James Franco got into Yale's PhD program??

[Watmeworry]

I am deeply offended by his presence at Yale in a "stringent" PhD program. How can he possibly host the Oscars, act and fully commit to study. What happens when he starts to teach? Does he just put in a sub? With places so hard won, I just makes me angry, because I'm sure if they asked me if I intended to moonlight in a second profession I would be instantly dismissed as a candidate.

Edited February 28, 2011 by Watmeworry

[Watmeworry]

I just saw that he took his MFA at Columbia and this does impact other students, because it is often competitive to get into good classes. Is this the same at Yale?

Also for those who are seriously invested to have someone in a seminar that isn't on point and ready to go is really exasperating.

Okay so he is JF, but in the end it devalues the program's credibility. "It can't be that hard if you can make movies and still go to school", forget about the promotional tours.

[Lise]

http://chronicle.com/article/JamesFrancoFacts/126537/

[wild_rose]

He's Houston-bound 2012!

http://www.chron.com....com+--+Life%29

Edited April 22, 2011 by wild_rose

[lyonessrampant]

So what's he doing at Yale then? Why would he go from Yale's Ph.D. to U of Houston? Or maybe he's already completed the Yale Ph.D. and wanted to add on another one from U of Houston. . .whatever. I find him annoying.

[Vertigo23]

So what's he doing at Yale then? Why would he go from Yale's Ph.D. to U of Houston? Or maybe he's already completed the Yale Ph.D. and wanted to add on another one from U of Houston. . .whatever. I find him annoying.

Houston has the top ranked PhD in Creative Writing.

[jakebarnes]

What a joke. The fact that Yale allowed him to enroll in a second PhD program at another university just shows that his acceptance was a publicity stunt, and that they don't expect him to actually complete a dissertation.

[wild_rose]

I don't know what to think, except that he must have some awesome never-needs-to-sleep genes. Or maybe he's a Cylon.

[lyonessrampant]

Cylon! LOL! I think you're right. I wasn't saying the above to criticize U of Houston, just to point out the needlessness of going from one place where he is supposedly doing a Ph.D. and apparently close to finishing to another place to do another Ph.D. in the same thing.

[chaussettes]

The fact that Yale allowed him to enroll in a second PhD program at another university just shows that his acceptance was a publicity stunt

I will play the devil's advocate here and say that this isn't necessarily true. I do know of someone who is simultaneously enrolled in two PhD programs (working in different subfields of the same discipline, i.e. he is getting the same degree twice but specializing in something different in each one), at universities much farther away from each other than Yale and Houston, with the expectation that he will fulfill all the requirements for both programs. Not saying that this applies to Franco's case, but it does happen.

Edited April 22, 2011 by chaussettes

[Vertigo23]

I wasn't saying the above to criticize U of Houston, just to point out the needlessness of going from one place where he is supposedly doing a Ph.D. and apparently close to finishing to another place to do another Ph.D. in the same thing.

I didn't mean to imply that you were dissing Houston, but I did want to point out that they are two different degrees--English at Yale and Literature and Creative Writing at Houston--which is why he apparently wants both. Needless to say, this is an embarrassment to both programs and English graduate study in general. His book of short stories, for example, reads like it was written by a stoned 8th-grader. My girlfriend will be attending Houston, so this suddenly hit me closer to home.

[runonsentence]

Oh, James Franco. He had our department in a tizzy when he applied to our PhD in creative writing. Didn't ask for funding, but he still would have had to teach at least one comp course to finish out his degree requirements.

[lyonessrampant]

I didn't mean to imply that you were dissing Houston, but I did want to point out that they are two different degrees--English at Yale and Literature and Creative Writing at Houston--which is why he apparently wants both. Needless to say, this is an embarrassment to both programs and English graduate study in general. His book of short stories, for example, reads like it was written by a stoned 8th-grader. My girlfriend will be attending Houston, so this suddenly hit me closer to home.

Oh, I get it now. I thought it was the same degree. Either way, I still think he's lame. I guess programs accept him because he funds it himself and it might be good PR?!

[apieceofroastbeef]

So what if they aren't the same degree? I know of professors who teach creative writing courses with doctorates in English/Literature, especially if they've proven that they are authors. It seems like he is trying to buy his way into the fields by getting degrees from schools who won't refuse him admittance instead of becoming a scholar on his own after earning a more than adequate degree from Yale. What is he going to do after collecting an MFA, a PhD in English and a PhD in Creative Writing? Apply for a PhD in Film Studies?

At any rate, one has to admit that double enrolling in doctoral programs and probably not being residential in either one requires exceptions that the average graduate student would not get.

/end bitter rant.

[woolfie]

So what if they aren't the same degree? I know of professors who teach creative writing courses with doctorates in English/Literature, especially if they've proven that they are authors. It seems like he is trying to buy his way into the fields by getting degrees from schools who won't refuse him admittance instead of becoming a scholar on his own after earning a more than adequate degree from Yale. What is he going to do after collecting an MFA, a PhD in English and a PhD in Creative Writing? Apply for a PhD in Film Studies?

At any rate, one has to admit that double enrolling in doctoral programs and probably not being residential in either one requires exceptions that the average graduate student would not get.

/end bitter rant.

The bitter cynic in me agrees with you. But then again... when I see billionaire celebrities spending their money on plastering themselves with designer names and houses on every continent, it's refreshing to see someone who uses his money to better himself. If he was taking funding away from someone else to do this, then it would be unethical. But he's paying his way to spend his time learning and being immersed in an academic community. While we who are trying to start careers see it as somewhat superficial, I wish more people would spend their money on reading, writing, and critical thinking as what one does in their free time and on a whim like this guy does, even if it's obviously not going anywhere. He doesn't have to go anywhere, he's set.