connection btw. MA thesis & PhD research

[BrandNewName]

Hi everyone!

Chris here, first time posting, but I've been lurking around a bit. I was hoping to gain some insight from people more familiar with the application process for PhD programs. Specifically, I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts about how connected your PhD research is/should be to the topic of your MA thesis?

A little about myself:

I got my BA in English and German Studies with a minor in history. Wrote my BA thesis on the development of homosexuality in Germany from 1870 to 1933, particularly focusing on legal and literary sources to contrast self-perceptions with societal constructions of homosexuality. After graduation, I moved to Germany with a DAAD scholarship and was an associate researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin. During that time, I realized that my interest in literature was stronger than that in gender studies, plus I knew that I could work my interest in gender/sexuality into research on literature. Since completing my research year, I entered and am currently working on my MA in English Literatures and Literary Theory at the University of Freiburg.

I am planning on applying to PhD programs this fall both in the States and in Germany. As I am now in the midst of nailing down my MA thesis topic, I am wondering how careful I should be in selecting a topic that will directly connect with my proposed PhD research? I guess a second part to the question would then be, how specific do PhD programs expect you to be in your SOP?

I think that my overall academic history reflects a logical progression to these programs. I have always had an interest in American literature and culture, have been working as a research assistant and tutor in the American Studies program here in Freiburg, and will write my MA thesis on American literature/culture. At the moment, I am focusing on contemporary short fiction (David Foster Wallace and a few others) and the authenticity of traumatic experience in the narrating of 9/11. This thesis topic will draw on my interests in contemporary American literature, postmodern/psychoanalytic theory (Lacan, Kristeva, Zizek, Baudrillard), Realism, etc.

That being said, I don't yet know what my PhD research will be, however, I know it will be connected to those areas of interest. For German programs, I am expected to turn in ten to fifteen page detailed research outlines with timelines for completion upon application. But, American programs seem to be another story, how specific should I plan to be in my SOP (is it enough to explain what I am interested and what questions I see driving me over the course of a PhD program) and should I be worrying about making my MA research fit perfectly with my still-unknown PhD plans?

[rising_star]

Not in literature but... my MA thesis and PhD research have very little to do with one another, other than that I sort of used the same framework in my MA thesis that I plan to use in my dissertation. It wasn't a problem in terms of admissions, I think in part because though I was still in my MA program, my thesis was completely drafted by the end of January.

[socialcomm]

Certainly not an expert, but I would think having your MA thesis related to your future research would be a good thing. You don't need to have it be exactly the same, but it may help you provide a foundation in the knowledge/research methodology you'll need for your PhD research.

Because of various factors, my MA research project has very little to do with what I want to research in a PhD program and I think that definitely hurt me last year and will hurt me this year.