STS Applicants - Fall 2016

[Nooooope]

9 hours ago, A Librarian said:

I was accepted to RPI on Friday! 

Congrats!

[Neist]

18 hours ago, A Librarian said:

I was accepted to RPI on Friday! I received a basic e-mail telling me to check the site, and when I logged in there was a simple "congratulations." Evidently more information is to follow, and there was no information about fellowships or other kinds of financial aid. Still, I'm very excited!

I think that @nevermind is right though:

It seems like RPI doesn't send out all of its notifications at once, so there may be more acceptances still to come from them this week. 

Thanks for the heads up, and congrats!

So your status was updated on the website? Good to hear! I was wondering about that. Mine has been at "Submitted" every since I submitted it. I was starting to wonder if it changed at all. 

I'm assume you're talking about the status check here, correct? https://apply.rpi.edu/account/login

Again, congrats!  

@Logik, I just noticed that your field is the Cold War and the cultural history of technology. What are you interested in specifically? It's not my field of focus, but I have more than a passing interest in that field. Call it a hobby.  

Edited February 8, 2016 by Neist

[A Librarian]

Thanks @nevermind, @Logik and @Neist!

9 hours ago, Neist said:

So your status was updated on the website? Good to hear! I was wondering about that. Mine has been at "Submitted" every since I submitted it. I was starting to wonder if it changed at all. 

I'm assume you're talking about the status check here, correct? https://apply.rpi.edu/account/login

Correct, my status was updated on the website - though I received a more official offer e-mail today from the department as well as an official contact from the department. It seems like they don't make any funding decisions until later on (mid-March).

[ladyobscure]

I applied for STS to York and Cornell - haven't heard from either but it's probably a yes from York as it is my masters school. Let's see how it all goes. Has anyone heard from Cornell?

[Neist]

6 minutes ago, ladyobscure said:

I applied for STS to York and Cornell - haven't heard from either but it's probably a yes from York as it is my masters school. Let's see how it all goes. Has anyone heard from Cornell?

Nope, but Cornell usually doesn't let anyone know until it's usually March. Sometimes mid March.

We have a while to wait. There's several of us waiting.  

[ladyobscure]

Just now, Neist said:

Nope, but Cornell usually doesn't let anyone know until it's usually March. Sometimes mid March.

We have a while to wait. There's several of us waiting.  

I'll be happy with whatever gets me out of Toronto, so I'm really waiting on Cornell, NYU (for food studies) and Oxford (geography). Oxford is the only one who has said anything...that is my file will be assessed according to the January 22 deadline (I applied in November). 

[ladyobscure]

And I forgot to mention Chicago's CHSS program. That would be great too, and it seems they do let people know somewhat soonish. 

[Neist]

24 minutes ago, ladyobscure said:

I'll be happy with whatever gets me out of Toronto, so I'm really waiting on Cornell, NYU (for food studies) and Oxford (geography). Oxford is the only one who has said anything...that is my file will be assessed according to the January 22 deadline (I applied in November). 

Wow, that program sounds really interesting! What are your interests?

[ladyobscure]

1 minute ago, Neist said:

Wow, that program sounds really interesting! What are your interests?

Colonialism, food history, and cultures of fine dining and fusion cuisine. Regions of interest are southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe (probably will focus on Latin America). 

[Nooooope]

16 hours ago, Neist said:

 

@Logik, I just noticed that your field is the Cold War and the cultural history of technology. What are you interested in specifically? It's not my field of focus, but I have more than a passing interest in that field. Call it a hobby.  

Primarily, I'm interested in the state’s (in particular, Canada and peripheral powers during the Cold War) funding/use of technology and ritual to maintain a perception of control and sovereignty over its frontiers. I've also become increasingly interested in the nuclear narrative within Canada in the '50s and '60s.

[anthrostudentcyn]

@Logik That's so interesting! I've actually become super interested in Canadian history (i'm history of medicine though) even though I'm American. I'm crossing my fingers for IHPST!

[Neist]

14 minutes ago, anthrostudentcyn said:

@Logik That's so interesting! I've actually become super interested in Canadian history (i'm history of medicine though) even though I'm American. I'm crossing my fingers for IHPST!

I agree! Sounds pretty fascinating.

12 hours ago, ladyobscure said:

Colonialism, food history, and cultures of fine dining and fusion cuisine. Regions of interest are southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe (probably will focus on Latin America). 

