2019 Applicants

[havemybloodchild]

On 5/16/2019 at 8:40 AM, Bopie5 said:

I'm taking Intro to Theory Across the Discipline of English, US Empire and Contemporary American Lit, and What Is Poetry. So excited about all of them honestly.

What is Poetry??? That sounds like it’s going to be awesome!

[Bopie5]

17 hours ago, kendalldinniene said:

What is Poetry??? That sounds like it’s going to be awesome!

RIGHT! I'm soooo excited about that one. Here's a bit of the course description from the Graduate program blog page:

"“I, too, dislike it.” That is how Marianne Moore begins “Poetry,” a poem that then attempts to define the thing it claims to dislike—a distaste that it assumes (“I, too, dislike it”) you share.
This course will, in some sense, follow Moore’s strategy: We’ll begin by confronting our resistance to poetry head-on, asking where such a distaste comes from, and then teasing out the implicit understandings (of poetry, language, our selves) that activate these forms of skepticism. Is there something called “poetic language” that is fundamentally different from “ordinary language”? Where does the idea that poetry, more than any other form of literature, is centrally concerned with (and representative of) consciousness come from? What kinds of poetry does such an idea allow, and what kinds of poetry does it marginalize or obscure? These are some of the questions that will animate our discussions."

It's interesting because I have zero distaste for poetry, but I'm soooo intrigued by the idea of teasing out the implicit assumptions we have about poetry. And Claudia Rankine is on the syllabus!!!
 

[havemybloodchild]

1 hour ago, Bopie5 said:

RIGHT! I'm soooo excited about that one. Here's a bit of the course description from the Graduate program blog page:

"“I, too, dislike it.” That is how Marianne Moore begins “Poetry,” a poem that then attempts to define the thing it claims to dislike—a distaste that it assumes (“I, too, dislike it”) you share.
This course will, in some sense, follow Moore’s strategy: We’ll begin by confronting our resistance to poetry head-on, asking where such a distaste comes from, and then teasing out the implicit understandings (of poetry, language, our selves) that activate these forms of skepticism. Is there something called “poetic language” that is fundamentally different from “ordinary language”? Where does the idea that poetry, more than any other form of literature, is centrally concerned with (and representative of) consciousness come from? What kinds of poetry does such an idea allow, and what kinds of poetry does it marginalize or obscure? These are some of the questions that will animate our discussions."

It's interesting because I have zero distaste for poetry, but I'm soooo intrigued by the idea of teasing out the implicit assumptions we have about poetry. And Claudia Rankine is on the syllabus!!!
 

I have to admit, I’m pretty jealous I can’t take this course. The ideas brought up in that description are fascinating. I love the question about which forms of poetry are marginalized due to our ideas about what poetry is/should be. Enjoy every second!!! I know you will ?

[WildeThing]

3 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said:

I have to admit, I’m pretty jealous I can’t take this course. The ideas brought up in that description are fascinating. I love the question about which forms of poetry are marginalized due to our ideas about what poetry is/should be. Enjoy every second!!! I know you will ?

Wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to do a syllabus/notes sharing deal on here, assuming that sort of thing is allowed (by universities, not sure if course contents are protected).

[Bopie5]

42 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said:

I have to admit, I’m pretty jealous I can’t take this course. The ideas brought up in that description are fascinating. I love the question about which forms of poetry are marginalized due to our ideas about what poetry is/should be. Enjoy every second!!! I know you will ?

Right!? It's such a fascinating way to approach a poetry course, and I'm sure it's going to push me a lot as both a scholar of and writer of poetry! 

 

36 minutes ago, WildeThing said:

Wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to do a syllabus/notes sharing deal on here, assuming that sort of thing is allowed (by universities, not sure if course contents are protected).

I LOVE this idea. If it's allowed, we should definitely look into it. And if explicit notes sharing isn't allowed, I'm sure it would be beneficial even to have each other's Required Texts lists? 

[madandmoonly]

I think my schedule will probably end up being: Topics in Literary Studies (the required 1st yr class), Ecology and Philosophy (!!!), and What is the Contemporary? ?

[illcounsel]

27 minutes ago, madandmoonly said:

Ecology and Philosophy (!!!)

I would love to know what the readings for this class look like !

[mandelbulb]

seems like i'll be taking: the biopolitical enlightenment, carribean poetics, and literary scholarship (the first of a set of required course). i'm pretty excited and terrified, though probably (absolutely) more terrified than excited lol

[jadeisokay]

i actually made it down to hyde park yesterday and i am in looooove with campus. and i signed my lease! so within a week, i won't be on a futon!

