Waaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrggghhhhrrrblll.

[jhameia]

It's time to look for a grad school.

Seriously.

Stuff I'm looking at:

McMaster University - Cultural Studies and Critical Theory MA
Looks pretty funky and this year's subjects are stuff I'm actually interested in. No guarantee they'll be offering the same courses next year but I'll take a shot.

University of Alberta - Comparative Literature, in the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies
Steampunk Scholar is actually doing his doctorate here, under this degree. He told me that from what he's seen of my writing, I'll fit right in. I'm not sure I can handle learning another language. I'm horrible with languages unless I take it really slow.

University of Toronto - Collaborative Masters in Asia-Pacific Studies
This looks really cool except I'd have to pick a "home department" (only one of which I'm interested in: Women's Studies). I'll think on this. May not happen though.

ETA
Wilfred Laurier University - MA in English
The faculty looks pretty awesome.

University of Hawaii Manoa - MA in English
So does this faculty staff. Interestingly, they have a MA CW program in which students can take on a CW project and then undergo questioning on how their CW project fits into their research. ... Which admittedly sounds like my cup of tea! Description: Students in Creative Writing complete their M.A. with a creative thesis, which they are then asked to place, in their oral thesis defense, within the context of other works in the same genre.

IS THAT NOT AWESOME?

Suggestions for other schools are also welcome.


What I'm looking to do:

I'd like to stick to my English Lit roots of engaging critically with text, although this time, I'll be looking at it from a more SEA perspective. Part of this includes:

1) I'm a bit confused/miffed at the whole "post-colonialism" thing, because it assumes that there's a "colonialism" period (which there totally is!) and if post-colonialism is important, why not colonialism? I ask this because we all know, in colonial countries, that the colonizers have left an indelible mark, and it seems remiss to not explore the voices of the colonized from that time period.

2) The intersection of race theory within Western discourses and how race is explored within most western literature, if at all. If it isn't what does the silence say? If it is, what is said about it?

3) The manifestations of race within current literature, particularly scifi/fantasy and their subgenres. This may end up being a project of mine cataloging stuff, and it's totally being written about now, but I'd like to explore this from a more academic PoV.

In fact, a syncretization of all of these topics would probably end up happening, because I can't really deal with one without dealing with the others.

This bears more thinking.

ETA: Any suggestions on what would be better - course-based MA or thesis-based MA? I kinda... want to do both. But I'm not sure I'd be allowed to.

Comments

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

Looking at colonialism is dangerously out of fashion in some fields; I know I'd get looked at weirdly (and looked down upon) for studying it in history in some fields. (Of course, I went to a horribly dysfunctional university for graduate school.) I have no idea what it's like in lit and the like, but you're right that it's overlooked.

Mac and UoA are good about scholarships/TA spots for their students; UT largely goes out of its way not to provide funding for master's level students anymore, though, so you shouldn't expect a dime from them.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I've heard that about UoT, apparently their funding goes to PhD students.

Is there a reason why colonialism is looked down on? I imagine it'd be similar in Lit.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they switched the funding thing just as I applied to them. I got a nice acceptance letter basically saying "we're not giving you a dime, but you'll be studying in Toronto, Center Of The Universe, so it's more than worth the exchange." (They also admitted me without my consent and tried to send me a bill; that was fun.)

I think it's partly academic fashion - the same reason that I was discouraged from, say, seeking information on subjects from other departments for history-program purposes - along with a bit of "oh, we've done that already" attitude, which really is just the same as "academic fashion." I had a few ideas and projects shot down at graduate school because "historians don't look at those anymore," and I know that other fields have similar attitudes about some subjects.

There's also a little bit of "to study an idea is to advocate for it" mindset that's getting more common these days, but getting that reaction is more by individual than by department or field, I think. I don't know how common that is on the broader level, but I know some books I needed for my thesis at SMU were being destroyed by students because of that attitude.

[dimension-view.livejournal.com]

What about schools outside Canada? SOAS (http://www.soas.ac.uk) is good for what you are interested in

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer to avoid the UK because of the high costs of living there, but any suggestion is welcome.

Wow, "Oriental" Studies?

[cycads.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Yeah, "Oriental"! :O Older unis in the UK are pretty old-school like that. I'll be at SOAS next month actually. It's got a pretty good collection of SEA films, books, and other research materials. If you're interested in SEA, as I am, there's the Asia Pacific research centre (http://rspas.anu.edu.au/) at Australia National University for consideration - close-ish to home.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

Glancing at your response made me LOL.

I'm more leaning towards English Lit side with elements of SEA.

Australia; I'd kinda forgotten about that. That's so far from Canada though! :P (I'm just grousing, I've built myself quite the life here and it's hard to let go. Plus, it may be easier to move within Canada.)

[beautydreaming.livejournal.com]

The Women's Studies program at U of T is wicked awesome. As in, so awesome that I am actively considering it and I am the antithesis of a Women's Studies student.

Also, you could live in my basement.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I could!

What IS the antithesis of a Women's Studies student anyway? I thought it was code for "misogynist" :P

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, this sounds like one of those hate/apathy riddles. But no. Most women's studies students and profs and papers and shit just make me roll my eyes and go "get over yourselves already". But then again, I'm supersekkritly a straight dude.

[fantasyecho.livejournal.com]

I don't know dude. I firmly believe myself to be part of the sanctimonious women's studies set, but I'm not really interested in going down that part academically.

[zibblsnrt.livejournal.com]

Also, re: course versus thesis? Thesis is always better if you have even the slightest desire of possibly going beyond the MA level in the future. You'll probably be spending about the same amount of time at the school in either case, but you'll get a stronger degree out of it that way.

If you did both, you'd be doing them as seperate degrees, which is entirely doable (even if it takes twice as long).