Good Programs for Eighteenth Century British Literature

[and...and...and...]

I will be applying to graduate programs in the fall, and my primary interest is 18th C. British literature. I already have some programs that I will probably be applying to (Stanford, WashU, Syracuse, Princeton...), but I was wondering if anyone knew of any other programs I should consider.

I would love to hear from fellow 18th C. enthusiasts! Thank you!

[theregalrenegade]

I'd like to hear what other 18th century hopefuls have to say as well. I'm studying 18th century British history and will have completed my Masters at the end of 2012. So far, I'm looking at doctoral programs in the UK due to the well-known British scholars/professors in my field that teach there.

Are the programs you chose above due to high reputation of the program itself or because there are professors there you'd like to work with?

[crutch]

You might give UCLA a look. I'll be starting there this fall. They have several very well known 18th-century professors (Felicity Nussbaum and Helen Deutsch, for example), and the program itself has a very good reputation, I think.

Also, even with the funding issues the UC system is going through their English department seems to be doing well. They fully fund every admitted grad student, and their grad funding comes from a variety of sources apart from the state of California, such as a program called Friends of English (check their website for more info). In fact, I think the state accounts for less than 20% of ALL of UCLA's overall funding.

However, I do think they only admit one or two 18th-century students each year, and I would assume their entering class *might* be smaller next fall due to the budget issues. I could be wrong about these things, though, so you might take them with a grain of salt!

[and...and...and...]

I'd like to hear what other 18th century hopefuls have to say as well. I'm studying 18th century British history and will have completed my Masters at the end of 2012. So far, I'm looking at doctoral programs in the UK due to the well-known British scholars/professors in my field that teach there.

Are the programs you chose above due to high reputation of the program itself or because there are professors there you'd like to work with?

I chose those specific programs because of the professors. Which UK schools are you looking at? Do you happen to know of any programs in Canada? Good to hear from someone else!

[theregalrenegade]

You know, I'm not at all familiar with any Canadian programs. That's a major plus that you're focusing on specific professors. I'm looking into Cambridge and Oxford (shooting super high!) because they have a couple of professors that would be a dream to work with, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm also looking at Queen Mary, University of London, where one of my favorite historians is actively taking on doctoral candidates.

Crutch has a great suggestion, though being from CA originally, I need to move on!

[lyonessrampant]

Keep in mind that where you get your Ph.D. can affect pretty heavily where you can teach. Oxbridge isn't going to keep you out of US jobs, but there is a prejudice for American Ph.D.s in the US university system. Just FYI. . .

[wreckofthehope]

If you do decide to apply in the U.K., I think Saint Andrews is very strong in C18th.

In the States, isn't Berkeley also?

[crutch]

Keep in mind that where you get your Ph.D. can affect pretty heavily where you can teach. Oxbridge isn't going to keep you out of US jobs, but there is a prejudice for American Ph.D.s in the US university system. Just FYI. . .

I have to second this. I got my MSt at Oxford, and I was told by several people that it wouldn't be wise to continue with their DPhil if my intention was to work in the States after completing the degree. However, there are certainly many great scholars there, and I loved the academic environment.

[runonsentence]

I also second lyonessrampant's advice. I studied abroad in Oxford as an undergrad, and the head tutor at my program told me that I should look into American PhD programs, not Oxford's DPhil, if I wanted to teach.

In addition to whatever conceptions/prejudices are out there, an American program will give you more opportunities for teaching (and possibly for RAs as well?). And if you want to teach, it's vital to get a chance to do some TAing in your degree program.

[theregalrenegade]

I understand the logic behind a US PhD if you plan to teach in the US, considering the lack of teaching experience in the UK doctorate, but this might be an instance where particular disciplines come into play. History boards have encouraged getting a PhD in the region/country/etc. you're studying (especially if those areas that have good schools). What better way to understand the culture than to immerse yourself in it and learn from the professionals there? I would think the pros far outweigh the cons...at least in the field of history. I do know there are various training programs / workshops at Cambridge for postdocs looking to teach. There has got to be some way of gaining relevant experience. Sigh... I could be totally off base and just hoping against hope!

[wreckofthehope]

I understand the logic behind a US PhD if you plan to teach in the US, considering the lack of teaching experience in the UK doctorate, but this might be an instance where particular disciplines come into play. History boards have encouraged getting a PhD in the region/country/etc. you're studying (especially if those areas that have good schools). What better way to understand the culture than to immerse yourself in it and learn from the professionals there? I would think the pros far outweigh the cons...at least in the field of history. I do know there are various training programs / workshops at Cambridge for postdocs looking to teach. There has got to be some way of gaining relevant experience. Sigh... I could be totally off base and just hoping against hope!

I did my undergrad at Oxford. I had PhD students teach me for a number of courses - there are a lot of opportunities for paid teaching work. It won't be TA-ing, and you will not be teaching a seminar-type class of students (because that type of teaching doesn't really happen in Oxford). The classes I took with PhD students were either one-on-one tutorials or small groups of 3-4 (my college's English cohort for each year), they took me for papers where I had trouble finding a suitable tutor (my two American Literature extended essay papers) and also for things like Introduction to Theory classes and extra Middle English classes. There will be someone at some college willing to pay you to teach something for most of your degree, but you will need to be proactive in seeking it out.

