anthropologeist

I found this old thread after going through the same predicament. I'd like to say that in some of the Ivy schools you'll be able to nurture your interests in continental philosophy (someone from Columbia recently wrote her dissertation on Hegel and got a job...), but have you seen the actual course lists at those schools? They are pretty barren for your interests in the philosophers mentioned above. You have to remember that grad school is what "disciplines" you and significantly shapes your interests (you don't want to constantly be struggling to learn what you want to learn). Continental philosophy is pushed aside at the Ivies/top schools generally because philosophy programs are not the place to do critical theory in the United States. You should consider the placement of the "un-prestigious" schools you mention above. I'd say a good deal of them (particularly Emory, Stony Brook, Vandy, etc.) got tenure-track positions. At the end of the day, the difference between the types of programs is much more stark than what you're making it seem.

Hi all, I have recently decided to apply to MA programs in philosophy. Although applications are far away (I will be applying for fall 2013), I am now researching on what programs offer funding for the MA. I understand that there are probably very few programs that fit into "funded" and "continental," especially in the US (though Canadian and UK universities are on the list too). There are some threads on here that discuss one or the other but not their intersection. Secondly, I want to ask about the very necessity of obtaining an MA degree for my circumstance. I am switching disciplines into philosophy from anthropology. My UG university's philosophy program was strictly in the analytic tradition (so no Hegel, Heidegger, Marx, etc.). However I managed to read a significant deal of philosophical texts in my other courses. Should I only apply to MA programs to get a "philosophy" degree, or should I take the risk of applying to continental-based PhD programs and explain this situation? It seems that a great deal of PhD students at continental programs came from the same continental-based universities, so I wonder how easy it is to break into the discipline given the circumstances. If it makes a difference, I attended a very highly-ranked UG university and obtained a near-perfect GPA (of course, in non-"philosophy" courses). Thanks!

Hi all, just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for looking into programs that have strong economic history tracks and a strong emphasis on Marxian interpretation/theory. Thanks in advance!

How much does work experience matter for admissions to Comp Lit/English/Theory programs? And no, I'm not talking about fellowships or research experience.

Hi all, Quick question about getting an excerpt of my senior undergraduate thesis published -- what are some good, serious publications I can send a piece to? Preferably, I would send it in to one that would be open for submissions from those who have just graduated. My thesis involved Latin America, water, and engineering. Thanks for any insight!

Pro-tip: if you can't fit everything and ultimately decide to part ways with some of your books, don't 'toss them.' Instead, you can donate them to a number of organizations, or maybe sell them.

I've been reading a huge random mess of theory since the start of the summer. Nothing of particular coherence, though a number of the texts speak to each other: Already Read: Queer Phenomenology - Sara Ahmed A user’s guide to Capitalism and Schizophrenia - Brian Massumi When Species Meet - Donna Haraway Of Grammatology [excerpts] - Jacques Derrida Gender Trouble - Judith Butler Dialectic of Enlightenment - Max Horkheimer and Theodore W. Adorno Anti-Oedipus [excerpts] - Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari The Genealogy of Morality - Friedrich Nietzsche Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche Black Skin, White Masks - Frantz Fanon Assuming a Body - Gayle Salamon The Sublime Object of Ideology - Slavoj Zizek The Politics of Aesthetics - Jacques Rancière Orientalism [in process] - Edward Said Next to Read: Empire - Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri Marxism and Literature - Raymond Williams Bodies that Matter - Judith Butler …and a shelf of used Amazon books more.

Thanks Hank!

Thanks!

Thanks to those who responded thus far! I will get in contact with the department to ask about their use of "literature" -- after more research, tons of their classes in comp lit and German/French look fascinating. Sigh, the confusions of an applicant.

Dear all, I recently graduated with a degree in anthropology, but I found its disciplinary boundaries/emphasis on ethnography/knowledge production through fieldwork to be unappealing for my graduate research. I am interested in ontology, epistemology, and technologies of the body. My ideal program would contain elements of continental philosophy and critical theory. Thus far, I have found that a number of interdisciplinary programs, including Stanford's MTL, Berkeley's Rhetoric, Duke's literature, and so on, match my interests fairly well. However, I am also curious about programs in philosophy that have strong continental tracks (I found some resources online but would love to get your opinions). I understand that most programs in the U.S. have strong analytic traditions, which I would not be interested in. Any thoughts or insights would be great. Thanks!

Dear all, I recently graduated with a degree in anthropology, but I found its disciplinary boundaries/emphasis on ethnography/knowledge production through fieldwork to be unappealing for my graduate research. I am interested in ontology, epistemology, and technologies of the body. My ideal program would contain elements of continental philosophy and critical theory. I am applying to Stanford's MTL, Berkeley's Rhetoric, perhaps Duke's literature, UCI's Culture and Society -- you get the picture. I may also apply for philosophy programs that are strong in continental philosophy (but haven't found many; any suggestions would be useful). The problem for me with Stanford's MTL program is that I am uninterested in "literature." By this, I mean that I don't want to spend my graduate years studying authors of fiction. From what I understand, Stanford's MTL program requires about half of the course load to be in literature. However, to complicate things, I heard that "theory" courses count for the "literature" requirements. Do any of you know more about this "literature" requirement? I understand that "literature" can mean a number of things depending on the program (see Duke). Any insights would be wonderful.