18th c. colonial studies

[woolfie]

I realize this is a lazy way of doing research, but I am readying a whole new slew of applications for next year and am reconsidering my focus and pool of schools. I hear that 18th c is not very competitive, most grad students do not enter in that field. What have you heard about that? Are you an 18th c/colonialist? What are some schools that are strong in this area? Right now my list consists of only UVA as far as this specific area.

[Christian O.]

I know it's not the strongest or most "highly ranked" school, but I know U of Delaware is a solid school, especially in 18th century / Colonial American literature.

[woolfie]

I know it's not the strongest or most "highly ranked" school, but I know U of Delaware is a solid school, especially in 18th century / Colonial American literature.

Ooo, well U of Delaware also funds every single terminal MA. They were already on my maybe, so thanks!

[EAL2010]

It's true that early American lit. isn't particularly popular-- that's because a whole different breed than most lit. fields. You're dealing with a lot of non-traditional texts, and working close with history people. It's definitely not for everyone.

That being said, WUSTL has a really nice program as does Duke. And if you're aiming really high-- U Penn. I've heard good things about U of Florida's program as well, but I know they're having a lot of financial problems so the people that are there now might not be in the future.

[divinemg]

Last year, before I began the application process, I was planning to specialize in 18th C. lit...and then it suddenly hit me that I am a Romanticist. That being said, my original list of schools was geared toward those with strengths in 18th C.

My adviser, who specializes in 18th. C. lit/science, helped me craft a list of programs. I'm not sure about colonial literature, specifically, but I do know that Rutgers has one of the strongest programs in 18th century literature. Michael McKeon is there--he was my mentor's dissertation adviser. Additionally, there are a number of other well known scholars at Rutgers.

Also, University of Texas has a reputation for strengths in 18th century lit, as does Vanderbilt. You should *definitely* look into UVA. And possibly U of Maryland? Neil Freistadt is there.

Just a thought--while 18th C. is definitely "underrepresented"(there are less candidates applying in this area), I wouldn't count on it being easier to get into a grad program if you choose this as your concentration. Like Medieval, the numbers are smaller but (at least from my experience) the quality of undergraduate scholarship/applicants in this area is generally good. As a result, there is a high level of competition for spots concentrated in 18th C. lit at institutions like Rutgers and UVA.

Definitely go for it, but don't assume that smaller numbers mean less competition!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Branwen daughter of Llyr]

Last year, before I began the application process, I was planning to specialize in 18th C. lit...and then it suddenly hit me that I am a Romanticist. That being said, my original list of schools was geared toward those with strengths in 18th C.

My adviser, who specializes in 18th. C. lit/science, helped me craft a list of programs. I'm not sure about colonial literature, specifically, but I do know that Rutgers has one of the strongest programs in 18th century literature. Michael McKeon is there--he was my mentor's dissertation adviser. Additionally, there are a number of other well known scholars at Rutgers.

Also, University of Texas has a reputation for strengths in 18th century lit, as does Vanderbilt. You should *definitely* look into UVA. And possibly U of Maryland? Neil Freistadt is there.

Just a thought--while 18th C. is definitely "underrepresented"(there are less candidates applying in this area), I wouldn't count on it being easier to get into a grad program if you choose this as your concentration. Like Medieval, the numbers are smaller but (at least from my experience) the quality of undergraduate scholarship/applicants in this area is generally good. As a result, there is a high level of competition for spots concentrated in 18th C. lit at institutions like Rutgers and UVA.

Definitely go for it, but don't assume that smaller numbers mean less competition!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Indeed - us Medievalists may be small, but we are FIERCE.

@woolfie - do yourself a favor and don't choose a concentration / focus based on competitiveness. Choose one based on your deepest passion. That's what will shine through your application and be your greatest selling point - your passion and dedication for your particular period / genre / author. I actually love the 18th century (on the British side of the pond) - some of the greatest writers that I admire the most wrote during that time (Swift, being one super example), and I'm hoping to take a few classes in renaissance / early modern anyhow to augment my medieval concentration, but what I'm selling on my SOP and writing sample is my deep, unending fascination and love of medieval literature, especially that with Celtic influences. Do a LOT of reading over the next few months and find what makes your belly go flip-flop the most. What makes you want to grab the text and delve deep into it. What fascinates you, what moves you, what you are most interested in.

