2019 Applicants

[Sav]

I briefly discussed my teaching experience. However, I was told by an advisor that since they aren’t “hiring” you to be a teacher, you should emphasize your research. 

On the other hand, when I applied to Oregon, I had to submit past syllabi, student evaluations, a letter of rec from a professor who had observed my teaching, and an essay on teaching. Definitely took me by surprise. 

[pdh12]

i’ve gotten the vibe that adcoms are looking for the candidate who will bring something scholarly fresh to the discipline, a quality  they prioritize over teaching ability...

[Bopie5]

2 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

i’ve gotten the vibe that adcoms are looking for the candidate who will bring something scholarly fresh to the discipline, a quality  they prioritize over teaching ability...

I've gotten this vibe too. My advisors told me to highlight my teaching experience more in my CV and then mention it briefly in my SoP.

[havemybloodchild]

And my professors told me to highlight my TA experience and sell my desire to not only research but also to teach.

Fml this process would be hilarious if I wasn’t utterly invested in the result.

[sad_diamond]

Our trash society generally thinks the ability to teach is worthless so I feel like a lot of it comes down the question of whether the ppl on an adcom share that view or reject it. You would think in an education system a lot of people would value pedagogy but unfortunately I don't think that's the case.

Edited January 8, 2019 by sad_diamond

[Bopie5]

6 minutes ago, kendalldinniene said:

Fml this process would be hilarious if I wasn’t utterly invested in the result.

REAL.

Tbh, since we've all been spending more time talking on here, I've gotten increasingly invested in all of your decisions as well as mine! I can't wait to see where all of you end up, and it's fun to think that maybe some of us would end up in the same programs!

[lyonel_]

I went all in on research in my SOP, since in my first draft I tried to include teaching experience and a conference presentation ALONG with my research experience and goals– it was an absolute mess... 

22 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

i’ve gotten the vibe that adcoms are looking for the candidate who will bring something scholarly fresh to the discipline, a quality  they prioritize over teaching ability...

I have gotten the same vibe as I've talked with professors and alumni in PhD programs, especially in humanities programs like the Ivies, U Chicago, UT Austin, etc. 

[placeinspace]

I know WSU actually asks you to emphasize teaching, which in hindsight I don't think I did enough of. It's definitely a mess of a process. Most of it is down to things outside of our control, or at least that's what I'm telling myself. I did everything I could and now it's not up to me.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[pdh12]

For those that emphasized their teaching prowess, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing—your weiting samples will speak for themselves! But yea, the jist behind it is that they want illustrious alum publishing dazzling books—publication tallies are humanities dept’s bread and butter. 

meanwhile, helllls yes, I’m so invested in everyone’s fates now! And i’m sure it’s inevitable that we’ll run into each other at future conferences, or already have—it’s a surprisingly small niche we’re carving 

[Bopie5]

Ooo, I have a fun question (well, to me it's fun...)

What's everyone researching right now? What thesis/paper/article are you currently writing? 

[pdh12]

@Bopie5 love this Q (don’t lemme interrupt)—just wanted to ask if anyone just got that horrifying mistake-email from UMich just now?!?!? The admin sent it to “the wrong list”...so I’m on a list tho?!?! WHICH LIST?!?!?

[placeinspace]

7 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

@Bopie5 love this Q (don’t lemme interrupt)—just wanted to ask if anyone just got that horrifying mistake-email from UMich just now?!?!? The admin sent it to “the wrong list”...so I’m on a list tho?!?! WHICH LIST?!?!?

I did not get an email from them, so we are apparently on different lists!

[pdh12]

I straight up just asked which list, if it reaps a harvest i’ll share!

[Sav]

48 minutes ago, pdh12 said:

@Bopie5 love this Q (don’t lemme interrupt)—just wanted to ask if anyone just got that horrifying mistake-email from UMich just now?!?!? The admin sent it to “the wrong list”...so I’m on a list tho?!?! WHICH LIST?!?!?

What did the email say?!

[Bopie5]

1 hour ago, placeinspace said:

I did not get an email from them, so we are apparently on different lists!

I also didn't get an email, and I echo @Sav's question!!! What did it say!? 

@pdh12 I see in your bio that you're Comp Lit, was the email specifically Comp Lit related?

[CatBowl]

@Sav Yes! The teaching part of Oregon's app took me by surprise too. 

