Looking For The Right 'Fit'

[Prophecies]

Hey,

New here. 

I'm currently in my last year of a B.A in Australia (2 semesters to go!) and would like to apply for study in North America (Ph.D. in English Literature). However, I don't know what schools to apply to. My primary interests are 20th century British & North American literature, with a special focus on how the Cold War and post-World War II landscape is perceived through speculative fiction (in particular, science fiction- alternative history and dystopias). I've always had an interest in warfare, politics and international relations. My second major is Modern History, after all. Secondary literary interests are modernism versus postmodernism; banned & controversial literature, film, individualism, the role of children in fiction, and trauma.

If I do go down a Ph.D. route- I'd want to study novels, films, poetry, graphic novels, and radio plays. Ideally, a graduate program would support those interests. I can imagine discussing the politics of Ayn Rand, Margaret Atwood, or George Orwell.

The problem is that a lot of interesting work in science fiction is done in the UK- where it's impossible for me to get funding or assistantships. There's the University of Kansas- but I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket. I'm looking for recommendations of other schools that could potentially be a good 'fit' for me- or ways I could find a good school myself. I guess I feel overwhelmed, as a potential international student- there are so many universities to research. If anyone has tips on how to simplify this process, please tell me! 

As I haven't finished my degree and Australia has different grading- I won't post my GPA. I haven't sat the GRE either (aiming for a September exam). If anyone has any school recommendations- please let me know. It doesn't matter what they are ranked, if you believe they are reputable I'd appreciate it.

I want to start my preparation for the postgraduate study, but I have no clue where to start. 

Thanks for any help.

[gloriagilbert]

You might want to look into UC Davis--I know someone there (grad student, but seems to suggest there are faculty members to support such interests) who focuses on sci-fi/speculative fiction. Hopefully others can add to this list!

Edited February 25, 2019 by gloriagilbert

[jillcicle]

4 hours ago, gloriagilbert said:

You might want to look into UC Davis--I know someone there (grad student, but seems to suggest there are faculty members to support such interests) who focuses on sci-fi/speculative fiction. Hopefully others can add to this list!

Check out Colin Milburn at UCD Also, a couple people in the department do childhood in fiction and there are some great Amer. lit/modernists in general. That was my undergrad department and it sounds like a very good fit for those interests IMO!

DGS at UNC Chapel Hill also just mentioned to me that their rare books collection includes some little known 19th-c. sci-fi, and a quick departmental search shows quite a few fac members with sci-fi research interests. They're probably worth looking into as well.

You're going to need to dive into research and read works that align with your interests. (Articles will be easier due to brevity, and lucky for you since you're still in undergrad you have institutional database access!) Then flip to the bibliography and write down all the names they're citing. You should see some people coming up again and again. Track them down and figure out where they are - that's the best way to start finding POIs. (It will be frustrating, as some will be retired, and there will be a few in a geographic location that you're just not able to go - conversely, my problem in medievalism studies is how many of the big names are in Australia! But there will also be some new names in locations that suit you.) If there are researchers doing things that intrigue you who aren't currently affiliated with an institution that you want to attend, also look at where they did their PhDs as a possible option.

Something else to look for as preparatory research/reading is if there's an anthology or overview of your subfield. Ie for me there was "Medievalism: A Critical History". In a work like this, the top names have been carefully selected to each give an overview of one foundational or cutting-edge approach to your subfield, so it's done some of the work for you.

Bonus, once you've read these articles you'll be better prepared to write an SoP that demonstrates an awareness of and engagement with the current field AND to do the ever-important name-dropping in the case of interview etc.

Edited February 25, 2019 by jillcicle
incoherent/hadn't had coffee yet when typing

[mandelbulb]

john kessel works in the english department at north carolina state. stephen graham jones works at uc boulder. shelley streeby is at ucsd. patrick jagoda studies sci-fi at uchicago, petra kuppers at umichigan, but i’m not sure how often they take students who narrowly define sci-fi as their focus. these are who i remember off the top of my head, but i’m sure there’s more. 

[Prophecies]

On 2/26/2019 at 12:54 AM, gloriagilbert said:

You might want to look into UC Davis--I know someone there (grad student, but seems to suggest there are faculty members to support such interests) who focuses on sci-fi/speculative fiction. Hopefully others can add to this list!

UC Davis is on the list! Had a bit of a dig around, and I think they show potential. As I'm quite new to the graduate process- I still have to learn what makes a good fit. For instance, I've looked at the University of Chicago (yes, I'm a Sydney-sider who loves cold weather!) and they have 2-3 faculty members that would be awesome to work with. However, I could only find one graduate student who is doing work in speculative fiction (but I could find plenty who were interested in trauma and warfare). 

