Undergraduate Seeking Some Advice on Programs

[solomonski]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been reading the posts here for some time now, and it seems like you're all a helpful and welcoming lot, so it occurred to me I should post some of my own questions here in hopes of getting advice. I'm a non-traditional student (30 years old) who will graduate with a double major in English and Philosophy from UT Austin. I'm hoping to go onto graduate school from here, with my sights eventually set on working in academia in some capacity. I'm very aware of how miserable the job market is, but this is my teleological suspension of the financially sensible; it's something I feel like I *must* do, even if reduced to rags and bones by it. 

 

In any case, my "problem" is that I have a lot of research interests, and I'm having a hard time paring them down to the point where I can hone in on potential graduate programs. As the double in Philosophy might let on, I'm definitely into theory, especially Frankfurt school, psychoanalysis, those types of approaches. Where I'm less concrete is my area/time period interests. I'm into 19th century Russian literature, early 20th century American/Modernist literature, Renaissance, pop culture (especially American and Japanese), film (especially Japanese, French, Italian), and so on. All over the map here, unfortunately. While literature is my first love, I was drawn to theory because it's so inclusive in the sense that you can apply theoretical frames to many different kinds of cultural products besides "the novel," such as film, games, graphic novels, etc., and produce interesting (to me), relevant (to me) research. I think that's why it's been difficult for me to pare down my interests into something more focused. 

 

At any rate, my question(s) for you all are:

 

- do you have any recommendations, either for particular programs or "types" of programs, I should look at which might be accommodating to my sort of broad approach? I know I'm going to have to restrict things a bit at some point, but if I were in an English department somewhere that a.) took theory seriously, and b.) also was amenable to me working with film, or other types of art, I'd be thrilled. 

 

- is there anything I can be doing right now to make my applications to such programs at the end of this year more attractive? 

 

A few other random details which might (or might not) be of use to anyone who feels like they have recommendations for me:

- as I said, I'm a non-traditional student, aged 30. Not sure if this matters or not, but putting it out there.

- I am certain I do want to go on to graduate school; it's the whole reason I returned to do undergrad in the first place.

- SO FAR (although two semesters remain), by some miracle, I have a 4.0 in undergrad

- I've just sort of naturally developed strong relationships with several professors in my department, all of whom have said they "adore" me, so I can probably get some favorable recommendation letters when the time comes

- unsure if this is relevant at all, but I'm doing the Honors program in UT's English department, and will consequently be writing a thesis during the 2015-2016 year. I've already started this process with a supervisor, and the plan is maybe to use a chapter from this as the writing sample for grad school apps. 

- just as I don't want to end up in an English department that disparages theory (if such a thing exists?), I also don't want to end up in a "theory" department which has me reading theory texts all day at the expense of literature. That's why I'm a bit confused over whether to apply to English, Comp Lit, or programs specifically branded as having to do with "Theory" in some way.

 

If there's any other information that would help any of you to help me, please feel free to ask me. I appreciate you all taking the time to read this and offering me any assistance you can in figuring out what to aim for in this whole process. 

Edited April 3, 2015 by solomonski

[christakins]

 

 

- do you have any recommendations, either for particular programs or "types" of programs, I should look at which might be accommodating to my sort of broad approach? I know I'm going to have to restrict things a bit at some point, but if I were in an English department somewhere that a.) took theory seriously, and b.) also was amenable to me working with film, or other types of art, I'd be thrilled. 

 

 

 

You might look into the the Theory and Cultural Studies program (TCS) at Purdue and the Literature program at Duke.

Edited April 4, 2015 by christakins

[solomonski]

Thanks. I had been looking at the Lit program at Duke, but now I'll add the TCS at Purdue into the mix as well.

[1Q84]

 While literature is my first love, I was drawn to theory because it's so inclusive in the sense that you can apply theoretical frames to many different kinds of cultural products besides "the novel," such as film, games, graphic novels, etc., and produce interesting (to me), relevant (to me) research. I think that's why it's been difficult for me to pare down my interests into something more focused. 

 

Even though this is what you feel has shaped your interests, I wouldn't ever phrase it this way in an SOP. Just saying.

 

In any case, I would definitely check out the UC Irvine Culture and Theory program. 

 

http://www.humanities.uci.edu/cultureandtheory/

[solomonski]

I wouldn't have ever phrased it exactly in that way, but would you mind clarifying for me exactly what would be wrong with doing so? Is there some resistance to the idea of applying theory to "low art" or something? 

