Film, Cinema, and Visual Studies –– 2013

[Swagato]

Hello everyone,

I'm starting this in hopes that this year's applicants (including any re-applicants) will come together in this thread. Feel free to discuss interests, backgrounds, strategies, and anything else. A brief bio for first-time posters would be nice, too.

Hopefully, this isn't too early at all.

I'm a second-round applicant to film and visual studies/visual culture PhD programs. Last year I struck out across the board, barring one good wait-list. Extremely helpful feedback from faculty helped me identify lapses in my statement of purpose and writing sample, and taking care of those lacks has occupied my summer. GradCafe was very helpful last year, and it's my hope that we can work together as fall creeps in upon us.

Best wishes to everyone.

[Swagato]

Hello hapticlicity.

I have not yet finalised my list of targets, but broadly I will be focusing on departments with strengths in a mix of the following: early visual culture, international emphases, 'para'-cinema-technology-media, film and visual history, phenomenology/affect/experience/spectatorship, new media/digital visual culture, and space/spatiality. It also helps if a department in cinema studies/visual studies is able to enact cross-disciplinary dialogues with Philosophy, Art History, and English/Comp. Lit. Happily, several departments seem to have such facilities.

I'm interested largely in the late-18th century Phantasmagoria and the space of exhibition/screening. I hope I shall be excused if I do not drill down to more specifics just yet, but I'm happy to exchange ideas in private.

[Swagato]

Hm, just posting since it's strangely quiet in this thread. We're well into October, so presumably most of us are occupied with application prep work. Last year, the cinema studies thread was quite active by this time!

Time to come out of the woodwork, everyone.

[vitaebella]

Hello everyone!

I'm a re-applicant this year as well. A few of my application materials last year were not quite up to snuff, I didn't apply broadly enough, and I shot a little too high (2/5 applications were to PhD programs and I don't have an MA). So, I'm trying my hand again, and am currently in the process of developing a new writing sample, overhauling my personal statement with the help of one of my old profs, and finalizing my school choices.

Most of my work is concerned with feminist approaches to film, and I take particular interst in performance (as in performance within the film, such as the Club Silencio sequence of Mulholland Dr., or any of the balletic sequences of Black Swan, etc), the spectacle, genre-bending/mixing, nostalgia, star personas, the horror genre, the gangster genre, musicals, the grotesque, and on and on and on. There's really no end to what can grab my interest, but overall, I'm fascinated by how different aspects of film inform and interact with questions of gender/femininity/mascuinity/etc.

I know I am for sure applying to the film programs at UW-Madison [i nearly made it last year, they had 4 spots and I was ranked 5 or 6 ], NYU, and UC-Berkeley, and I'm applying for an MA in English at MSU (where I did my undergrad) as a back-up. I hope to make decisions on the rest of my potential schools by the end of this weekend. Such a trying process, amirite!? I'm really praying for UW, NYU, or UC-B, but based on last year I'm not going to put my eggs in so few baskets again haha.

If anybody knows of schools/programs that are particularly invested in feminist approaches to film, I'd love to hear about them! Looking for programs has been such a wild ride that I'm 100% sure I've overlooked programs that would be a great fit for me.

So who's applying where this year?

[Swagato]

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned Brown's Modern Culture and Media program. Yes it is a PhD program, but they are well-known for emphasising feminist, post/colonial approaches in addition to a very inclusive notion of 'modern culture and media'. Mary Ann Doane is, of course, now at Berkeley, but I'd still include Brown in the list.

[vitaebella]

I applied to Brown last year and it was my top choice school, but I'm concerned about applying to straight to PhD programs again and wasting application money that could have gone to other schools that are more likely to accept me, you know? I've started applications for UW-Madison, NYU, MSU (English MA), UC-Berkeley, UT-Austin, and IU-Bloomington. I'd like to choose two more schools, but I want to be very careful about the schools I pick in order to really open up my chances of being accepted. I don't think I can take another year of not being in academia, haha. I have considered potentially applyling to Brown after getting to the MA level at another school if said school doesn't seem to be a great fit, or if I get into MSU's English program and nothing else. As of now, I'm more inclined to have Berkeley as my only PhD application because Linda Williams is pretty much the theorist who made me want to do this for a living, and the chance to work with her would be the most amazing thing I coud possibly think of.

Brown isn't off the table, I'm just nervous about applying again. I'll certainly be thinking very hard about my last two choices, and Brown could definitley make that cut, I'm just not 100% positive I want to shoot for it again.

[letmein]

Hey everyone. First time poster!

I will be finishing up my M.A. in media studies this coming May and looking to hop into a PhD program the fall after that. Currently applying to UT-Austin (Media Studies), UW-Madison (Media and Cultural Studies), Northwestern (Screen Cultures), IU-Bloomington (Comm and Culture), and UC-Santa Barbara (Film and Media Studies). Only five, but I know all of them are good fits.

[Swagato]

Greetings, letmein. It sounds like you're engaged in television/cultural studies of some sort? All those programs have that in common.

[letmein]

Right. My research is in film/cultural studies more broadly, and audience and reception theory more specifically.

[ling01]

Hi! I won't be applying until the fall of 2013, but I really want to get a head start on the research end of applying to grad school, so I'm here. Right now I'm getting my BA in human communication with a concentration in film and literature, and I'm looking for programs for media studies/television studies and fandom studies. I've heard advice that you should look for a school in an area where you won't be miserable because of the weather, and as a California girl I've never experienced real winters, so that's the other major factor for finding a program for me. So far I'm looking at USC for both their cinema and media studies MA and their Communications PhD, UT Austin, UCLA, University of Florida, and San Diego State. I know DePaul in Chicago has a program that meets what I want to do, but I don't know if I could survive a Chicago winter! Any other ideas for media studies/communications studies programs in areas where the weather is pretty mild or warm?

