[Comp lit] What are some "theory focus" programs?

[whatislife69]

My fellow comparatists: as we search for or trying to decide which program to apply/ attend, can someone comment on which programs tend to be more theory focus (rather than literature focus)? I know that this is not black and white, but I am curious to know what everyone thinks. 

 

[Crow T. Robot]

The two that immediately come to mind are Duke Literature and Minnesota Comp Lit (or CSDS; there's really no difference between CSDS and Comp Lit at Minnesota). Both excellent programs with top faculty and explicit theory focuses. Minnesota Comp Lit is a seriously exciting program; I loved almost everything about it when I visited this year.

[bobochicken]

@Crow T. Robot I've just been accepted to the CSDS Program - how do you think this program fares in placing candidates to the job market? Is it considered a top program? I have not received an MA yet, and don't know if I should accept this offer or UChicago's MAPH offer with half tuition off....

[whatislife69]

I am not qualify to give any advice, but I would go for the cheaper one... can always transfer, worse to worse

[immanentfields]

Northwestern has a heavy theory focus, and Penn's program is literally called "Comparative Literature and Literary Theory," so think about those too.

[Crow T. Robot]

22 hours ago, bobochicken said:

@Crow T. Robot I've just been accepted to the CSDS Program - how do you think this program fares in placing candidates to the job market? Is it considered a top program? I have not received an MA yet, and don't know if I should accept this offer or UChicago's MAPH offer with half tuition off....

Hey @bobochicken, the CSCL people gave me a spreadsheet of recent placements for both CSDS and Comp Lit grads when I visited. It was very impressive. Ivy postdocs and R1 tenure track positions were in there. I don't know if I still have it but I'll see if I can dig it up.

I would very strongly advise against doing the Chicago MAPH. From what I can tell, it doesn't really give you much of a placement advantage for future PhD apps. You're also rushed through the program in a year and from my understanding (admittedly hearsay, but this reputation is out there) this makes it harder to forge the meaningful faculty relationships you'd want to have with an eye toward getting recommenders for a future round of PhD apps. And you're paying for an MA on top of that, and in an expensive city, none of which is ideal. CSDS is a top program with excellent faculty and grad stfdents and, if you're cool with living in the Midwest, I think it would be an incredible experience.

The only reason I'd consider doing the MAPH over CSDS is if you absolutely had your heart set on another interdisciplinary PhD program and wanted to use the year to strengthen your app, though even then I don't know how much value the MAPH would have.

[Crow T. Robot]

Oh, and congrats on the acceptance, @bobochicken!!!!

[Glasperlenspieler]

6 hours ago, Crow T. Robot said:

The only reason I'd consider doing the MAPH over CSDS is if you absolutely had your heart set on another interdisciplinary PhD program and wanted to use the year to strengthen your app, though even then I don't know how much value the MAPH would have.

Yeah, I'd second the latter half of this. If for one reason or another you don't like CSDS, then I think you're better off taking a year off than doing the MAPH. (I have no knowledge of CSDS, so I can't speak to that. But from what Crow T. Robot has to say, it sounds like a solid program.)

[bobochicken]

@Crow T. Robot@Glasperlenspieler Thanks for the advice...just to give you some context, I'm actually leaning towards film and media studies. How does CSDS far on that front? You can see why UChicago is really appealing because it has some of the biggest names and best scholars out there in Film and Media Studies. If I go into the MAPH program, I'll probably stick around a second year to polish my secondary languages with 90% tuition off. If I'm going to CSDS, I'm going straight from BA. Are you straight from undergraduate as well? What is your experience with fellow applicants/graduate students who went to a PhD program straight after undergrad?

[Crow T. Robot]

@bobochicken for sure, Chicago is obviously a kickass institution with many incredible faculty in your area. I think the question would be how closely you'd actually get to work with them as an MAPH student, and whether that degree of proximity + the opportunity to hone your research agenda are worth the cost. If there are people in your network who did the MAPH or knew people who did it, I'd reach out to get their impressions on that especially. Reading about the MAPH and recent award-winning theses from it, I am suspicious of the advisor/"preceptor" split on thesis panels... the fact that all the comments/endorsements on the award-winning theses are from the advanced-PhD-level "preceptors" rather than the actual faculty advisors raises a big red flag for me about the faculty's involvement in your work in that program. But again, this is all speculation from the outside, though somewhat fueled by what I've heard from others.

I did my MA in English last year and am working full time this year. For me, I don't think I would have been accepted to CSDS (I applied CSDS and was accepted to Comp Lit this season) or other PhD programs like it right out of undergrad. Out of UG, I had a vague, unconnected mess of research interests that I really needed the extra year (I did a 4+1 program at my undergrad school) to spin together into a coherent project. I was able to forge some great--hopefully lifelong--relationships with faculty and colleagues in my 4+1 program, but I'm not sure how similar my program is to the MAPH. My program was concentrated in one department and was tiny--both in terms of my cohort and the number of faculty in the department. I think that departmental coziness and the huge amount of faculty interaction that allowed was probably the most important part of my MA program--it was in an independent study with one professor and a series of drop-in conversations with another (stemming from a class of hers I'd taken) that I really started working out all the ideas that I think I'll be working through in my PhD program.

On the other hand, you've already gotten a CSDS acceptance, so your research interests are already coherent, exciting, and (to use the word from the CSCL acceptance letter) engaged. To me the value of an MA is getting your interests up to that level, and you're already there.

The whole CSCL department, especially the CSDS track, struck me as essentially a media studies department with strengths in theory and literature--I actually think they are the center of all things film studies at UMN if I'm not mistaken. Almost all the grad students I talked with there were doing media-centric projects--some music, many film, etc. Obviously I am laying it on thick for CSDS and have much more experience with that program than the MAPH--I'd be really curious to hear from someone on the boards who did the MAPH.

[nichts]

My mentor (who headed admissions for a top public R1 university) said that while there are many excellent students coming from the MAPH, the degree says more about your financial situation than intellectual prowess. That isn't to say students coming from the MAPH don't get accepted to PhD programs, but I'm afraid its reputation may get in the way. CSDS is a great program though, and there's nothing unusual about going straight from undergrad to PhD. Good luck.