English adjacent Ph.D. programs

[vesperalvioletta]

Hi all,

I'm currently pursuing an MA in English Literature, and the further I get into my program, the more I feel like the constraints of the field might not be right for me. I've been exploring Ph.D. programs trying to get a feel of what sort of program might be a good fit for me, but the thought of having to pigeon-hole myself into either British or American lit just isn't sitting well with me. I'm very interested in interdisciplinary work in fields that are adjacent to English such as film and media studies, popular culture, and women's and gender studies, and I think for me those interests as separate entities outweigh my interest in exploring literature through them as critical lenses. In this case, I'm not even sure what kind of programs to look for. Would an MFA program maybe be a better fit?

I've also considered comparative lit as I have a sub-interest in post-Soviet Russian culture, but again, it's the culture rather than the literature that really speaks to me. I'm also not up to snuff in terms of the language proficiency requirements that most comparative lit programs have, so that feels like another door closed. Slavic Studies aren't particularly en vogue at the moment anyway. 

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you all!

[Cryss]

Do you think you'd still want to be based in Literature for an English PhD, but have the ability to have "minors" or concentrations in something else? Some schools seem to offer actual certificates/minors (in gender studies or film/media etc) that are housed in completely separate departments (meaning you would not only have to explore them as lens through which you see literature). Would that work to satisfy you, or do you just no longer want anything to do with English Literature?

Other Options you can look into:

I think some schools actually have official Interdisciplinary programs

For your Russian interest, maybe a (funded)MA or PhD in Trans-Area studies, or some sort of cultural studies? 

Cornell offers a joint English PhD/MFA. 

[politics 'n prose]

So, speaking as someone with an MFA, I don’t believe an MFA program is going to meet your needs (unless you are primarily interested in pursuing literature from the purview of the writer and not the reader or critic). That said, speaking as someone with an MFA from a university with a large English department who also had the opportunity to take a film studies class, I think you can pretty easily find an English PhD program that will allow for the interdisciplinary study you refer to, particularly if your secondary interests are in naturally complementary fields like film or various kinds of sociopolitical/cultural studies. 

I have similarly varied interests in literature, pop culture, and gender/sexuality studies, and I was able to find a number of programs that seemed like they could accommodate such work (to wit: Carnegie Mellon, Chapel Hill, Chicago, Cornell, Ohio State, Penn State, and Pitt). As noted above, many English departments (especially larger ones and/or ones at larger universities) enjoy close ties with other humanities departments and encourage interdisciplinary study—I might start your search there. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by politics 'n prose

[vesperalvioletta]

1 hour ago, Cryss said:

Do you think you'd still want to be based in Literature for an English PhD, but have the ability to have "minors" or concentrations in something else? Some schools seem to offer actual certificates/minors (in gender studies or film/media etc) that are housed in completely separate departments (meaning you would not only have to explore them as lens through which you see literature). Would that work to satisfy you, or do you just no longer want anything to do with English Literature?

Other Options you can look into:

I think some schools actually have official Interdisciplinary programs

For your Russian interest, maybe a (funded)MA or PhD in Trans-Area studies, or some sort of cultural studies? 

Cornell offers a joint English PhD/MFA. 

I guess I'm just feeling generally disconnected from English Literature right now. I enjoy doing scholarly work and being in the academy, but I don't feel like I fully fit anywhere if that makes sense. I feel like I'm supposed to at least have a sense of my areas of interest by now and I don't, aside from some very broadly conceived concepts. 

[snorkles]

2 hours ago, vesperalvioletta said:

I guess I'm just feeling generally disconnected from English Literature right now. I enjoy doing scholarly work and being in the academy, but I don't feel like I fully fit anywhere if that makes sense. I feel like I'm supposed to at least have a sense of my areas of interest by now and I don't, aside from some very broadly conceived concepts. 

As far as interdisciplinary work, Chicago embraces that approach. Only a few in my cohort are interested in canonical works. One person is interested in new media theory, for example. Others are interested in object studies. Queer theory, affect, gender and sexuality, history of sexuality and biopolitics are all big here too. 

Anywhere you go, you're going to be engaging with texts in a substantial way, whether those are literary, critical, or theoretical texts. In this way, literature never goes away. 

It's reasonable that you don't know exactly what you want to study, but if you're thinking about any PhD program, you'd want to situate yourself in a field before applying. It might be useful to spend the remainder of your MA experience trying to figure out what those interests are and how they intersect.