[echo449]

I wouldn't have ever phrased it exactly in that way, but would you mind clarifying for me exactly what would be wrong with doing so? Is there some resistance to the idea of applying theory to "low art" or something? 

I think IQ's point was just that mentioning so many different media and confessing to a boundless curiosity might come off as a red-flag to a committee. Essentially, an SoP will be a very well done two-dimensional image of your actual interests--it's a fiction that everyone engages in so that the prospective program can see if you understand what would be a reasonable set of concerns to tackle while you are in the program so that you can get out in (ideally) 5 to 6 years.

 

[1Q84]

I think IQ's point was just that mentioning so many different media and confessing to a boundless curiosity might come off as a red-flag to a committee. Essentially, an SoP will be a very well done two-dimensional image of your actual interests--it's a fiction that everyone engages in so that the prospective program can see if you understand what would be a reasonable set of concerns to tackle while you are in the program so that you can get out in (ideally) 5 to 6 years.

 

 

This. But also, I don't ever think it's wise to suggest that one medium is limited as opposed to others. That's kind of the sense I got from what you wrote about "the novel". Even though you're not applying to literature programs, I don't think many faculty would agree that devoting one's study to literature is limiting, and few literature scholars do only that anyway. Just wanted to point out that that somewhat prickly assertion might provoke some unwanted reactions in adcomms.

[solomonski]

I understand, thanks for the clarification from both of you. I definitely didn't mean to portray "the novel" in any kind of negative light, but I can definitely see how it comes across that way, so thanks for pointing it out. As for the SoP, I do know it has to be tailored to the program to which one is applying. 

[NowMoreSerious]

When you say you like Russian Literature, do you just mean in translation, or do you also read Russian? Same question for Films.

 

What you might want to think about is how invested you are in the above.  If your heart is in cultural products in all of those languages, then I highly recommend you start looking at interdisciplinary programs and comparative literature programs in places that also have strong Film and Slavic Languages departments. 

 

Do you have a set of specific career goals yet? If tenure track, what types of departments? 

 

Either way, I'd start here:

 

Yale: Film + Literature

Stanford: Modern Thought and Literature (MTL) 

Brown: Modern Culture and Media (MCM) 

Minnesota:  Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society (strong in critical theory)

Comparative Literature or English Departments at Schools that have a strong Film Program, a strong Slavic Languages program AND will let you take courses in those and give you general flexibility with your study.  Off the top of my head:

NYU, UCLA, Berkeley, and USC, Cornell, UPenn

 

Yeah I'm a bit biased, but UCLA offers the option in experimental critical theory that focuses a lot on psychoanalysis.  We also have one of the largest film and tv archives on earth. Just sayin'

[__________________________]

NowMoreSerious's list is great; I would add UChicago to that list, whose English department is profoundly interdisciplinary and interested in theory. Chicago also is a really excellent place for film studies, as well as continental philosophy. I'm also biased though, because that's where I'm about to start my PhD.

OP, if I were you (and I don't know how far along in undergrad you are), I would start trying to hone down a set of interests (however disparate) based on theoretical and comparative questions (human vs. nonhuman, 19th century understandings of machines, 17th century European understandings of barbarians, the role Baroque aesthetics play in the films of Peter Greenaway, etc.). Start poking around to see if there are any intellectual working groups or generally "happening" sub-sub-fields your interested in (post-45, BABEL, animal studies, ecocriticism, etc) and see what those people are doing and where/what they are teaching.

I also don't think you need to necessarily devote all your attention to programs that explicitly call themselves "Theory" programs rather than lit - plenty of lit programs are theoretical and comparative in nature. I went into this process thinking a strictly English program would never work for me, but that's what I ended up choosing because the particular program I'm enrolling in encourages students to explore and experiment and allows for a great amount of flexibility in how that's done. If you have a couple languages under your belt, definitely look at Comp Lit programs, if not, there are English programs that will scratch the same itches (and its not like they'll stop you from learning languages once you start, most will require at least one).

[thepriorwalter]

To second Chicago, they also have a really good Slavic studies department (I believe Eric Santner is there?).

If you're looking outside the top 30, Florida is a pretty interdisciplinary program that values the study of non-literature texts and, although the German and Slavic Studies department has been undergoing some serious changes, there are wonderful professors there, who work closely with the English department, with whom you could take courses and who could sit on a committee.

