Anthropology!

[anthrograd]

I haven't gotten official word from either. Last week a professor at NYU told me I was rejected (no waitlist), so it's weird I haven't gotten anything yet.

No word from Columbia, which is pretty damn weird too.

So it's Chicago or Princeton for me....

[kellygirl]

I would go for the funded MA program too. Having an MA will only improve your chances when applying to PhD programs. Plus-if its a funded MA at a top university-that beats out a non-funded PhD at a lesser university. You'll have a better chance of getting a fully funded PhD that way...And specifically regarding the archaeology/anthro thing-I think an archaeology MA would be really attractive to Anthro PhD committees....it shows some breadth.

[vilanelle]

did the columbia acceptances come by registered mail?

please someone tlel me! i have registered mail waiting at the post office from a university and they wont tell me from which one!

[seamail]

I POSTED THIS ON 'ANTHROPOLOGY 2008' and I'M ALSO POSTING HERE JUST IN CASE PEOPLE MISS IT (sorry about the random capitalizations)

I have a Query which is essentially directed at all those who received good Anthropology PhD offers this year. I am considering reapplying next year. I am a UK student and graduated in IR. This meant I had no direct Anthropology experience. I guess my record was pretty average but I realized that a lot of emphasis is put on the actual statement of purpose. I therefore put a lot of effort into mine and spent a lot of time emailing professors to check whether there was room for my interests.

The thing is, it seems the discipline has evolved a little asymmetrically. My focus was more theoretical than fieldwork based. I even had a paragraph mentioning connections with Foucault and Nietzsche though my general emphasis was on Anthropology of the US, specifically cultural divides, secular/religion and ethics. All of this was based around recent work by Talal Asad. Some departments would email back with enthusiasm while others would suggest i look into sociology etc.

The thing is I know a lot of departments are really into the whole traditional fieldwork aspect. On the other hand UNC emailed saying that I was above minimum admission standards but there were too many people with my interests. THE REST WERE ALL REJECTIONS!!

SO...I'm a little mixed up. Right now my plan is to start a masters in Anthropology somewhere here in the UK(where i can afford one) and reapply during my study. BUT WHAT IS IT THAT COULD GIVE MY APPLICATION THE BOOST IT NEEDS. Would you guys know of any region or subject etc which you think will always need positions filling. I realize the Masters should give me the necessary background in Anthropology, BUT I ALSO NEED A GOOD SUBJECT AREA!

[Phoebed]

Hi seamail, I'm also an anthro UK person and got offers everywhere i applied. I actually had a conversation with a professor specifically about this issue of fieldwork and my intuition is that yes, it is an extremely significant aspect of anthropology that cannot be overlooked and that many people feel sets anthropology apart from other social sciences, giving it its unique focus. However, the idea of what a 'field' is, is very much contested and up for grabs at the moment and you might think about playing with this contestation in your research and applications. It does sound from your post that your interests are quite sociological/pol science. Perhaps you need to think through what your 'field' could be and how it would give a unique 'anthropological' slant to your research. Personally, I am all about challenging the notion of the 'field' but not necessarily challenging the idea of 'fieldwork', which is why I ultimately went for an anthro dept over a sociology one. I've got a masters from the UK and feel that this put me in good standing with my apps (many profs also told me that UK anthro students are thought of as good applicants). I'd be really interested to hear more about your thoughts and experiences, so will post this privately to you and set up some communication, if that's ok.

[seamail]

HEY Phoebed,

Yes that seems like a good idea. I mean I should mention that I was Anthropologically isolated during the application process. I was writing my statement in a vacuum and I would persistently email professors because that was my only aid. In a way I considered my topic (cultural divides/US/secularism etc) would be attractive due to its originality in that it wasn't the everyday exotic fieldwork project. I tried reading as many journal articles as possible since i was told to focus upon recent theory. I forgot to mention that i placed a lot of emphasis on popular culture and how that plays into cultural divides etc.

One thing i found is that it is V difficult to get feedback from Unis on the reasons for rejection.

Thanks for your advise though.

I'm happy to discuss this further. I need some consoling after all those rejections!

[kellygirl]

I wanted to clarify...I don't think a MA can ever hurt your PhD application-as long as you are open to not necessarily getting credit for it.

[Bananas]

Got my rejection from Columbia via email today (so late!) but still havent heard from NYU and they wont give me any info over the phone. . .are others still waiting on NYU??>

[Bananas]

I just thought I would throw in my two cents about the MA pre PHD. I have a Masters degree and I think that it has had a negative impact on my application, my MA was more geered towards applied topics and I am trying to get into non-applied phD programs, so i had to struggle to proove that I am seriously interested in theory in academia and not in applied work. I would caution anyone getting an MA or MPH first to make sure that their work in that program is heavily engaged in anthro theory and not too applied.

[Phoebed]

Bananas: NYU notified all its 10 acceptances back in late Feb. I have no idea about notification of the waitlist but the open day for accepted students was the end of march.

Seamail: Sounds like you've done a lot of work preparing. One thing though. It is in fact a bit of a myth that anthropologists are only interested in the 'exotic'. It actually has a more complex history than that (Joan Vincent has written interesting stuff about this). 'Western' ethnography and debates about its value, the status of the fieldworker etc have been ongoing since the 70s and have had built considerable status and momentum since that time. I work in science and technology studies and we use laboratories, objects, medicines, technology and many other 'non exotic' locations as our field. Equally interesting is conceptualising alternative historical and geographical boundaries against the traditional anthro image of the lone fieldworker in a defined, bounded location. Just a thought - bored at work. Where are you based anyway and where are you thinking of applying for the masters?