Also, very fascinating!

Hopefully we all go onto get our PhDs and write some good books.  

[Neist]

Oh, look, someone got into ASU. Congrats!

It looked like an awesome program when I checked it out months ago, but it didn't really align with my interests enough to warrant applying.

[A Librarian]

16 hours ago, Neist said:

Cornell usually doesn't let anyone know until it's usually March. Sometimes mid March.

We have a while to wait. There's several of us waiting.  

And it is an excruciating wait!

16 hours ago, ladyobscure said:

I'll be happy with whatever gets me out of Toronto, so I'm really waiting on Cornell, NYU (for food studies) and Oxford (geography).

My girlfriend attended NYU's food studies program - it's excellent, but I think that NYU tends to be pretty slow when it comes to making decisions.

Good luck!

[ladyobscure]

It's so nice to see everyone encouraging each other in the STS thread! Out of curiosity, what are your research interests?

 

I'm interested in history, philosophy and anthropology of the ecological sciences and I'm especially interested in how settler colonialism affected the way taxonomy and hierarchy of species is explained. I'm also really interested in human-animal studies through posthumanist and postcolonial lenses. 

[ladyobscure]

@A Librarian I see you are applying to IHPST in Toronto. I'm afraid I don't have too many good things to say about the department as of right now, but it has historically been a good place, albeit very academically conservative. Who do you want to work with there?

[nevermind]

32 minutes ago, ladyobscure said:

It's so nice to see everyone encouraging each other in the STS thread! Out of curiosity, what are your research interests?

My research interests are situated within the intersections of technology, water governance, political ecology, knowledge production, and religion. My overarching research aim is to understand how people come to know "nature" and their environment(s)...exploring how tensions present between science/religion become embedded in environmental debates within the scientific community and public sphere. Specifically, I focus on water technology of the modern Middle East (Israel/Palestine), looking at how water systems (including desalination, irrigation, and reclaimed water use) have developed historically and how they contribute to embodied space. Obviously, this lends itself to integrating a lot of broader themes like nationalism, power and territoriality, borderlands and hybrid geographies. 

(I mean ideally this is what I'd work on. Currently, I'm working on refreshing my email every 5 seconds and checking all applications for some hint of change.)

 

[ladyobscure]

1 minute ago, nevermind said:

My research interests are situated within the intersections of technology, water governance, political ecology, knowledge production, and religion. My overarching research aim is to understand how people come to know "nature" and their environment(s)...exploring how tensions present between science/religion become embedded in environmental debates within the scientific community and public sphere. Specifically, I focus on water technology of the modern Middle East (Israel/Palestine), looking at how water systems (including desalination, irrigation, and reclaimed water use) have developed historically and how they contribute to embodied space. Obviously, this lends itself to integrating a lot of broader themes like nationalism, power and territoriality, borderlands and hybrid geographies. 

(I mean ideally this is what I'd work on. Currently, I'm working on refreshing my email every 5 seconds and checking all applications for some hint of change.)

 

Man, we are kindred spirits! My geographical focus is however on Latin America/South/Southeast Asia. 

[Neist]

52 minutes ago, ladyobscure said:

It's so nice to see everyone encouraging each other in the STS thread! Out of curiosity, what are your research interests?

I'm interested in history, philosophy and anthropology of the ecological sciences and I'm especially interested in how settler colonialism affected the way taxonomy and hierarchy of species is explained. I'm also really interested in human-animal studies through posthumanist and postcolonial lenses. 

That sounds pretty interesting. I've done some casual reading on hierarchies and taxonomy. I really liked Nature's Body and The Platypus and the Mermaid. Good reads.

I'm interested in cultural artifacts that reflect or affect occupational bias and identity. My undergraduate research focuses primarily on biographies, but I'd like to expand my scope in graduate school. It's sort of a vague description, but basically I'm interested in things made by cultures that demonstrate the "right" way to be a scientists or do science. Similarly, I'm interested in the groups that these things often don't target, as they tend to be underrepresented, marginalized groups.

There's my elevator pitch.  

[A Librarian]

57 minutes ago, ladyobscure said:

@A Librarian I see you are applying to IHPST in Toronto. I'm afraid I don't have too many good things to say about the department as of right now, but it has historically been a good place, albeit very academically conservative. Who do you want to work with there?

