Official American Studies 2009

[melancholyway]

Hello All,

I have noticed a few postings for American Studies departments here and there, but not a singular thread devoted to the field so this is my attempt at encouraging conversation.

Some suggestions:

1. Where have you applied?

2. Application results

3. What is the focus of your research?

Good luck to all fellow applicants!

[wantaphd]

I noticed the same thing so thanks for starting the thread. I've been accepted to Purdue, and will accept their offer as soon as they let me know about funding. I applied to a couple of other programs as well but I believe Purdue is the best fit for me. How about yourself?

[mcd2003]

Great idea! Thanks for starting this thread.

I have been accepted at BC and UFL for English w/ American Studies focus and waitlisted at UT Austin for pure American Studies. Still waiting on BU, GWU, and NYU. The wait for those three is killing me. My focus area is the twentieth century literature/film cultural intersection (that summary didn't come out quite right). How is everything going for you, Melancholyway?

[melancholyway]

I applied to Brown, Yale, SUNY Buffalo, Stony Brook, GWU, BU, Michigan State, Rutgers, and NYU. I have received acceptances from Michigan and SUNY Buffalo, and one rejection from BU (poor fit with the program, I jut love Boston). I think that if you have not heard from BU you have a good chance of being accepted or at least wait listed, as many people have posted their rejections already.

Thank you for posting the info concerning GWU. Their Amer Studies dept is such an excellent fit for my work that I am frantically checking the results page and my email constantly!

Good luck to you!

[melancholyway]

BY the way congratulations on being accepted into Purdue's program wanta! Good luck on the funding front.

[GoodGuy]

Got into Brown and Harvard for Am Civ; turned down by USC and Yale; waiting to hear from NYU. (Also African American Studies at Berkeley.) Funded pretty well by all three I got into, but waiting to visit Harvard and Berkeley before I make a decision...

My research is around gender identity formation, mainly racialized constructions of masculinity in youth cultures.

Good luck to everyone--indeed, even as I continue to hear all the guff: "good luck being able to find a job with your 'inter-disciplinary' degree!"

GG

[mcd2003]

I'm also waiting on Yale and Brown but figure that those are out, so I didn't mention them. Brown is not a good fit for me and Yale is Yale. Melancholyway, thanks for the encouragement on BU. I"m really hoping for that program - finishing my MA at BC right now and love the BU program. Also, the hubby and I adore living in Boston.

Congrats to everyone on acceptances so far! It's been an insanely competitive year and I'm glad to see that people are getting into great programs with funding. I'll keep rooting for all of us!

[kfed2020]

Has NYU notified yet? My friend applied there, but I'm afraid to ask her about it...

[melancholyway]

mmpottlehill, your research interests sound really interesting. I am actually quite excited to hear of another 19th Cent. person. My work explores the relationship between the 19th Century Spiritualist movement, modern living history, and collective memory- a mouth full. Good luck with your work in the future!

Kfed- As far as I can tell no one has heard anything from NYU, in the American Studies dept at least. There was one wait list posting on the results page, but I am not sure if I would believe it.

[magisme]

Great idea for a thread!

Accepted- Kansas, Purdue, Stony Brook (Cultural Studies)

Rejected- Texas-Austin, WashU (American Culture)

Waiting-to-Hear- NYU, UC-Irvine (Culture and Theory)

Good luck to everyone.

[wantaphd]

Great idea for a thread!

Accepted- Kansas, Purdue, Stony Brook (Cultural Studies)

Rejected- Texas-Austin, Washington St.

Waiting-to-Hear- NYU, UC-Irvine (Culture and Theory)

Good luck to everyone.

Magisme,

Looks like we applied to a couple of the same schools! Are you going to the visitation this weekend at Purdue? I can't, so I'm going to visit later on in the month. If you don't mind sharing, what are your areas of interest? Mine are race, representation, and sexuality; more specifically, how African American lesbians have represented in literature and popular culture. Gender performance is also in there somewhere.

P.S.: I was rejected by WSU as well. Not quite sure why, but I heard they weren't going to fund any first year PhDs this year so I don't think I would have gone anyway.