THAT's what you should concentrate in!!

[EAL2010]

Indeed - us Medievalists may be small, but we are FIERCE.

@woolfie - do yourself a favor and don't choose a concentration / focus based on competitiveness. Choose one based on your deepest passion. That's what will shine through your application and be your greatest selling point - your passion and dedication for your particular period / genre / author. I actually love the 18th century (on the British side of the pond) - some of the greatest writers that I admire the most wrote during that time (Swift, being one super example), and I'm hoping to take a few classes in renaissance / early modern anyhow to augment my medieval concentration, but what I'm selling on my SOP and writing sample is my deep, unending fascination and love of medieval literature, especially that with Celtic influences. Do a LOT of reading over the next few months and find what makes your belly go flip-flop the most. What makes you want to grab the text and delve deep into it. What fascinates you, what moves you, what you are most interested in.

THAT's what you should concentrate in!!

Well said!

[woolfie]

Oh, yeah, I agree. I didn't mean to imply that I was switching for that reason. I have always had 18th c on my list of interests... I've just been trying to rethink my applications and I realized that my interests have been too all over the place and that I need to buckle down and really delve out a niche in my PS and CV in one interest to make my app more cohesive. I realized that it was too much this year, I was trying to go for contemporary cultural studies, internet and science studies, critical theory, language and linguistics, AND 18th cent.

I mostly just wanted to get a feel for the field since I was applying to theory heavy schools and have not thought about 18th c exclusively. But I appreciate the advice! I wholehartedly agree that you shouldn't let things like that affect your research interests. I was just wondering if it would be a nice bonus.

[crutch]

I would also concur with the opinion, expressed above, that it is not an easier field to get into just because fewer 18th-century scholars apply. I'm focusing on 18th century and I have gone 0/12 so far on my applications, with what I would consider a fairly solid application package. I'm obviously getting rejected because of my application package, but I also think it is due, in part, to a lack of departmental faculty depth in 18th-century studies. The benefits of smaller applicant pools could be offset by smaller faculty pools, as departments can't accept students if they have no one to supervise them. Thus, only those 18th-century applicants that are in the very upper echelon can be granted acceptance.

Of course, I could be way off base here, but it seems to make sense.

Edited March 4, 2010 by crutch

[woolfie]

On 3/4/2010 at 8:46 AM, crutch said:

I would also concur with the opinion, expressed above, that it is not an easier field to get into just because fewer 18th-century scholars apply. I'm focusing on 18th century and I have gone 0/12 so far on my applications, with what I would consider a fairly solid application package. I'm obviously getting rejected because of my application package, but I also think it is due, in part, to a lack of departmental faculty depth in 18th-century studies. The benefits of smaller applicant pools could be offset by smaller faculty pools, as departments can't accept students if they have no one to supervise them. Thus, only those 18th-century applicants that are in the very upper echelon can be granted acceptance.

Of course, I could be way off base here, but it seems to make sense.

I think you are right; there are less people but there are also going to be less spots available.

I'm sorry that you are sitting on so many rejections. Looking at your schools though, you really applied to the most competitive schools there are. I would not be down on your applications, these schools are getting crazy amounts of applicants, like in the 600+ range. And I think you are at the mercy of faculty tastes. I keep going back and forth if I should even waste my time of the super competitive schools.

Good luck with your remaining schools! I went to Indiana for undergrad and am from Bloomington, and I love the place. I hope you get in there.

[VictorianTess]

Dr. Bhattacharya at Texas A & M specializes in 18th century colonialism.

[strokeofmidnight]

On 3/3/2010 at 10:19 AM, woolfie said:

I realize this is a lazy way of doing research, but I am readying a whole new slew of applications for next year and am reconsidering my focus and pool of schools. I hear that 18th c is not very competitive, most grad students do not enter in that field. What have you heard about that? Are you an 18th c/colonialist? What are some schools that are strong in this area? Right now my list consists of only UVA as far as this specific area.

I applied as an 18th centuryist and did fairly well. However, as others have already mentioned, just because this is a small field doesn't mean that it's easy to get into. In some programs, I was the only person in my field accepted--and as a general rule, most students who do go for this tend to be better informed and prepared than the average applicant in the broader pool. The comparison to medievalists is apt: there are certain methodologies, topics, etc that seem to be especially conducive to this field...which requires prior training/experience. (My own approach is heavily interdisciplinary, and I draw from my previous training in an entirely different discipline. It would have been very difficult for me to be successful without that prior background).

