Waiting as a Comp Lit person

[Straparlare]

*sigh* anyone else hate Sundays? A day full of stressing and obsessing even though nothing will probably come...Best of luck in the coming week....

[steve3020]

6 minutes ago, Straparlare said:

*sigh* anyone else hate Sundays? A day full of stressing and obsessing even though nothing will probably come...Best of luck in the coming week....

I actually prefer Sundays. Yesterday I was checking my email every minute (literally), but today, knowing that nothing will come out anyway, I can focus on other things better. I cleaned my flat and I am reading now...

[Straparlare]

Oh? What are you reading? I guess for me, I still go at the same pace as usual - check my email every few hours, sit around on GC for a few hours, and look at every other hour. It's just so quiet and I hate that 

[Yanaka]

I've spent my whole day on the forum, and when I have a second during the day I come on this site right away  Don't be too shy about it, guys. We're all in this shame together! 

[Straparlare]

@Yanaka Good luck on the English MA's! Also, I never asked, what are your research interests?

[Yanaka]

3 minutes ago, Straparlare said:

@Yanaka Good luck on the English MA's! Also, I never asked, what are your research interests?

Phew, I'm not sure I feel comfortable enough with those (yes, I'm copying Wyatt's style) to spread it all out given that I'm trying to remain somewhat anonymous and that I'm a such a novice in all this scholarly stuff, so I'll send you a pm 

[Caien]

@Yanaka you may have already considered this, but the Netherlands has some great options for comparative literature MAs (the two year research programs rather than the 1 year taught). I know Leiden's is supposed to be very good and has a record of placing students in top US PhD programs, and there seems to be scholarships available for non-EU students to do their postgrad in the Netherlands (there's a website, studyinholland.nl).

Edited February 12, 2017 by Caien

[Yanaka]

Ha! My posts are really getting interesting reactions  

Being a EU student, I wish I would consider that kind of program @Caien. It would make it all easier! But I think I'm trying to make my existence harder by absolutely wanting to move back to the US! I'm going to look into out however, at least for general culture   Thanks!!

[gyeum]

Has anyone else gotten an email scheduling an interview at UPenn? I'm wondering if this is good news (getting through a preliminary examination) or just sort of routine?

[steve3020]

10 hours ago, Straparlare said:

Oh? What are you reading? I guess for me, I still go at the same pace as usual - check my email every few hours, sit around on GC for a few hours, and look at every other hour. It's just so quiet and I hate that 

I was reading Kojève's Introduction to the reading of Hegel. My area of interest is in modernism and postmodernism in film and political theory, so Hegel is interesting to think about from the postmodern perspective. What are your interests?    

[steve3020]

6 hours ago, Caien said:

@Yanaka you may have already considered this, but the Netherlands has some great options for comparative literature MAs (the two year research programs rather than the 1 year taught). I know Leiden's is supposed to be very good and has a record of placing students in top US PhD programs, and there seems to be scholarships available for non-EU students to do their postgrad in the Netherlands (there's a website, studyinholland.nl).

Hi Caien, thanks for this information. Do you know if there's any other EU countries with funded postgrad programmes in comp.lit or similar fields (for non-EU students)? I think I should start looking into them as a backup plan...

Edited February 13, 2017 by steve3020

[steve3020]

6 hours ago, Yanaka said:

Being a EU student, I wish I would consider that kind of program @Caien. It would make it all easier! But I think I'm trying to make my existence harder by absolutely wanting to move back to the US! I'm going to look into out however, at least for general culture   Thanks!!

You really are making your existence harder! Being an EU national gives you so much advantage in finding a postgrad course over non-EU students like me! BTW as I see you are in France, which French universities are good for the kind of studies you would do in an American comp.lit dept (on film, theory, etc.)? I haven't look into French unis much because it seems like it's an entirely different academic culture you got there.

[The Ister]

 

Hope that makes you smile

It seems humanities in French higher education have the only programs in Europe that still preserve their strong emphasis on critical theory and continental philosophy. However, I couldn't find any MA program with English as the language of instruction when I was set out to do my master's in Europe. If you are fluent in French, you may want to check this out yourself. If not impossible, funding is very hard to find, nevertheless you can easily pick up a student job and earn your keep. You don't pay anything to the universities except for a small contribution money each semester. It's around 250 euros if I'm not mistaken. I guess Yanaka would fill you in better on this.  