[nerdsrocket]

Right. My research is in film/cultural studies more broadly, and audience and reception theory more specifically.

We have similar interests.

Looking forward to struggling through the months of silence before decision letters with you folks.

[letmein]

Hi! I won't be applying until the fall of 2013, but I really want to get a head start on the research end of applying to grad school, so I'm here. Right now I'm getting my BA in human communication with a concentration in film and literature, and I'm looking for programs for media studies/television studies and fandom studies. I've heard advice that you should look for a school in an area where you won't be miserable because of the weather, and as a California girl I've never experienced real winters, so that's the other major factor for finding a program for me. So far I'm looking at USC for both their cinema and media studies MA and their Communications PhD, UT Austin, UCLA, University of Florida, and San Diego State. I know DePaul in Chicago has a program that meets what I want to do, but I don't know if I could survive a Chicago winter! Any other ideas for media studies/communications studies programs in areas where the weather is pretty mild or warm?

Hi, ling01. If you're applying seriously for academic-track programs, I would hold the following three considerations paramount:

1) The prestige and placement rate of the institution (will you be able to get a job with a MA or PhD from the program?)

2) The focus and faculty of the program (are you a good fit with the program? would your interests gel with the strengths of the faculty?)

3) The program's funding opportunities (will you be financially supported or forced to cover tuition costs yourself?)

You should really ask yourself those three questions about any program before you even worry about its location/climate (unless you have familial or professional obligations tying you to one particular area). It's competitive enough to get into grad programs that you can't afford to be picky about something like geography unless it is truly important. Trust me, shivering through a few winters is infinitely preferable to not getting a job or going into debt from grad school. If you receive a PhD and start looking for an academic job, you will have to accept the possibility of having to move to cold/dinky/"undesirable" areas of the country anyway (academics are worse than sailors).

[Swagato]

Hmm, heading into the middle of November and it's a surprisingly low body count here. Either this year will see somewhat fewer applicants, or we're all just working our butts off getting things lined up...

[letmein]

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure that attendance will rise when we all start sweating through the Dec-March waiting period.

[Swagato]

NYU, USC, UC-SB, Northwestern down.

Bring on the rest.

How're we doing?

[vitaebella]

Submitted my apps to NYU, Northwestern and UT-Austin yesterday. Gearing up for UC-Berkeley, UW-Madison and MSU.

Already getting anxiety over having to wait until MARCH to hear anything. Ack!

[letmein]

Austin, UCSB, and Northwestern sent off two days ago. Remaining applications are also in the can. I'm just waiting to hear if I got into the SCMS conference next year before I completely finalize them.

It's actually kind of a relief to finally let them go. I actually started on most of them during early summer, and they have been stressful to have hanging over my head. They're in someone else's hands now...

[jsross]

Hi all,

Just wanted to join you in the application push and into the waiting game period. I'm applying to UC-B, Stanford, NYU, Brown, and Duke in the field of visual culture with an emphasis on new media, and philosophy of technology.

Its been a crazy race to get all the apps done one after another, but now I guess we settle in for the long haul. Hope to meet some of you in the near future.

On another note, has anyone seen the CFP for critical themes in media studies at the New School. I think it is on media and affectivity. Is it ridiculous to apply to present at a conference when I'm not in grad school at the moment? Wish I could get funding to attend, looks like it will be an interesting line up given the topic.

[Swagato]

Hi jsross. That's a short list of targets; I hope you get into them! I opted not to apply to Duke, as the Program in Lit. doesn't really have much of a focus on 18th century visual culture (or media archaeology in general), and that is a crucial prong of my general interests. I did go for Modern Thought & Lit. at Stanford, though, as they have several people who would be perfect for me.

I will be responding to the New School CFP, but haven't had time to get to it yet. You should certainly apply if you feel you have a good offering! However for this one in particular--because it is a graduate student conference--I would email and find out if submissions from independent scholars (which is what any of us not currently affiliated with a graduate program are) are permissible.

[Swagato]

Quiet as the grave, still. How're we doing? Tonight was the deadline for several big programs.

[vitaebella]

All of my applications are in:

 

UC-Berkely

NYU
UW-Madison

Northwestern

UT-Austin

and my undergrad alma mater, MSU (English MA focused on film and visual cultures)

 

 As a reapplicant, I've got a weird mixture of absolute terror and mild apathy.  It's exceedingly strange!  Got my fingers crossed and praying for at least one positive result this year!

[edenetapres]

Hi folks.

Applied to Berkeley, UCSB, UW-Madison, Chicago, and Yale

Let's keep each other company in the waiting room.

[Swagato]

Good to hear from you, edenetapres. We have four overlaps! What is your general background/set of interests, if you'd care to share? Feel free to PM if that's more comfortable for you. 

[letmein]

To everyone who has applied to UW-Madison (which looks to be an ample number of you), be sure to update us if you have received any emails to set up a phone or Skype interview. Browsing through the results searches from past years, it seems that Media & Cultural Studies notifies applicants about interviews by late Dec/early Jan. (not sure about the Film program). I've been anxiously monitoring my inbox hoping for something to arrive...

Edited January 4, 2013 by letmein

[edgeofmyseat]

Hi All,

 

So pleased to find this community of anxiously awaiting persons! I know feel less alone in this wait. I've applied to just two Film Studies Ph.D programs this year-- USC and UCLA. Would very much appreciate to hear for anyone who has also applied.

 

One quick question to run by the group-- I received a message for USC about applying for scholarships. Could this somehow be a good sign, or just a standard email sent to all applicants?

 

Best of luck to all!

-EdgeOfMySeat