I don't "do" colonialism at all, so my knowledge is heavily limited. Have you considered programs that are strong in transaltantic? If so, you may want to look at Brown. NYU, Stanford, and Berkeley are traditionally the best programs for 18th century studies in general...though I'm not sure that the approaches at those programs are especially conducive to yours. Berkeley is very interested in philosophy and the novel. NYU's eighteenth centuryists are all over the place (and on both sides of the atlantic), but quite a few are working on questions of medium, history of the book, etc. I have no idea what Stanford is up to nowadays. Rutgers is also QUITE strong at the18th century, but I'm not sure about colonialism. If you're interested in Canadian schools, UofToronto is well worth considering. UCLA might also be a good bet: they're a good program for the 18th century in general, and I've heard good things about their work on poco (not sure if that connects with what you're doing). Columbia is also on my radar for both poco and the 18th century, but I wouldn't know who to refer you to. WUSTL's a very good program for 18th and 19th century novels, as well as poco...but again, colonialism may be a different story.

[paddington5]

I agree with what a lot of the other threads have said: I specialize in British Lit of the "long" eighteenth century (c.a. 1660-1830), and it is true--there are significantly less graduate students who apply to schools with that specialty in mind--Nineteenth Century/Victorian, 20th c./Modernist, and Renaissance/Early Modern are the most (over)populated specialties in lit. programs. That being said, you'd have a significantly lower applicant pool but, as others have stated, your competition is pretty stiff, since most 18th centuryists are notoriously well-read and informed in their field (....it really is an eighteenth-century thing). While many of the areas of specialty have tight communities, the eighteenth-century community is a rather intense one (in the best sense), and as a prospective graduate student in the field there will be certain things you need to demonstrate, both in your statement of purpose (SOP) and writing sample, that the programs to which you apply will expect you to know already.

As for programs, it depends on what type of "fit" you're looking for: if you want to aim for the cream of the crop, UC-Berkeley is currently ranked #1 for 18th century studies. UVA is also on there (I think at #5), and so is UChicago, Stanford, UPenn, WashU, and Indiana (#10). Most of these programs, you'll find, have an intense pool of eighteenth-century applicants. Beyond simply knowing your field, you'll most likely need to demonstrate some deftness in a foreign language (French or German are pretty standard for 18th c.), as well as have some decent work done either at conferences (if you're an MA student) or in your writing sample (BA or MA), if you hope to compete with these other applicants. Not to mention your GRE and subject test scores need to at least hit the 90th percentile (over 660 on Verbal, over 670 on the subject test)--at LEAST. Most exceed 700. On the Canadian side, University of Toronto and McGill (in Montreal) have stellar eighteenth-century programs, but they are basically the cream of the crop in Canada and equally difficult to get into.

If you're looking for really strong programs that aren't necessarily in the top 10, there are several schools that are very highly ranked, and also very competitive, that have excellent eighteenth-century programs: Illinois-Urbana Champaign, UMaryland (College Park), Penn State, WUSTL etc. etc. These programs look for strong GRE scores and previous academic record, but they seem to pay a lot of attention to your writing sample, SOP, and letters of rec.

Then there are, of course, really good programs that aren't exceedingly high ranked (not quite in the top 40) but that are still nationally ranked (top 100) which house really good eighteenth-century scholars: Purdue, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, Auburn, Connecticut, etc. It all depends on what you want to do and who you want to work with.

Either way, my best advice (I can't remember if you really asked for it or not, but here it is) for you is that, if you are considering applying as an eighteenth centuryist, to really pinpoint exactly what makes the field appealing to you (i.e., demonstrate what you know about where eighteenth-century studies has been and where it is now) and what critical questions you'd like to interrogate should you get the opportunity to do graduate study (i.e., demonstrate where you think eighteenth-century studies should go, in your own research, at least). And again, like others have said, don't pick a specialty because there is a seemingly higher demand for it--especially the eighteenth century because, if you don't love it, you'll be thinking "WTF" the entire time you study it. Best of luck, and should you decide to go all the way in 18th c. studies, I'd have to say: welcome to the field!