Best courses for PhD in English preparation

[Imaginary]

I am finishing up my M.A. in Liberal Studies; In the fall have a choice between a course that surveys the history of ethnic and religious minorities in the United States, "Discourse Analysis," and a course that surveys changes in the English language. The latter two are linguistics classes. I have no intention at this point of pursuing linguistics, but it is an interest. Discourse Analysis sounds intriguing and, possibly, useful.

 

Any thoughts on which of these courses would best position me for admission to a PhD in English? Otherwise, my degree is well rounded, and I'll be taking a theory course in the winter.

[acarol]

I, too, am applying for a PhD in English this coming fall.  I have my M.A. in English and the advice I received while completing it was to choose courses with my subfield / future PhD research in mind -- that way, you make a strong argument for your preparation in the field.  At this juncture, if your B.A. and M.A. have already given you a well-rounded foundation, it would be the most advantageous to gain research experience and work on papers in your subfield. 

 

Since you said you have no intention of pursuing linguistics, is the U.S. ethnic and religious minorities course relevant to your future studies in any way? 

 

If none of them are all that related, then you could also try to figure out what course / instructor would allow you to bring in some of your own research interests anyway (in the context of the final paper, for example). I found that my M.A. profs were fairly flexible in that regard.

Edited July 27, 2013 by acarol

[ComeBackZinc]

I'll be the person to advocate that you simply pick the course that you find most interesting and generative, rather than the one that you think will best position you for the next step. While you want a strong background in your chosen subfield when you apply, you've likely already established that, and the topics of the courses that you take will ultimately be less important for your applications than your grades, your relationships with your professors, and your major application materials. When you reach the PhD level, there will be plenty of time to professionalize and think in strategic terms. Even then, I think it's vital to maintain a sense of academic play, to be willing to pursue interests and ideas that don't have obvious or immediate importance for your professionalization. 

[Imaginary]

Theoretically, acarol and ComeBackZinc, I completely agree with your advice to pursue my interests, and/or experience in my subfield. However, I have absolutely no experience with theory except that which I've gained by doing my own research and incorporating theory into my recent papers. I feel I am at a disadvantage in this respect. I think that two theory courses would help to offset that disadvantage. But it may be a moot point- I may have to take the course in history in order to satisfy a core requirement.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

[rhetoricus aesalon]

Do you have much teaching experience? I'm assuming the course in discourse analysis (especially from a linguistic perspective) would give you a great foundation for the formulations of English grammar, which would be very beneficial in speaking (in, say a SOP or supplemental GTA application) to how you are prepared for a GTAship in a funded PhD program in which you will teach first-year composition.

[ComeBackZinc]

That's an impressive list of programs you're applying to, Chadillac!

 

edit: erm, sorry for going off topic.

Edited July 29, 2013 by ComeBackZinc

[rhetoricus aesalon]

Thanks, ComeBackZinc! Hopefully I'll get into one of them.   I have to ask, too, how far along are you at Purdue? Is it as amazing as it is in my dreams?

 

I, too, apologize for going off topic. 

[ComeBackZinc]

I'm starting my third year in a couple weeks-- and, eep, taking my prelim exams starting in about 14 hours! (ApplyingToGrad is making a nice distraction at the moment.) And I love it here. There are of course drawbacks and problems, which I'm happy to talk about, but I really can't tell you how satisfied I've been in my time here. Feel free to private message me with any questions.