CrunchySocks

So, I have a class this fall (my first in a doctoral program) and I am excited about it. This class is called Studies In Contemporary Literature: Transnational Diasporas In the U.S. I have been anxious to start reading, but the professor has never replied to my emails concerning giving me a reading list. I have mostly read texts from Australia that dealt with these issues in the past, so I am unfamiliar with what authors or texts there are out there concerning this particular subject. I was wondering if you all might have suggestions of what books this professor might choose or what kind of research I can do.

Has anyone applied or been accepted to Southern Illinois? I am trying to figure out how their waitlist system works. I know a few weeks one person declined, but they have more than one list and the grad coordinator is out of the country for the next two weeks and no decisions will be made until after that.... it is pretty late.

Well Georgia State did not accept me and although they were never my top choice I can't help but feel a bit worried. Last year I applied to Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego. None accepted me. This year I got rejected from Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, and now Georgia State. Middle TN State accepted me, but without funding and due to the fact is a young program, I would be getting heaps more loan debt, and would not get a job after I graduate due to the fact no one knows about MTSU then they are a wash. So Southern Illinois and Western Michigan have me on a waitlist and I would be lying if I didn't say I am pretty scared at this point. I don't want to start from scratch next year, but I would if I had since well Ph.D. is my game plan come hell or high water..... ugh!

So, it's after April 15th and I still haven't heard a peep from Southern Illinois or Western Michigan where I was waitlisted. Should I write back or give it a few more days?

Where on the website? I checked my application and found nothing. Is there a special place on the website? Please give me a link.

Congratulations on getting accepted though. I haven't heard anything from them. What was your area and were you going for literature or creative writing? I saw a few creative writing postings on here for GSU. I know Atlanta is pretty expensive, but I am not sure that any place won't be nowadays. Also, that does seem like a lot of work. Did you happen to find out how many applied or how many they accept with funding per semester? For creative writing and rhetoric I have heard there is only one funded position. Not sure about lit.

Anyone know anything about these three Ph.D. programs??? I have applied to each and I know I am on the waiting list of at least one of them. Has anyone heard anything?

Just curious what is your area of study and are you interested in White? Thanks for your comments.

I am going on a trip to Oregon to see my boyfriend. Thus, at least he can console me when or if I fall apart.

You can call and ask to speak to the grad coordinator, Brian Reed. He does phone interviews all day on Tuesday, so you would have to set up at an appointment and then wait two or three weeks. If you are in a different time zone like me then make sure you figure the time difference. Brian Reed is really a nice guy, but perhaps he is not in control of most of the decisions.

I got rejected this year and last year from Washington. It hurts since the grad coordinator actually encouraged me via phone to reapply after looking through the comments from the committee. Why not just say, "sorry dude, don't waste your money."

Is it a sin to admit that I can't stand Milton and barely appreciate Shakespeare? I marginally like Chaucer due to having taken a seminar on The Canterbury Tales, but I still don't get why these three are the BIG three? And someone tell me... what could possibly be written on Shakespeare that hasn't already been done. Imagine the articles and books one would need to read to become a Shakespeare person nowadays. A professor at my school who is the resident Shakespeare scholar has been finding so little on him to write about that he creates parallels like Shakespeare and Bruce Springsteen. Course this same professor also like Harold Bloom (huh?). I know, I am a modernist right? Thank you all for your suggestions. I should say that what I meant was most likely I would do my dissertation on White. But, there is the issue of getting a job after my Ph.D. and it having been on someone no one knows. I need to find a way to market myself as modern British/commonwealth. There are people who claim to be Austen specialists or a William Blake person or once I even heard of a Willa Cather scholar. Going to a school in Australia is a dream for sure but also pretty damn expensive. I have looked into the expense and without a scholarship I couldn't possibly afford that expenditure. While I was in Australia I was told that I would be more likely to get a scholarship if I had published a peer-reviewed article. Creative pieces, and I do have a play published, just don't count. The complexity of Australian literature goes beyond what even White though. In my M.A. thesis I discussed three white writers who portrayed the Aborigine in their work. I used whiteness and masculinity as theoretical lens for my research. All three of these were at varying degrees of success or utter failure. White is the most sophisticated in creating the notion of "other," but the Aborigine never goes beyond the image in 19th Century Australian society. So, I have come to White by way of post-colonial discourse and not my how others traditionally discover him. I suppose I do think it is a shame he isn't discussed more in America. Maybe for too long though we harped on Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer that we left out everyone else. Only in the last two or three decades has there been a real focus on writers like Aphra Behn. Yup, surprise there were women writers even back then :-)

Very nice. One of my readers on my M.A. thesis was a specialist in Caribbean lit. I am more Antipodes and South Pacific though.