[Bopie5]

my undergrad messed up sending my official transcripts on my first try. they FINALLY fixed it and now i can officially register!!! 

[spatial_person]

Three cheers for UT offering the seminar, "Weak Theory." friggin stoked. 

[havemybloodchild]

Just got the nicest email from my historical fiction 1965-present professor welcoming everyone to the seminar and sharing the potential reading list, and asking for feedback/additions. Holy shit I cannot wait to start grad school ?

[illcounsel]

13 hours ago, kendalldinniene said:

Just got the nicest email from my historical fiction 1965-present professor welcoming everyone to the seminar and sharing the potential reading list, and asking for feedback/additions. Holy shit I cannot wait to start grad school ?

It's so awesome that your professor reached out so far ahead of time!!!! That is so exciting. What are some of the highlights of the reading list?

[havemybloodchild]

1 hour ago, illcounsel said:

It's so awesome that your professor reached out so far ahead of time!!!! That is so exciting. What are some of the highlights of the reading list?

Besides how long it is ???? Haha

A couple of my favorite books are on it, including Slaughterhouse-Five and Beloved, as well as a ton of Pynchon. I think I’m going to get a start on it over the summer rereading the books I do have already, for...survival purposes. ?

[illcounsel]

3 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said:

Besides how long it is ???? Haha

 

OmG!!!!!! I've tried to get used to reading 1-3 hours a day in preparation for school. I am sure the amount of reading will still blindside me though!!!!

[havemybloodchild]

2 minutes ago, illcounsel said:

OmG!!!!!! I've tried to get used to reading 1-3 hours a day in preparation for school. I am sure the amount of reading will still blindside me though!!!!

That’s what I should be doing but instead I’m mostly binging Netflix and lounging around because I know I won’t be able to soon. 

[madandmoonly]

The reading list for the What is the Contemporary? course currently looks like this: Teju Cole, Open City; Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis; Mohsin Hamid, Exit West; Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior; Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy; Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being. I haven't read any of these novels before, so that's exciting! And that it's almost all POC!

[Bopie5]

47 minutes ago, madandmoonly said:

The reading list for the What is the Contemporary? course currently looks like this: Teju Cole, Open City; Don DeLillo, Cosmopolis; Mohsin Hamid, Exit West; Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behavior; Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy; Ruth Ozeki, A Tale for the Time Being. I haven't read any of these novels before, so that's exciting! And that it's almost all POC!

Exit West is SO good! I enjoyed it extremely and am reading Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist now. I read Exit West for a course in my undergrad on 21st Century Literatures of Displacement and Refugees and it was one of my favorite texts on the syllabus. 

[havemybloodchild]

Didn’t see imposter syndrome kicking in quite this early, but that professor of mine is asking for feedback on the proposed reading list as well as additions. All of these people have already replied all with great insights and suggestions and I’m like... *crickets*

Do I even grad school, bro?

 

[Bopie5]

Recently my excitement and nervousness about my MA program has displaced itself onto irrational anxiety that I don’t have the right clothes for grad school ? Like what do people wear to class? I’m 100% overthinking it but that doesn’t mean I’m not resorting to retail therapy.

[havemybloodchild]

2 hours ago, Bopie5 said:

2 hours ago, Bopie5 said:

Recently my excitement and nervousness about my MA program has displaced itself onto irrational anxiety that I don’t have the right clothes for grad school ? Like what do people wear to class? I’m 100% overthinking it but that doesn’t mean I’m not resorting to retail therapy.

S A M E

[Bopie5]

@kendalldinniene Right? I also am switching climates so I literally have no idea what even to buy. Just starting to bleed out all my cash now lol

[havemybloodchild]

1 hour ago, Bopie5 said:

@kendalldinniene Right? I also am switching climates so I literally have no idea what even to buy. Just starting to bleed out all my cash now lol

I’ve spent more than I should have buying cotton and linen stuff because it’s so hot in Texas meanwhile I live in Sacramento where it’s hot as balls and my existing wardrobe works just fine ?.

Just wait until I get into my new apartment and start decorating though, haha, talk about major bucks!

[jadeisokay]

it has been 70ish one day here, 50 and storming the next, then wildly fluctuating on a whim the next after that. i have no clue what to wear any given day. and i suppose i need to bug my mom to mail my thermal stuff sooner or later. 

[havemybloodchild]

Just applied for an apartment!