[theregalrenegade]

Thank you for sharing your experience, wreckofthehope! I figured there just had to be opportunities for those who actively sought them out.You helped ease my mind and ratchet up the excitement level a notch

[bdon19]

You might give UCLA a look. I'll be starting there this fall. They have several very well known 18th-century professors (Felicity Nussbaum and Helen Deutsch, for example), and the program itself has a very good reputation, I think.

Also, even with the funding issues the UC system is going through their English department seems to be doing well. They fully fund every admitted grad student, and their grad funding comes from a variety of sources apart from the state of California, such as a program called Friends of English (check their website for more info). In fact, I think the state accounts for less than 20% of ALL of UCLA's overall funding.

However, I do think they only admit one or two 18th-century students each year, and I would assume their entering class *might* be smaller next fall due to the budget issues. I could be wrong about these things, though, so you might take them with a grain of salt!

In terms of 18th-century lit I'd second UCLA. It was one of my top options (especially if you're interested in gender intersections with c.18), but alas, one too many fights with my mother over going so far away from home forced me to cross it off my list.

[bdon19]

In addition to my previous comment, Nussbaum is basically my hero. My entire 18th-century lit class laughed at me one day when I suddenly shouted, "She's my favorite critic!" in the middle of a presentation.

This is why I'm here.

[bdon19]

Oh, boy. I'm being *that* girl, posting three times in a row.

I didn't want to start a new thread, though! But I wanted to see if anyone else had any info about 18th-c. studies. I'm trying to find some that might still be strong but are just enough off the radar that I haven't thought to check them out.

Any ideas?

[TeaOverCoffee]

Bumping this thread. Does anyone have any suggestions for Restoration/long-eighteenth century graduate programs? I have a few ideas, but I'm wondering if anybody may have some schools in mind that I haven't considered. 

[kurayamino]

Hey TeaOverCoffee,

I can give you the schools I applied to as a Restoration/18th C applicant.

I successfully applied to: University of California - Los Angeles, University of Indiana - Bloomington, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, and Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey.

Other schools have 18th century professors as well, but not as highly concentrated. UPenn would be the next highly concentrated, but mostly on the Romanticism end of the spectrum. Columbia for instance really only has 1, Jenny Davidson, with one or two Romanticists who may dabble in the latter end of the century. Yale also has two that I know of, but both are relatively older. Both UCLA and Rutgers have new hire 18th century professors which means they both have a great mix of stages for professors. Hope this helps! 

 

[lyonessrampant]

We've been building our 18th c. profs.  They're especially good if your interests include theory or philosophy (Tony Brown and Amit Yahav), though if you do cognitive work at all, Andrew Elfenbein, though he more does 19th c., works with some 18th c. grad students.  Our Romance poet specialist is Brian Goldberg.

[TeaOverCoffee]

20 hours ago, kurayamino said:

Hey TeaOverCoffee,

I can give you the schools I applied to as a Restoration/18th C applicant.

I successfully applied to: University of California - Los Angeles, University of Indiana - Bloomington, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, and Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey.

Other schools have 18th century professors as well, but not as highly concentrated. UPenn would be the next highly concentrated, but mostly on the Romanticism end of the spectrum. Columbia for instance really only has 1, Jenny Davidson, with one or two Romanticists who may dabble in the latter end of the century. Yale also has two that I know of, but both are relatively older. Both UCLA and Rutgers have new hire 18th century professors which means they both have a great mix of stages for professors. Hope this helps! 

 

Thank you very much! I keep hearing great things about Rutgers, but my GRE scores are abysmal (although, I do intend to retake the GRE and maybe subject this summer).

Have you heard anything about UConn for eighteenth-century lit? 

[kurayamino]

3 hours ago, TeaOverCoffee said:

Thank you very much! I keep hearing great things about Rutgers, but my GRE scores are abysmal (although, I do intend to retake the GRE and maybe subject this summer).

Have you heard anything about UConn for eighteenth-century lit? 

Oh no problem! I'm not sure how Rutgers uses the GRE scores, but the only "good" part of the score that I had was the verbal. Both my quantitative, and probably more importantly, analytical writing scores were also abysmal, so I wouldn't necessarily write Rutgers off because of it. (My GRE lit was also quite laughable!)

 

The only thing about UConn that I know about is Jean Marsden, but really it's just the name that I've heard tossed about. I don't really know anything about the specifics of the program or the 18th C concentration, sorry!

[Zevia]

Yale just hired Jonathan Kramnick and also has Jill Cambell and Joe Roach and is doing a junior search this year. Harvard just hired Deidre Lynch and a junior person. Penn has Chi-Ming Yang and Suvir Kaul. On the west coast, Stanford has John Bender (close to retirement) and Blakey Vermeule. UCLA has Helen Deutsch and Sarah Karim (Nussbaum just retired).

Those are the best places to do eighteenth century, in my opinion.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Zevia