I'm writing this from Germany. Many people presume that humanities departments in Germany still work in German Thought and critical theory, but this is false. I believe German Thought is studied more in the US than it is in Germany. Very strange. Unless you study in a philosophy program where the language of instruction would be German, it is very unlikely that you will get to study in the continental tradition here. Unfortunately critical theory is something that is being collectively disregarded by humanities departments in Germany with a few exceptions. The one MA program that comes to my mind is English Literatures and Literary Theory at Freiburg -beware though, they don't fancy Heidegger and Hegel would be a long shot- However, if you would like studying in an interdisciplinary program with a focus on popular culture phenomena and you could bear working in a sort of rhetoric with preciseness and straight-forwardness given the utmost importance, there are plenty of programs that you might consider. Finding funding is easier in Germany. You may apply to DAAD or Alfred Topler. They are generous. If not, you could pick up a job and make the ends meet. You don't pay anything to the universities in Germany regardless of your nationality. Feel free to send a pm if you are considering Germany as a destination. I would however discourage you, if you wanted keep trying to read Hegel.  

Edited February 13, 2017 by The Ister

[steve3020]

48 minutes ago, The Ister said:

 

Hope that makes you smile

It seems humanities in French higher education have the only programs in Europe that still preserve their strong emphasis on critical theory and continental philosophy. However, I couldn't find any MA program with English as the language of instruction when I was set out to do my master's in Europe. If you are fluent in French, you may want to check this out yourself. If not impossible, funding is very hard to find, nevertheless you can easily pick up a student job and earn your keep. You don't pay anything to the universities except for a small contribution money each semester. It's around 250 euros if I'm not mistaken. I guess Yanaka would fill you in better on this.  

I'm writing this from Germany. Many people presume that humanities departments in Germany still work in German Thought and critical theory, but this is false. I believe German Thought is studied more in the US than it is in Germany. Very strange. Unless you study in a philosophy program where the language of instruction would be German, it is very unlikely that you will get to study in the continental tradition here. Unfortunately critical theory is something that is being collectively disregarded by humanities departments in Germany with a few exceptions. The one MA program that comes to my mind is English Literatures and Literary Theory at Freiburg -beware though, they don't fancy Heidegger and Hegel would be a long shot- However, if you would like studying in an interdisciplinary program with a focus on popular culture phenomena and you could bear working in a sort of rhetoric with preciseness and straight-forwardness given the utmost importance, there are plenty of programs that you might consider. Finding funding is easier in Germany. You may apply to DAAD or Alfred Topler. They are generous. If not, you could pick up a job and make the ends meet. You don't pay anything to the universities in Germany regardless of your nationality. Feel free to send a pm if you are considering Germany as a destination. I would however discourage you, if you wanted keep trying to read Hegel.  

Thanks, The Ister. I have looked into French schools myself but the problem is lack of funding. I heard there's some scholarships but I just didn't like the additional work so I opted for American programmes. I speak French but not German. Do they have courses in English there in Germany? (I'm not trying to specialise in Hegel or German philosophy btw but that pic is quite funny haha)

[Yanaka]

I have to be honest, I haven't checked out French schools for Comp Lit and the WGS field. Plus, the only time I asked for help from a prof. who's studied at UCLA and who is the only one to specialize in WGS, she was very cold, almost rude. So my reasons for not considering a French (rather, Parisian) masters is 1. a lot of the profs. are full of themselves and I'm afraid to be with another one of them 2. I want to have the American diploma for multiple reasons (polyvalence, reinforce my English skills, etc.) 3. a doctorate in France seems to be quite the nightmare.

 

[The Ister]

34 minutes ago, steve3020 said:

Thanks, The Ister. I have looked into French schools myself but the problem is lack of funding. I heard there's some scholarships but I just didn't like the additional work so I opted for American programmes. I speak French but not German. Do they have courses in English there in Germany? (I'm not trying to specialise in Hegel or German philosophy btw but that pic is quite funny haha)

I understand why you don't want to pick up a job while studying. It usually means leading a double life, i.e reading and thinking in Hegel in the morning and worrying about cleaning a beer pull in the evening... Scholarship is often an available option when you dig it up. And yeah, there are plenty of MA programs in English in Germany. Germany has been trying to internationalize their universities for the past 5 years and that means abandoning German as the language of instruction most of the time. Especially when you intend to do your master's in Anglophone literatures or cultural studies, it is usually in English. On a typical website of a German university, you would usually find a page as 'MA programs taught in English.' An example of this: http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/studienangebot/english/ You may check Freie, Humboldt, Ludwig-Maximilians, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Augsburg, Hamburg, Goethe, Konstanz, Cologne, Göttingen, Bohn, and Bielefeld universities. Keep in mind that, unlike US schools, programs at those universities do not accept students with funding. You would have to apply separately for funding to the university or an external institution.