So far my list is small: UC Davis, UC Boulder & Chicago. There's a lecturer at my current university who does awesome work in graphic novels, (post) modernism and film so I might ask him for tips on where to apply. 

On 2/26/2019 at 5:15 AM, jillcicle said:

You're going to need to dive into research and read works that align with your interests.

Colin Milburn sounds awesome!

I started doing this today, and thank goodness for institutional access! The library at my university does wonders for me sometimes. There are some anthology and academic journals I can check out- I'm lucky that my fields have emerging research. My goal is to link them all together in a meaningful way and form helpful theories that will assist in analyzing literature. And also: Australia does have awesome medievalists! I took a lecture by one last semester on how medieval history and ideas are expressed through the fantasy genre. I don't attend Sydney University, but gee they have awesome Anglo-Saxon work. It'd be cool if, in the future, you could work with or meet such individuals

There's a professor whose work I'm looking at on Orwell... and the thing is, I don't know if he is willing to supervise or accept students. That's the problem I'm having right now. It's all well and good that UChicago and UC Davis have similar interests to mine, but if none of those professors are on the admission committee or they are not interested in taking on graduate students... what's the point in applying? So what I'm going to do is research a bit further.

On 2/26/2019 at 5:23 AM, mandelbulb said:

john kessel works in the english department at north carolina state. stephen graham jones works at uc boulder. shelley streeby is at ucsd. patrick jagoda studies sci-fi at uchicago, petra kuppers at umichigan, but i’m not sure how often they take students who narrowly define sci-fi as their focus. these are who i remember off the top of my head, but i’m sure there’s more. 

I'll look into North Carolina State and UC SD. 

I wonder... is there such as a thing in the humanities as being 'too narrow' in your interests? It's one thing to say you are interested in 'speculative fiction' and another to say you research 'dystopian worlds and alternative histories.' Likewise, when I say 'politics' a lot of people interpret that to mean Marxism or ecology issues, but really- it's realism, biopolitics, and nationalism that interest me more from an academic standpoint. Anyway, I'm trying to broaden my reading this year so that more interests will develop. 

Thank you to everyone for replying!

[adornianjazz]

Considering your sf interests, you should look into UC Riverside, which is excellent for sf studies. They house the Eaton Collection and offer a designated emphasis in Speculative Fictions and Cultures of Science.

[jillcicle]

On 2/26/2019 at 10:12 PM, Prophecies said:

I wonder... is there such as a thing in the humanities as being 'too narrow' in your interests? It's one thing to say you are interested in 'speculative fiction' and another to say you research 'dystopian worlds and alternative histories.' Likewise, when I say 'politics' a lot of people interpret that to mean Marxism or ecology issues, but really- it's realism, biopolitics, and nationalism that interest me more from an academic standpoint. Anyway, I'm trying to broaden my reading this year so that more interests will develop. 

 

I don't think so at all - I'd be far more worried about too broad of interests as far as admits go because they want you to be able to pitch a specific, innovative research question. But just demonstrate some flexibility in the SoP. Ie, "I'm conscious of the growth and changes my research interests may undergo while I continue my research, and excited to broaden my (whatever)." They know your final dissertation won't be what was in your app, but they want to see that you're able to develop specifics while being flexible enough that you won't go down with a sinking ship when your first pitch doesn't work out.

[mandelbulb]

On 2/26/2019 at 10:12 PM, Prophecies said:

I wonder... is there such as a thing in the humanities as being 'too narrow' in your interests? It's one thing to say you are interested in 'speculative fiction' and another to say you research 'dystopian worlds and alternative histories.' Likewise, when I say 'politics' a lot of people interpret that to mean Marxism or ecology issues, but really- it's realism, biopolitics, and nationalism that interest me more from an academic standpoint. Anyway, I'm trying to broaden my reading this year so that more interests will develop. 

sorry it took me so long to reply to this. what i mean is that "science fiction" or "speculative fiction" does not really fit cleanly into many of the categories or areas adcomms seem to use to sort applicants. you can obviously say you research speculative fiction (or "dystopian worlds and alternative histories"), but i'd say that you should make sure to pair it with something that will ground it in a specific area that will make you look legible to adcomms. just my two cents as someone who studies science fiction and just went through two app seasons feeling a bit like i didn't quite find a way to translate my interests well enough to adcomms.

stephanie burt at harvard also studies science fiction. also really exciting is that UCSD's Shelley Streeby and UCR's Nalo Hopkinson are starting a cross-UC speculative fiction research group i'm really excited for it myself.