Honestly...I'm not so sure why I even applied there. About half way through my application it occurred to me that it would actually be a really lousy fit for my research interests. It seems very "philosophy of science" heavy at the moment, and as though there aren't many people there doing much around technology. Their application process was rather odd, you pay at the start of it. I had already paid by the time I realized just how bad a fit it would be, but since I'd paid I figured that I would finish applying. I fully expect that IHPST will reject me, and frankly they should - it wouldn't be a good match.

 

1 hour ago, ladyobscure said:

It's so nice to see everyone encouraging each other in the STS thread! Out of curiosity, what are your research interests?

My research focuses on the social, cultural and intellectual history of technology with a particular emphasis on the development of the critique of technology (especially the work of Lewis Mumford and Günther Anders). Much of my recent work looks at extreme ideological reactions to technological change (Luddism, Anarcho-Primitivism, Accelerationism, Reactionary Modernism, and so forth) in particular as these emerge and are enacted in the Anthropocene. Much of this work explores the fear that in the human built world, humans have made themselves obsolete. I’m also interested in the interplay between ethics and technological change. Another subset of my research, more of a pet project than anything else, looks at Jewish philosophers writings about technology.

1 hour ago, ladyobscure said:

I'm interested in history, philosophy and anthropology of the ecological sciences and I'm especially interested in how settler colonialism affected the way taxonomy and hierarchy of species is explained. I'm also really interested in human-animal studies through posthumanist and postcolonial lenses. 

Sounds very interesting! Is there a different research project that you're thinking about for NYU (Food Studies)?

[ladyobscure]

15 minutes ago, A Librarian said:

 

Sounds very interesting! Is there a different research project that you're thinking about for NYU (Food Studies)?

Yeah, actually! Though my interests intersect. I am interested in looking at colonial networks of food and cuisine, in particular fine dining cultures, human animal relationships and "fusion" cuisine in Europe and Latin America. It's basically a more food-y version of my STS interests in ecology

[nevermind]

1 hour ago, ladyobscure said:

Yeah, actually! Though my interests intersect. I am interested in looking at colonial networks of food and cuisine, in particular fine dining cultures, human animal relationships and "fusion" cuisine in Europe and Latin America. It's basically a more food-y version of my STS interests in ecology

Not "academic" (per se), but you should check out "Chef's Table" on Netflix (if accessible for you). The episode on Blue Hill might be especially intriguing for you.

[Neist]

Noticed a oddly-labeled result for RPI STS was posted two days ago. It was another acceptance. 

I think I'm just going to assume a rejection at this point. *insert sad trombone noise* It's been almost a week since the first notification, so even if I do get in, I'm not sure if I'd get funding. It's another assumption on my part, but I'd presume that the first to be notified are the more obviously qualified applicants. 

But who knows, really? I have an old graduate student handbook for RPI STS and it states the adcom is only three faculty members. I might take them a while to consider all the applicants.

 

[nevermind]

I'm assuming that I'm rejected from Yale...not a huge surprise since there were only two faculty I wanted to work with and the overall research program isn't tech-centric. I'm more let down by my rejection from Madison, which was one of my top choices and by FAR my best research fit. 

I can't really do another Master's degree to improve my chances so I feel a little bummed. I'm not really sure what else I can do at this point to show that I can succeed. Everyone else I know who applied for Ph.Ds and got shut out first round....always had stellar results the next time they applied (e.g. getting in to almost everywhere). Now I'm rejected from 50% of my programs. This looks like it's on track to getting shut out again...so I'm not really sure what I'm going to do at this point.

[Neist]

I wouldn't be as surprised if I didn't get into RPI. It's not as good of a fit compared to other programs. I knew that before applying, but I am getting a little bit antsy. Recent developments in Oklahoma's education budget means that even if I do get accepted into OU, I might not get funding, and Cornell is a bit of a long shot, even if I think myself a competitive applicant. I got accepted into Drexel, but it'd be very, very expensive to attend, and I'm guessing RPI probably isn't going to happen. 

I really liked BGSU's program, and I'd be more than happy to go there. Supposed to hear back from them in a couple weeks. If I don't get into BGSU, I'm going to be stuck between a rock and an expensive place.

@nevermind, do you have a job to keep you occupied for another year? I wouldn't mind waiting too much if I had something to keep me occupied, but it's slightly more terrifying if there's nothing holding you up for a year.