Sounds nice. Your area and mine would mix rather well except most of my work is neither Arabic or American. Good luck on your news this week. I am pretty nervous. I have one unfunded acceptance and two waitlists and then another school that hasn't said anything so far.

I was just curious Thunderpaws what your area of interest entails in terms of literary research or if there are any post-colonial/modern British people out there.

I am one of those weird Australian literature people who apart from visiting Australia a couple of times is a red, white, and blue yank. So, I want to specialize in Nobel laureate Patrick White. Even though he won the Nobel (in 1973) and is the most recognized author from Australia with the possible exception of Nevil Shute (pulp), he is still virtually undiscussed in America. There is an American Australian studies society that publishes a journal called Antipodes and has a bi-annual conference and two universities house Australian Studies Centers (UT Austin and Georgetown), but few people in the rest of mainstream academia care about literature from the Antipodes. Even UT Austin and Georgetown's ASC house works and there is no research going on. Specializing in just White might limit me since I also love Indigenous life-narraitves and my thesis used whiteness to discuss white male writers' depiction of Aborigines. So, even just White is short of what I really want to do. But, I am worried about 1) finding a supervisor and 2) finding a job after my Ph.D. since no American university has any Australian lit program. I guess the trick is to market it as commonwealth? postcolonial? I want to teach British lit surveys and then be able to teach special topics in commonwealth or postcolonial texts. I am just confused how to present myself. What am I to do?

Add East TN State University

I recently was notified by one of the schools I applied to that I am waitlisted and pretty sure that I am waitlisted at another due to my correspondance with the graduate secretary concerning offers already made and for me not to lose hope. I have chosen not to hassle them anymore and just let what happens happen. I did send a quick email to the grad coordinator from the one school that waitlisted for sure that I am still interested and thanks for letting me know. My question is does anyone know any stats from Western Michigan or Southern Illinois on people who were waitlisted in their English departments? I am applying to the Ph.D. program for fall 2012. I am getting nervous because last year I wasnt accept anywhere and this year I have had three rejections, an offer with no funding, these two waitlists, and then another school who hasn't said anything yet. Please give me any advice you can. Thanks.

I am currently waitlisted at Western Michigan and Southern Illinois. Does anyone know how often they go to their waitlist, people they accept each year with funding, or anything like that..... I am freaking out.

I think if you are doing your M.A. then you should consider ETSU. It is still southern, but in the mountains and Johnson City is pretty progressive considering. The department is also very liberal and opening. What is your specialty?

Oh, I would suggest that if you are in the M.A. program then there is not a bigger issue as the Ph.D. You could get a better education at East Tennessee State's Masters program in my opinion though.

I got accepted to their Ph.D. program, but with no funding. I can tell you that East Tennessee State University where I did my undergrad and M.A. did a job search a while back and the chair said not to look at any from MTSU. The issue is that the program is too new. Therefore, you would have bigger issues than we humanities folks already have when looking for work after you earn your degree. I cannot say anything about the program only that it used to be more pop lit, but the writing sample thing was bizarre. I did send a writing sample, but I doubt anyone actually read it.

I recently was notified by one of the schools I applied to that I am waitlisted and pretty sure that I am waitlisted at another due to my correspondance with the graduate secretary concerning offers already made and for me not to lose hope. I have chosen not to hassle them anymore and just let what happens happen. I did send a quick email to the grad coordinator from the one school that waitlisted for sure that I am still interested and thanks for letting me know. My question is does anyone know any stats from Western Michigan or Southern Illinois on people who were waitlisted in their English departments? I am applying to the Ph.D. program for fall 2012. I am getting nervous because last year I wasnt accept anywhere and this year I have had three rejections, an offer with no funding, these two waitlists, and then another school who hasn't said anything yet. Please give me any advice you can. Thanks.