But yes, I feel pretty good about mentioning my teaching experience but not doting on it for too long in my SOP. Research is my priority and I hope adcomm members see it that way too. 

I haven't posted much lately (or really, much at all), but I am so excited to see where everyone ends up also! 

[Musmatatus]

Yikes, it's possible that I talked too much about teaching then ? Oh well, we'll see what happens! 

Also add me to the list of people who are very interested in the contents of the email--I didn't get anything from them though. 

[Matthew3957]

@Bopie5 I am working on a paper about human-controlled climates/ climate disasters in early film (Deluge, maybe Metropolis, I am trying to find other films). Jennifer Fay has a good book which covers a lot of this. I am also trying to read a lot about how early films were made as the mechanics of this is mostly what I want to discuss. How does this control of weather mirror the Anthropocene control of climates. This is the last paper I have before I write my thesis sooooooo I wanna get it done...

[Bopie5]

1 minute ago, Matthew3957 said:

I am working on a paper about human-controlled climates/ climate disasters in early film

Wow, that's so interesting! I like the layering going on with the mechanics of the creation of film, as well as the depiction of climate disasters in film, and the creation/controlling of climates in film. Sounds fascinating!

[Musmatatus]

I can't say I'm actively working on anything right now! Since I graduated in June, I've been trying to read up on visual culture since that's a developing interest. Otherwise, I've been indulging in some leisure reading. 

What about you, @Bopie5?

[Bopie5]

Just now, sugilite said:

What about you, @Bopie5?

Currently working on a senior research thesis exploring the positioning of bodies in the moral universes of the films of the Disney Renaissance! Basically, investigating what kinds of bodies are depicted as "good" or "evil," and patterns of associations of "evil bodies" with marginalized identities (read: the villains' bodies often deviate from a white cisheteropatriarchal ideal, while the heroes' bodies prop up that ideal). Second main line of inquiry is the difference between antagonists and villains in the films, and whether such patterns of intersectional marginality also crop up in characters who are antagonists without being "evil." 

It's a lot, but I'm having a ton of fun, and it's always nice to go home and be like, yeah, tonight I'm watching The Little Mermaid for research haha!

[Musmatatus]

7 minutes ago, Bopie5 said:

Currently working on a senior research thesis exploring the positioning of bodies in the moral universes of the films of the Disney Renaissance! Basically, investigating what kinds of bodies are depicted as "good" or "evil," and patterns of associations of "evil bodies" with marginalized identities (read: the villains' bodies often deviate from a white cisheteropatriarchal ideal, while the heroes' bodies prop up that ideal). Second main line of inquiry is the difference between antagonists and villains in the films, and whether such patterns of intersectional marginality also crop up in characters who are antagonists without being "evil." 

It's a lot, but I'm having a ton of fun, and it's always nice to go home and be like, yeah, tonight I'm watching The Little Mermaid for research haha!

That does sound super fun! I took a class that touched on conspiracy theories, and our professor mentioned that there's apparently some conspiracy theory about Disney pushing a homosexual agenda in their movies? Maybe these people would benefit from reading your finished product!

[illcounsel]

11 minutes ago, Bopie5 said:

tonight I'm watching The Little Mermaid for research haha!

I love when research involves watching/ reading content typically seen as non-academic. When I was revising my undergrad thesis for applications I watched Brokeback Mountain and God's Own Country many times. Opening up our critical mind to sources outside of journals and scholarly books is so fun and rewarding!

[dilby]

No research projects for me as well, since I'm not at an academic institution right now. So I'm catching up with all of the major 2018 film releases on my watchlist and working on my goal of finishing all of Shakespeare's plays before starting grad school. 14 to go.  

[havemybloodchild]

2 hours ago, Bopie5 said:

Ooo, I have a fun question (well, to me it's fun...)

What's everyone researching right now? What thesis/paper/article are you currently writing? 

I’m out of school but working on an article about the potential benefit of teaching Disability Poetics in increasingly inclusive classrooms. Submitting it to the Fall edition of the Oregon English Journal.

I’m also reworking a paper on vegetarianism and celibacy as revolutionary tools in the Victorian Era. The professor I wrote it for thinks it could be a good candidate for publication in an undergrad journal. Not sure how that’s going to work but I love the paper and editing it.

I’m also doing some creative writing, including a fantasy novel and a revision of Oedipus which centers around Jocasta and is set in the 1980s.