PhD Search/Specialty

[Izzie2104]

Greetings GradCafe Community, 

So, I am interested in applying in the future for an English PhD Program. I was told that when looking for a specific program, I have to look for faculty who have the same interests as I do (go figure!) However, I have only found two faculty members (U of Texas Austin and U of Washington) who have similar interests as I do. I am interested in Queer and Ethnically diverse Young Adult Fiction, and would like to specialize in this area, but its been hard to find other faculty in other schools who work with these kinds of texts. Any suggestions on how to improve my search fo a professor who works with YA Fiction? 

Secondly, on a sidenote, I have also been told by a professor that I should specialize in British or American, and have YA Fiction as something I have of interest to increase my odds of landing a good academic job (yes, I know how had it is to land tenure.); should I be looking for contemporary American (given that that is where YA fiction would land in) professors when looking for potentials mentors? 

 

Any suggestions would help!

Thanks!

[WildeThing]

I would be less specific in my search. Can you find departments that support Queer lit, Ethnic lit, and YA lit, through an assortment of scholars rather than one that covers all 3? Can you find places that cover at least two?

As for the other question, I think people generally wind up placing themselves within the category their specific interests are in. So someone working on those 3 fields would probably find themselves in 20th/21st American (or Anglophone). In what generalist courses would your specialty be taught?

[AtlasFox]

I second what WildeThing said, and you will more than likely be labeling yourself as 20th and 21st century Americanist.

But I'd also like to add that, when you're researching professors, if you find any that get close to your interests, look at where they got their degrees, and then look at that program's current graduate students. That might help you gauge whether or not a program is supporting the type of work you're wanting to do. 

In my research, I came across Dr. Angel Daniel Matos (https://literature.sdsu.edu/people/bios/matos.html), who works explicitly with Queer YA; however, the program he's teaching at only offers an MA, it looks like. It might be beneficial, though, to look at the University of Notre Dame, since that's where he received his PhD. 

The page I linked also has a link to his academia.edu account, where he's posted PDFs of his syllabi (which look amazing to me, honestly). 

I hope this helps you! I think you and I have similar interests.

[Warelin]

I’d also consider expanding your search outside English. I think your interests could easily fit within either American Culture or Women, Gender and Sexuality programs. I’m not saying that being placed in English is impossible but options might not be as plentiful as considering other fields.

English has a tendency to be able to classify interests based on time periods. Young Adult Fiction is harder to classify because of this. Other fields may have a different way that they classify applicants.  

[mandelbulb]

UC Riverside lists YA and Children's literature under faculty specializations, so a program to look into.

[Glasperlenspieler]

On 7/30/2019 at 6:48 AM, AtlasFox said:

But I'd also like to add that, when you're researching professors, if you find any that get close to your interests, look at where they got their degrees, and then look at that program's current graduate students. That might help you gauge whether or not a program is supporting the type of work you're wanting to do. 

This is great advice! I'd also add: if you find scholars who match your profile, look at both the bibliographies of their articles/books and (what is sometimes even more enlightening) the acknowledgements pages in their books. This is not only a great way to discover relevant scholars who you were not aware of, it also allows you to get a sense of the academic/discourse communities that these scholars are a part of and start thinking about how you see yourself potentially fitting in these networks.