the future, and one of the best things I've come across is: http://zinnedproject.org/2014/11/teaching-about-ferguson/. They've collected some great resources there. Also, check out #fergusonsyllabus on Twitter.

I've become extra invested in my activism in the last few months. I've long been involved in certain causes, but as a Black woman in America, these last few months have really kicked me into high gear. I've benefited from being in a program that has scholars who are really passionate about activism as well. And I see their examples of thriving in scholarship while also protesting and such as something that I can really aspire to be. Also, a lot of the people in my cohort are equally passionate and that helps to create a great environment. I've been collecting resources for future writing as well as possible classroom use in the future, and one of the best things I've come across is: http://zinnedproject.org/2014/11/teaching-about-ferguson/. They've collected some great resources there. Also, check out #fergusonsyllabus on Twitter.

I've become extra invested in my activism in the last few months. I've long been involved in certain causes, but as a Black woman in America, these last few months have really kicked me into high gear. I've benefited from being in a program that has scholars who are really passionate about activism as well. And I see their examples of thriving in scholarship while also protesting and such as something that I can really aspire to be. Also, a lot of the people in my cohort are equally passionate and that helps to create a great environment. I've been collecting resources for future writing as well as possible classroom use in the future, and one of the best things I've come across is: http://zinnedproject.org/2014/11/teaching-about-ferguson/. They've collected some great resources there. Also, check out #fergusonsyllabus on Twitter.

I've become extra invested in my activism in the last few months. I've long been involved in certain causes, but as a Black woman in America, these last few months have really kicked me into high gear. I've benefited from being in a program that has scholars who are really passionate about activism as well. And I see their examples of thriving in scholarship while also protesting and such as something that I can really aspire to be. Also, a lot of the people in my cohort are equally passionate and that helps to create a great environment. I've been collecting resources for future writing as well as possible classroom use in the future, and one of the best things I've come across is: http://zinnedproject.org/2014/11/teaching-about-ferguson/. They've collected some great resources there. Also, check out #fergusonsyllabus on Twitter.

I've become extra invested in my activism in the last few months. I've long been involved in certain causes, but as a Black woman in America, these last few months have really kicked me into high gear. I've benefited from being in a program that has scholars who are really passionate about activism as well. And I see their examples of thriving in scholarship while also protesting and such as something that I can really aspire to be. Also, a lot of the people in my cohort are equally passionate and that helps to create a great environment. I've been collecting resources for future writing as well as possible classroom use in the future, and one of the best things I've come across is: http://zinnedproject.org/2014/11/teaching-about-ferguson/. They've collected some great resources there. Also, check out #fergusonsyllabus on Twitter.

I also think the new reality of the academy requires scholars to also be activists. Who is fighting adjunctification, raising student fees, lay offs, the dismantling of Ethnic Studies and language departments, the privatization of the university, right to work laws, and decreasing student aid? A growing coalition of students, staff, faculty, and community members. Wisconsin was a chilling reminder of how the state can drastically threaten job stability, and most importantly, how the issues of the university are tied to issues of privatization, labor, and access in other spheres. Especially in the Humanities, we have to constantly fight for jobs and financial stability, and our movement will be more successful if we see the connections between the struggles of the university and the struggles within our communities. 

I'm trying to remember what my OSU status said last year, but I'm blanking. I will say though that all of the folks involved with grad admissions in the English department are awesome. So if you want to make an inquiry, I'm sure that'd be fine.

I think this will be my drug of choice--I've always been able to throw myself in to work to get my mind off anything, so thesis it is. I'm going to focus a lot on bringing seminar papers up to snuff for publication too!
 
<whispers> seriously praying for at least one early acceptance too... boy would that take a load off.

I spent most of my waiting time last year focused on writing my thesis and teaching while somewhat obsessively checking the results board a few times a day. I will say though that it becomes much easier (in my opinion at least) if you're lucky enough to get a relatively early acceptance. I got my first one in January & it took so much pressure off the entire situation.
 
As for how they notify you, it really is a mixed bag in my experience. I got a mix of emails, phone calls, and even an actual letter last year. 

Two of my letter writers are doing a lot of tailoring of each letter to each specific school. That's great--wonderful, thank you, I'm filled up with gratitude from the bottom of my heart!
 
Here's the thing, though. One of them does it in batches, uploading about two at a time a few days before the next set of deadlines. Cool. But the other one has submitted each of the letters that have been due thus far in the early evening of their deadlines, which is turning those days into inordinately stressful, high-stakes games of temporal chicken. On each and every one, as the clock ticks down through the day my own tics get worse: "Is this the day he'll forget? Should I send him another reminder? I'm worrying for nothing, right? Surely he'll remember!"
 
Cue the nervous laughter as I reach for a tumbler.

Gah! Submitted the first English app on Monday! (+3 others for Am. St. programs)...things are getting real!

I'm trying very hard to keep my list of schools to 10. I am currently in a program that I like a lot, but the funding could be better, so I'm only applying to places that have two of the following criteria: better funding, better placement, and/or a standout POI in my area of specialization. This left me with about 17 programs I was interested in, but 17 is just not feasible on my current budget, so I had to find ways to narrow my list. There was a fairly complex process that went into narrowing the list, but among the criteria I used to make these cuts (never to add a school) was proximity to a team in a sport I care about. I will defend this decision to anyone. (And, yes, I have been asked to defend the decision. )
 
Final list looks something like: Penn, UC Irvine, WUSTL, Pitt, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, Alberta, UBC, and Illinois State.

I expressly refused to apply to schools that required the subject test, and I feel absolutely no qualms about that. I applied to Ohio State, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Pitt, University of Missouri, and Bowling Green. One of them (I think it was Pitt) even was pretty dang vehement in their info absolutely not wanting to be sent the subject scores haha.
 
As for waivers, I was also going to mention the CIC one. I made use of it, and it was pretty quick and painless. Here's the full list of schools that you can possibly get waivers from through them:
 
University of Chicago   University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Indiana University University of Iowa University of Maryland University of Michigan Michigan State University University of Minnesota University of Nebraska-Lincoln  Northwestern University Ohio State University Pennsylvania State University Purdue University Rutgers University