MFAers looking to go into Lit PhDs?

[KGB]

Has anyone else with an MFA successfully leaped into the PhD Lit world (or is planning to?) I will be applying next Fall for Fall '15 Lit PhD programs and am curious if anyone else has bridged the creative/critical divide. My field of interest, ecocriticism and the like, seems more friendly to the intersection, but I am wondering if faculty/adcoms have any knee-jerk reactions to people applying with MFAs.

 

Anyone else in the same boat? I'm in a poetry program, if that matters.

[cloudofunknowing]

Hi, KGB - I was/am in your exact situation. I have a BA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing (poetry also, graduated last year). Because my interests converge & diverge - Medieval/Early Modern things & Cultural Studies on the "scholarly" side, & then an abiding interest in poetics & poetries from the ancients to contemporaries on the "creative" side - I was similarly tugged in both directions when trying to decide what I wanted to do and/or where I wanted to apply. I enjoy scholarship & research for their own sakes & do often find the two pursuits (scholarship / poetry) to be mutually constitutive. 

 

In the end, I decided to apply to both straight-up English programs to study literature & also Literature/Creative Writing programs, & decided that I'd worry about choosing which path to take based upon where I got in / what my options were. It's still early in the application game (I've yet to hear from several of the Lit/Creative programs, & one literature program), so I'm not yet sure what my final decision will be. But I learned that I was accepted into UT-Austin's program today so, to answer your question, yes, it's certainly possible.

 

Because I knew that, were I to pursue a PhD in literary studies, the fields I'd specialize in would likely be Medieval/Early Modern, I very purposefully took as many literature classes as possible during my MFA to demonstrate an ability to engage in those fields as a scholar. In terms of my other credentials, I did quite a bit of undergrad coursework in those areas, too - & attended a top-ranked liberal arts college, was lucky to study with a well-regarded medievalist on faculty there - had GRE scores within the range of normally accepted students (according to UT's website, that is), as polished a writing sample as possible (that'd been raked over the coals by two medievalists I've studied with), & what I believe were strong recommendation letters. I also worked hard to make my statement of purpose be germane to the scholarly work I hope to undertake & did not focus on what I'd achieved as a poet while an MFA student & afterward (in terms of publications, etc, all of which were listed on my CV).

 

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that in no way do I think that having an MFA would be detrimental to pursuing a PhD in literature. If anything, I would think (& have hoped as I've been applying) it would demonstrate a breadth of engagement & interests, not to mention a capacity to do literary studies at the graduate level, since virtually every MFA program I know of requires people to take graduate-level literature courses as a part of the MFA degree.

[KGB]

Hi, KGB - I was/am in your exact situation. I have a BA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing (poetry also, graduated last year). Because my interests converge & diverge - Medieval/Early Modern things & Cultural Studies on the "scholarly" side, & then an abiding interest in poetics & poetries from the ancients to contemporaries on the "creative" side - I was similarly tugged in both directions when trying to decide what I wanted to do and/or where I wanted to apply. I enjoy scholarship & research for their own sakes & do often find the two pursuits (scholarship / poetry) to be mutually constitutive. 

 

In the end, I decided to apply to both straight-up English programs to study literature & also Literature/Creative Writing programs, & decided that I'd worry about choosing which path to take based upon where I got in / what my options were. It's still early in the application game (I've yet to hear from several of the Lit/Creative programs, & one literature program), so I'm not yet sure what my final decision will be. But I learned that I was accepted into UT-Austin's program today so, to answer your question, yes, it's certainly possible.

 

Because I knew that, were I to pursue a PhD in literary studies, the fields I'd specialize in would likely be Medieval/Early Modern, I very purposefully took as many literature classes as possible during my MFA to demonstrate an ability to engage in those fields as a scholar. In terms of my other credentials, I did quite a bit of undergrad coursework in those areas, too - & attended a top-ranked liberal arts college, was lucky to study with a well-regarded medievalist on faculty there - had GRE scores within the range of normally accepted students (according to UT's website, that is), as polished a writing sample as possible (that'd been raked over the coals by two medievalists I've studied with), & what I believe were strong recommendation letters. I also worked hard to make my statement of purpose be germane to the scholarly work I hope to undertake & did not focus on what I'd achieved as a poet while an MFA student & afterward (in terms of publications, etc, all of which were listed on my CV).

 

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that in no way do I think that having an MFA would be detrimental to pursuing a PhD in literature. If anything, I would think (& have hoped as I've been applying) it would demonstrate a breadth of engagement & interests, not to mention a capacity to do literary studies at the graduate level, since virtually every MFA program I know of requires people to take graduate-level literature courses as a part of the MFA degree.

 

Cloudofunkowing--wow, you are like telling the story of my life right now, right down to the liberal arts college! Yes, I've been working closely with some Lit. faculty during my MFA time--one is a top ecocrit scholar, and on the poetry side our faculty are very involved in the ecopoetics movement as well, so I've had the pleasure of seeing my creative and scholarly pursuits feed each other. And congrats on UT! I've been looking at Heather Houser's work there and thinking about applying to UT next year. I'm planning to apply to mostly straight Lit programs and throw USC's creative writing/lit program in there as well b/c my department has contacts there and I've been impressed by the work I've seen come out of there. 

 

This is (obviously) unsolicited, but if you're into ecopoetics you might want to look into UCLA and U Michigan Ann Arbor.

 

Also, I don't have an MFA, but in my SOPs for English PhD programs I did talk (very briefly) about my creative writing aspirations.

 

Also #2, most of the programs I researched actually seemed to tout (on their websites) the creative writing opportunities available in the department. At Berkeley, for example, you can actually write a creative Master's thesis, securing an MA in Creative Writing en route to your PhD in English Literature.

 

 

davidipse--yes, UCLA is currently my dream school. They infused their environmental humanities program with 4 great hires (one of which is following me on academia.edu, is that nerdy to care about?). And I'm looking at Michigan and Berkeley too. Davis and Berkeley actually co-hosted the first-ever ecopoetics conference in 2013 and it was incredible so it seems like things are really moving at both places in terms of bridging the creative/critical divide via ecocrit. I see Berkeley and UCLA are BOTH on your accepted list--what's your field? I'm interested in how you could decide between two incredible schools.

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one out there, too! Thanks for the info!

[pdh12]

You know, there are programs out there that incorporate the critical and creative... this is my first round of applications (I'm an undergrad senior), and I got into a school in Wales, Aberystwyth University. I mainly applied because I liked the name, but during the interview for a Masters in Creative Writing, she told me I might prefer the Phd in Creative Writing and Literary Studies. 

 

Then there's Cornell's joint degree program.

 

Does anyone else know of any other double track programs?