Unsolicited advice: the statement of purpose is not really at all like a college admissions essay, with the exception of a few schools (like Michigan) that ask for a second essay documenting your personal story/personal investment in graduate work. The SOP is really its own genre and one of the hardest things, for me, in the application process was figuring out what a good SOP looks like. To that end, read as many as you can get your hands on before you write yours. Then, if you want to take a risk in your SOP, you know exactly how you're breaking from convention and can be purposeful with it, instead of writing something off the mark. Or you can just write a really good SOP that is very similar in structure to other successful SOPs because you've studied the form.

[solomonski]

Wow, thanks for the additional information! To answer a few questions:

 

- I've only read Russian lit in translation. However, I know Japanese reasonably well (not great at listening to it still, but can read it), and have a slew of university credits in it. I know that French and German are the "big" languages for English grad departments more often than not, but is it generally acceptable if your language is something further afield, like Japanese, and you wanted to do, say, comparative work in that language? 

 

- I'll finish undergrad next Spring (2016), so I was hoping to apply to places for Fall 2016; I've roughly 6 months then to clarify one or two sub-fields (or sub-sub-*-fields) I'm interested in. I'm definitely not excluding any straight-up "English" programs, as I get the impression that many of them are flexible and receptive to theory, as you say. (That's the problem at this point, honestly; I'm not ruling much of anything OUT, and the array of potential just seems overwhelmingly vast.)

Edited April 5, 2015 by solomonski

[solomonski]

Thepriorwalter: Unsolicited advice is a-okay with me, especially when it comes to this whole process. Is there some kind of convenient online repository where I can see SoPs, or do I need to just Google around collecting them piecemeal, or ask people in person, etc? 

[__________________________]

Here are some: http://statementofpurposeexamples.com/

You could also start thinking about your WS -- what I sort of did was start on that first, letting the formation of my writing sample inform how I wanted to present myself professionally (after throwing out many drafts and taking note of helpfully scathing reviews, of course!). I'm sure there's SOME project or idea that you touched on or began at some point that you never got to fully explore -- take the summer to immerse in it and produce a fresh piece of work. You might learn something about your own interests. I can't imagine writing an SOP just out of the blue, with no recently worked on project still buzzing in my head. It should be wholly, if strategically and selectively, "you.". If you browse this forum enough, you'll find plenty of threads and conversations dedicated to WS and SOP forms and strategies.

[lyonessrampant]

I'll add Minnesota English to the already mentioned CSCD program, very welcoming of interdisciplinary work, lots of people who work with theory and non-textual artifacts in addition to "low" culture texts.  Maybe also take a look at Oregon and Utah for programs that are strong and outside of the top 30.  

 

I also second the advice to start your application with your writing sample.  Let that guide your SOP.  The better the fit between those two documents the stronger you'll be as an applicant.  Your WS should be relevant to existing conversations in the field, so make sure to be reading recent scholarship, and it should show you doing the kind of work your SOP says you're interested in doing, so if theory is important, your WS should show you working with it in productive and relevant (read recent) ways.  

 

So much of applying is selling yourself as a candidate, so to that end, you focus what you say your interests are.  You can always explore more things or even change subfields entirely once you're in a program.  They expect that you'll change, but they want to see from your application materials that you know how to present yourself as a (developing) scholar.  

[surlefil]

Thepriorwalter: Unsolicited advice is a-okay with me, especially when it comes to this whole process. Is there some kind of convenient online repository where I can see SoPs, or do I need to just Google around collecting them piecemeal, or ask people in person, etc? 

I asked people who had applied to read their statement and after reading some sops you get the idea. It is very personal, so you should work on finding some kind of conceptual web to guide the whole statement. This thread is very good: I would be glad to read your statement if you need help. I read several statements before writing mine, and I applied with my boyfriend and two friends, so I worked not only in my own statement but also in theirs.

 

I would add the Johns Hopkins program in Humanities to the programs listed above, which are great. I was in a similar situation (albeit different, as I am probably more interested in theory than you are), because I am an international student who studied philosophy and wanted to do aesthetics with an interdisciplinary approach, so it wasn't so clear which programs were right for me. My main advice would be to look at many different programs, because you never know where you will find what you are looking for, you might find unusually interdisciplinary English programs or Comp. Lit. programs that are the opposite of what you are seeking. 

 

*edited to correct typo

Edited April 5, 2015 by surlefil