School Lists 2013 (Where are you applying?)

[asleepawake]

Is Rochester too far of a commute for you? I applied to both Buffalo and Rochester. Aren't they only about 60 minutes apart?

 

I wish you tons and tons of luck! 1 egg and 1 basket must be scary. Let's both (all+) get into Buffalo! I'm interested in ecocriticism, though mostly animal studies.

Edited January 25, 2013 by asleepawake

[bluecheese]

Best of luck!

 

Only applying to one place sounds extra-stressful!

[happygreengrass]

Is Rochester too far of a commute for you? I applied to both Buffalo and Rochester. Aren't they only about 60 minutes apart?

 

I wish you tons and tons of luck! 1 egg and 1 basket must be scary. Let's both (all+) get into Buffalo! I'm interested in ecocriticism, though mostly animal studies.

Rochester is only too far right now because my daughter is 11, and it's about 75 minutes.  If I don't get in this year, I may apply to Rochester next year; they have a few speculative fiction people too (among them someone who specializes in Samuel Delany, who I adore...), which would be great fun!

 

Yes let's both!  We can rant about Donna Haraway (except the companion species title, too much saliva for me) and Catherine Hayles together 

 

It's all settled then; someone just needs to inform the admissions committee. 

[asleepawake]

Yes let's both!  We can rant about Donna Haraway (except the companion species title, too much saliva for me) and Catherine Hayles together 

 

It's all settled then; someone just needs to inform the admissions committee. 

 

Sounds good! I'm thrilled we have this decided. I will call Buffalo and let them know. I'll have to find someone else to talk about dogs with, though.

[bfat]

I'll have to find someone else to talk about dogs with, though.

 

I can talk about dogs all day. My thesis is in posthumanism, but I fluctuate between the animal studies/phenomenology of the "other" and the cybernetics/biotechnology side of things. Now if someone wrote speculative fiction on cybernetic dogs, I think I'd have an aneurism.

Edited January 25, 2013 by bfat

[asleepawake]

We3?

[Sparky]

Now if someone wrote speculative fiction on cybernetic dogs, I think I'd have an aneurism.

 

Ever read Snow Crash?

[bfat]

We3?

 

Good point. I take back what I said, though. I actually can't read stories that are about animals because they're usually way too sad. I'll stick to the theory.

 

 

Ever read Snow Crash?

 

Funny you should mention this. It's been in my Amazon cart for like a year, and I keep saying I'll read it as a reward when I'm satisfied with the amount of work I've gotten done... heh. It's shameful that I haven't read it though. Ah the literary doors that will open up for me when I finish my thesis (but right now I have to stay away from things I may be tempted to try to work into said thesis...)

[asleepawake]

 I actually can't read stories that are about animals because they're usually way too sad.

 

Yeah, my thesis is about Disgrace. It's depressing, to say the least...

[Sparky]

Funny you should mention this. It's been in my Amazon cart for like a year, and I keep saying I'll read it as a reward when I'm satisfied with the amount of work I've gotten done... heh. It's shameful that I haven't read it though. Ah the literary doors that will open up for me when I finish my thesis (but right now I have to stay away from things I may be tempted to try to work into said thesis...)

 

I suppose it's better to hold off on the aneurysm until after your thesis.

[happygreengrass]

I can talk about dogs all day. My thesis is in posthumanism, but I fluctuate between the animal studies/phenomenology of the "other" and the cybernetics/biotechnology side of things. Now if someone wrote speculative fiction on cybernetic dogs, I think I'd have an aneurism.

Ooh...that's right up my alley!  I do ecocritical theorizing/analysis of speculative fiction (particularly utopias and heterotopias).  My writing sample for my MA application was on posthumanism, and my thesis was on...well...basically your area of interest.  You should also go to Buffalo, and we can all have grad-student play dates.  There are a couple of professors at UB who are fab for ecocrit...so excited/nerve-racked!!!

[happygreengrass]

Ever read Snow Crash?