[Yanaka]

The advantage there is in France is that you have social aids (CAF = the government gives you money every month for your apartment; la bourse = money from the government calculated on your revenues--not sure if that applies to foreign people but I think so; otherwise there are other options but you have to dig). 

Also I forgot to correct the info about the financial contribution in France, for my school it's 500€ something and it's for both semesters and includes health insurance.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Yanaka

[ThousandsHardships]

@Yanaka The CAF definitely applies to foreigners. I'm not sure about the bourse. I'm spending the year as an English teaching assistant in France, and I have yet to understand everything (or anything at all) on my bulletin de salaire. I think I'm just happy to be paid at all in a sufficient amount to live on...

The thing about American graduate programs, especially in the humanities, is that committees can be quite nitpicky when it comes to evaluating your statements. I've been told you should know what you want to focus on, but that you shouldn't be so specific that you already have a topic for your thesis or dissertation. I've been told that it's good to have identified an adviser, but that knowing exactly who you want to work with can backfire. I've been told to express interest while avoiding clichés, to avoid life stories while talking about experiences, to explain past difficulties without giving excuses, and a bunch of other seemingly contradictory things like that. It's a delicate balance and an art in itself. And even when you've mastered this art, there's still no guarantee of being accepted into a program, especially if your field is competitive.

If your only experience in higher education has been in a different country, then you might be at a disadvantage simply because your professors will not know the system and will not be able to help you in the way that faculty who have sat on numerous admissions committees and evaluated countless applications will. So have a bit of confidence in your abilities. Any rejections you get might not be because of your competence, and as long as this is the case, chances are that at least one school will see your strengths.

Practically speaking, if you don't get in this admissions season, you could try again in the future and not limit yourself to comparative literature graduate programs. Honestly, I feel that foreign literature programs are less competitive than comp lit. You could consider applying to French literature programs, for example, and from there, you can always take comp lit classes once you're in, write your thesis or dissertation in English, with perspectives that you gain from comp lit. You could even transfer departments later on if that's what you want.

[Yanaka]

True  The goal is to really get closer to anglophone literature because that's what my core wants right now and where my focus is, but I'll see what I do if things still don't work out for me.

I don't understand les fiches de paie either, especially not the congés and soldes and stuff they add or take out of the brut amount ahaha  

[steve3020]

1 hour ago, The Ister said:

I understand why you don't want to pick up a job while studying. It usually means leading a double life, i.e reading and thinking in Hegel in the morning and worrying about cleaning a beer pull in the evening... Scholarship is often an available option when you dig it up. And yeah, there are plenty of MA programs in English in Germany. Germany has been trying to internationalize their universities for the past 5 years and that means abandoning German as the language of instruction most of the time. Especially when you intend to do your master's in Anglophone literatures or cultural studies, it is usually in English. On a typical website of a German university, you would usually find a page as 'MA programs taught in English.' An example of this: http://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/studienangebot/english/ You may check Freie, Humboldt, Ludwig-Maximilians, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Augsburg, Hamburg, Goethe, Konstanz, Cologne, Göttingen, Bohn, and Bielefeld universities. Keep in mind that, unlike US schools, programs at those universities do not accept students with funding. You would have to apply separately for funding to the university or an external institution.

I meant the additional work that goes into applying for scholarships + programmes...but yeh I wouldn't like to have to get a job and worry about making the ends meet whilst studying. I've tried that when I was an UG student because I didn't wanna rely on my parents. I managed it to work for a year cos I earned about £600 pm but it was a real pain. I had to move between university and town, sometimes several times a day. Plus I had to live in some of the worst rooms available in Manchester. It wasn't very good. 

But thanks for that info about German universities! I'll definitely look into them!

[steve3020]

1 hour ago, Yanaka said:

The advantage there is in France is that you have social aids (CAF = the government gives you money every month for your apartment; la bourse = money from the government calculated on your revenues--not sure if that applies to foreign people but I think so; otherwise there are other options but you have to dig). 

