next »

[tuxedo_cat]

I wonder if, given your goals of mentorship, academic community, and training, it might not be worth considering an MFA in Creative Nonfiction?  It's a terminal degree with increasing teaching opportunities, and combines research with training in writing.

Aha!  I think this might be the best suggestion so far.  Iowa, of course, also trains non-fiction writers, although it is most famous as a place for budding fiction writers.  But there are tons of places that offer this sort of degree program that might be more suited to your background and existing talents.

Hegemony expressed that insight that had also been rattling around in my head:  that a lot of people outside of academia often have a very romantic notion of what academia is actually like -- both the training and the actual work.  And jerseyjay's point about what you actually "read" in graduate school is also a point well-taken -- in English grad programs you would likely be reading a ton of theory, even in cultural studies classes.

[sugaree]

I wonder if, given your goals of mentorship, academic community, and training, it might not be worth considering an MFA in Creative Nonfiction?  It's a terminal degree with increasing teaching opportunities, and combines research with training in writing.

Aha!  I think this might be the best suggestion so far.  Iowa, of course, also trains non-fiction writers, although it is most famous as a place for budding fiction writers.  But there are tons of places that offer this sort of degree program that might be more suited to your background and existing talents.

Hegemony expressed that insight that had also been rattling around in my head:  that a lot of people outside of academia often have a very romantic notion of what academia is actually like -- both the training and the actual work.  And jerseyjay's point about what you actually "read" in graduate school is also a point well-taken -- in English grad programs you would likely be reading a ton of theory, even especiallyin cultural studies classes.

Fixed that for you, tuxedo cat!

But I agree with the general sentiment here that it doesn't sound like a doctoral program in American Studies is a great choice for you, OP, for many reasons (all well articulated here). But a MFA in creative non-fiction does sound like a great way to go for you, from what you've described here.

Chime as well on the romanticism of academia. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and am thankful to be doing it. But it's not all reading profound books and thinking deep thoughts. Who has the time to read anything but poorly written student papers these days? And one thinks those deep thoughts rarely, as the rest of the time we are revising the writing up of those deep thoughts in order to accommodate peer reviews and get pieces published that few will ever read.

[aandsdean]

I wonder if, given your goals of mentorship, academic community, and training, it might not be worth considering an MFA in Creative Nonfiction?  It's a terminal degree with increasing teaching opportunities, and combines research with training in writing.

Aha!  I think this might be the best suggestion so far.  Iowa, of course, also trains non-fiction writers, although it is most famous as a place for budding fiction writers.  But there are tons of places that offer this sort of degree program that might be more suited to your background and existing talents.

Hegemony expressed that insight that had also been rattling around in my head:  that a lot of people outside of academia often have a very romantic notion of what academia is actually like -- both the training and the actual work.  And jerseyjay's point about what you actually "read" in graduate school is also a point well-taken -- in English grad programs you would likely be reading a ton of theory, even in cultural studies classes.

Iowa actually also has a very good program in AMST, so there's some potentially interesting overlap there.  One of the very best job candidates I have ever interviewed had a Ph.D. in AMST from Iowa, and it was clear that not only was she very smart, but that she'd be extremely well trained as well.

[plsteachme]

Hegemony, you are extremely wise. Fourhats, you are a bit psychic. I've been thinking about Creative Nonfiction Programs. Jerseyjay, why is there no time to read??? How is this so? And Aandsdean, great to know about Iowa's AMST program--thank you all!

As for how established a writer I am, not enough to apply for writing fellowships, I don't think! I've written for a number of good places, but not with great regularity. Most of my good after work hours are spent pitching. Blegh.

[ejb_123]

Jerseyjay, why is there no time to read??? How is this so?

I'm not Jerseyjay, but in my experience, there just wasn't any time to read books the way that I had read them before grad school. I ended up creating and following an extremely detailed and strict schedule when I was in grad school. This schedule was so detailed and strict that I even knew exactly how many minutes a week I could spend washing dishes and going to the grocery store.

[academic_cog]

Hegemony, you are extremely wise. Fourhats, you are a bit psychic. I've been thinking about Creative Nonfiction Programs. Jerseyjay, why is there no time to read??? How is this so? And Aandsdean, great to know about Iowa's AMST program--thank you all!

As for how established a writer I am, not enough to apply for writing fellowships, I don't think! I've written for a number of good places, but not with great regularity. Most of my good after work hours are spent pitching. Blegh.

There is no time to read because you are not given a fellowship but a TAship which involves lots of reading, prepping, and grading for a class that you are giving, not taking? You might get a fellowship --- paid time to think and write, but my program was definitely trending away from that as part of the whole costcutting budget crisis stuff.

There is also the part about taking three or so seminars with *extremely* heavy reading loads and you have to do response papers or other assignments on all this reading every week, so you have to constantly time yourself and hustle through very dense reading as fast as you can. For years after my comp exams I had this habit of turning to the last page, checking the page number, and mentally computing how long it would take me to plow through the book --- even if it was a novel for pure pleasure reading.

[jerseyjay]

. Jerseyjay, why is there no time to read??? How is this so?

My experience, again, is in history.

The first part of a grad program consists of several classes. In these classes you have about one monograph a week to read. You also have papers, which are based on historiography. So you probably have about three to five monographs to read per week.

Then, you prepare for your comps. This consists of reading lists that are hundreds of books long.

Then, you have your dissertation to write. You must again mine many pages of books to get the information you need.

So, when does one have the time to sit down, open a book, and savor it? It was not until after my doctoral work was done--i.e., I had a PhD--that I had the luxury of reading a book the way I like to read. And I am not talking about novels, but about history books. I remember the feeling I had when I realized I could actually read a history book, cover to cover, without having to prep for a presentation or exam.

[lasquires]

People know I love books and will often ask me what I'm reading for fun, and I usually respond, "Reading is basically my job right now." In the past six years, I've occasionally picked up a novel or a non-fiction book that has nothing to do with my research, but that's usually during vacation. Actually, one of the best parts of being finished with my diss is that I don't feel (as) guilty about reading stuff that I don't plan to cite at some future date.

[suomynona]

OP, assuming you're a grown and fully functioning adult who understands that it's really really really hard to get a good academic job and doesn't need to be moralized to about his/her life choices, my suggestion is:

1) Apply to Am. St. programs at Yale and Harvard (Am. Civ.), maybe Iowa and Minnesota, but also look at top English programs for American literature and apply to those (many good ones have scrapped the GRE lit. test altogether, understanding rightly that it's useless).  As others said, you'll have plenty of opportunity for interdisciplinary work and an American focus in an English program, and more teaching and job opportunity at the end of it, relative to a specialized Am. St. degree.  You'll also likely have more opportunity for getting funded through a larger, traditional department, rather than a smaller, specialized 'studies' department that only takes 2-4 people/year and may not have as much funding for fellowships, conferences, academic support, etc., though not as a rule.   

2) If you get funding to go to a top program and that's what you want to do, do it.  But applying doesn't mean you have to accept an offer if it's not what you want, or if your circumstances change.

3) If as you suggested the New Republic piece is literary, you might just modify it (bolster with citations, historical context, etc.) and present it as such for a writing sample ('Attached is a modified version of a review I published in the New Republic').  Take credit for having a prestigious publication credit while modifying it for academic consumption, all at once.