Snow Crash would be fun to write a paper on!  I fit Atwood's Oryx and Crake into my thesis, but the weird mythos/tech/environmental crossover in Snow Crash is super fun.

 

"The deliverator is a type A driver with rabies" 

[wreckofthehope]

I can talk about dogs all day. My thesis is in posthumanism, but I fluctuate between the animal studies/phenomenology of the "other" and the cybernetics/biotechnology side of things. Now if someone wrote speculative fiction on cybernetic dogs, I think I'd have an aneurism.

 

Geoff Ryman's Air kind of fits the bill

[Gwendolyn]

Not all are programs in English (many interdisciplinary related fields), but my list is as follows:

 

Ohio State University 

University of Michigan

University of Wisconsin

Indiana University

University of Alabama

Auburn University

Emory University

Washington University in St. Louis

Miami University of Ohio 

[Mercyhurst2010]

I joined this message board a bit late, it seems, but my increasing sense of excitement / panic as February approaches fueled a series of Google searches that led me here. So, I might as well put in my oar:

 

13 Applications:

 

Vanderbilt University

Rice University

University of Maryland, College Park

Penn State University

University of Notre Dame

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL)

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of Kentucky

Louisiana State University

University of Iowa

University of Pittsburgh

Duquesne University

Case Western Reserve University

 

So far, I haven't heard back from any of these, though it's still (technically) only January. I'm going in with a MA, two (regional) conference presentations, a publication in a very minor journal, a writing sample I'm currently revising to submit for publication, and what appear to be very enthusiastic letters from my recommenders--some of whom have alma mater ties to a couple of the programs I'm applying to. So, we'll see if it's enough!

 

The big drag on my applications are the GREs. My decision to apply this year was a knee-jerk reaction in late October after my wife and I came home suddenly and unexpectedly from what was supposed to be a year of teaching English abroad as volunteers. We were gone a month, and due to some unforeseen circumstances had to return home. With all this going on, I realized it was time to go back and finish what I started during my MA work. Unfortunately, I was stuck applying with the same GRE scores from 2009, which I used for my MA applications. The scores aren't bad, per se, but I don't think the reflect what I would be able to produce after two years of graduate study. Plus, I never to the subject test, since my application search during the MA was a bit more limited. How I found 13 strong PhD programs to apply to without the subject test is a bit remarkable to me, but I did, unfortunately, lose out on applying to a few programs (U. Texas Austin, California programs, etc) that I would have loved to include in my search.

 

My fields are: American Literature (esp. 20th Century), Religion and Literature (esp. interdisciplinary work between philosophy of religion, critical theory, and fiction), Contemporary Fiction, and Multi-ethnic / immigrant literatures.

 

Best of luck, everyone! Hopefully we all start to hear some news (any news! I'm just sick of waiting!) by the end of this week!

[OctaviaButlerfan]

Happygreengrass:

 

Speculative fiction is my main area of interest as well.

 

You may be interested to know, if you hadn't heard of it, that True History by Lucian, a Greek writer circa A.D. 120-185, is considered by some to be the first science fiction story and the first "gay science fiction story."

Edited February 27, 2013 by OctaviaButlerfan

[ZacharyBinks]

On 2/27/2013 at 12:20 PM, OctaviaButlerfan said:

Happygreengrass:

 

Speculative fiction is my main area of interest as well.

 

You may be interested to know, if you hadn't heard of it, that True History by Lucian, a Greek writer circa A.D. 120-185, is considered by some to be the first science fiction story and the first "gay science fiction story."

 

Speculative fiction is not at all my area of interest, but have you read Beyond the Binary? It's a collection of short speculative queer fiction stories, and I really enjoyed it.

[Two Espressos]

 

Dr. Jimes Tooper!  You win.

[TonyB79]

9 Apps (MFA in Creative Writing):

 

Cornell

University of Michigan

University of Wisconsin

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL)

University of Iowa

University of Alabama

Virginia Tech

Rutgers - Camden

Southern Illinois University