Also I forgot to correct the info about the financial contribution in France, for my school it's 500€ something and it's for both semesters and includes health insurance.

I heard la bourse etudiante is only for EU students. I didn't know about CAF - thanks for the info

[steve3020]

46 minutes ago, ThousandsHardships said:

@Yanaka The CAF definitely applies to foreigners. I'm not sure about the bourse. I'm spending the year as an English teaching assistant in France, and I have yet to understand everything (or anything at all) on my bulletin de salaire. I think I'm just happy to be paid at all in a sufficient amount to live on...

The thing about American graduate programs, especially in the humanities, is that committees can be quite nitpicky when it comes to evaluating your statements. I've been told you should know what you want to focus on, but that you shouldn't be so specific that you already have a topic for your thesis or dissertation. I've been told that it's good to have identified an adviser, but that knowing exactly who you want to work with can backfire. I've been told to express interest while avoiding clichés, to avoid life stories while talking about experiences, to explain past difficulties without giving excuses, and a bunch of other seemingly contradictory things like that. It's a delicate balance and an art in itself. And even when you've mastered this art, there's still no guarantee of being accepted into a program, especially if your field is competitive.

If your only experience in higher education has been in a different country, then you might be at a disadvantage simply because your professors will not know the system and will not be able to help you in the way that faculty who have sat on numerous admissions committees and evaluated countless applications will. So have a bit of confidence in your abilities. Any rejections you get might not be because of your competence, and as long as this is the case, chances are that at least one school will see your strengths.

Practically speaking, if you don't get in this admissions season, you could try again in the future and not limit yourself to comparative literature graduate programs. Honestly, I feel that foreign literature programs are less competitive than comp lit. You could consider applying to French literature programs, for example, and from there, you can always take comp lit classes once you're in, write your thesis or dissertation in English, with perspectives that you gain from comp lit. You could even transfer departments later on if that's what you want.

This is my second time applying to American Comp.lit programmes. Last year I was doing my undergrad so I considered it as a practice and gave it a shot. Luck seems to be indeed a huge factor in all this madness but still if I don't get in anywhere this year, I think I'll look into different routes. I thought about applying to French or East Asian language depts cos they seem to receive fewer apps, and I might go ahead with this. Or I'll probably look for something in Europe. Anyways it's too early to lose hope I guess - one program emailed me saying that my application has been forwarded to the adcom last week, one month after I submitted my app! Hope you guys hear back from somewhere this week with good news! 

[Yanaka]

13 minutes ago, steve3020 said:

I heard la bourse etudiante is only for EU students. I didn't know about CAF - thanks for the info

Yes, I was probably thinking of a foreign friend of mine but totally forgot she has both Canadian and Irish citizenship. Which is why she has it slightly easier than other foreigners. But the CAF definitely is for everyone, it's for people's housing regardless of their nationality.

[Straparlare]

12 hours ago, steve3020 said:

I was reading Kojève's Introduction to the reading of Hegel. My area of interest is in modernism and postmodernism in film and political theory, so Hegel is interesting to think about from the postmodern perspective. What are your interests?    

My interests are a little divided...largely I'm interested in literary and visual narrative, centered mostly the novel and 17th-19th century painting. I'm particularly interested in questions on narrative space, interpretation of narrative, and the relationship between narrative and audience. And then I have generic interests of Gothic fiction, Boccaccio and the Boccaccian model of tales (the italian novella), and fairy tales.

[gyeum]

1 hour ago, Straparlare said:

My interests are a little divided...largely I'm interested in literary and visual narrative, centered mostly the novel and 17th-19th century painting. I'm particularly interested in questions on narrative space, interpretation of narrative, and the relationship between narrative and audience. And then I have generic interests of Gothic fiction, Boccaccio and the Boccaccian model of tales (the italian novella), and fairy tales.

I'm also very interested in narratives, but more or less the means by which sociological positionalities influence the ways we interact with and engage with narratives. So how do men read women's narratives (sometimes about the marginalization of women by men) and internalize that information, given that they can only understand so much of someon else's experiences. I suppose this is more of less an intersection of narratology and critical theory.

I applied to ENS's International Selection for literary theory, but I doubt I'll do it, given I've already been admitted to Berkeley. The only thing that'd stop me from jumping straight from undergrad (I'm a senior rn) into a PhD is getting a Fulbright to get a French MA in Quebec. Fingers crossed for that!