English Lit vs. American Studies

[agunns]

Hi everyone, 

I am gearing up to start my applications for the 2019-2020 cycle. I am primarily applying to English Lit PhD programs. A little background: my research interests are late 19th/early 20th c American lit, queer theory, biopolitics, and futurity. I completed an MA in Humanities at UChicago in 2017; my thesis focused reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" as a biopolitical text and on understanding the body as a site of queer resistance. 

I recently started considering the possibility of an American Studies PhD, especially since my research interests are firmly set in American literature. For instance, the UT-Austin English program is one of my top choices. After doing some research, I realized that there is a great deal of overlap between the American Studies and English depts at UT, and so I'm considering applying to their American Studies program as well. 

I am mostly wondering if anyone is going through a similar situation of applying to English and American Studies programs. Or, is there anyone who applied to both in a previous application cycle? What would your advice be regarding approaching the different programs?

[fortschritt22]

I actually asked a version of this question to one of my POIs at an institution where I was accepted. Their advice to me was:  "as far as American Studies vs. English, it’s much better to get a degree from an English Department rather than an American Studies Department, since there are many times more faculty jobs in English.  That said, an English Ph.D. with an American Studies concentration is optimal for anyone studying American literature and culture, since many American lit jobs want to see someone with interdisciplinary credentials (American Studies particularly).  The book market also privileges interdisciplinary work, since they can pitch it to different fields simultaneously (straight-up literary criticism is much harder to get published these days, as even the academic audience is relatively tiny)." 

[agunns]

12 hours ago, fortschritt22 said:

I actually asked a version of this question to one of my POIs at an institution where I was accepted. Their advice to me was:  "as far as American Studies vs. English, it’s much better to get a degree from an English Department rather than an American Studies Department, since there are many times more faculty jobs in English.  That said, an English Ph.D. with an American Studies concentration is optimal for anyone studying American literature and culture, since many American lit jobs want to see someone with interdisciplinary credentials (American Studies particularly).  The book market also privileges interdisciplinary work, since they can pitch it to different fields simultaneously (straight-up literary criticism is much harder to get published these days, as even the academic audience is relatively tiny)." 

This is good to know! Thanks!