Grad skool

[Anonymous No.17261098]

Anyone else here in or completed a graduate program? Also general thread to talk about academia, particularly the humanities.

Me
> 31 y.o.
> In my last semester of MFA
> Prestigious program, fully funded
> It's had its ups and downs, but has overall been a great experience and really helped me grow as a writer. I've also made some great friends and contacts through the program. However, I'm not sure it'd be worth it if I had to pay full tuition to the tune of $60K/year.

[Anonymous No.17261137]

dropped out a year ago and going back in because history and literature as your interest can only give you employment if you have a decent degree these days. Not sure if I want to bother because I know and hear how bad academia is (USA) but if I can be a historian that would be sweet, otherwise a high school teacher or something. Any things I should keep in mind? Also any anons know if academia is just as bad in europe, I want to take my masters abroad in Italy and if I can move to europe as well even though I know its easier said than done.

[Anonymous No.17261143]

>>17261098
Yeah, I did a useless Ph.D., and now have no idea what to do. Still don't regret it though, YOLO

[Anonymous No.17261185]

>>17261137
In the states, grad degrees are essentially required to even teach high school at a decent school, let alone any professional career in the humanities field of your choice. Not sure how it is in Europe, but if you want to do anything other than teach at an inner-city highschool, you need to get that degree.

I gave up on being rich a long time ago. I'd rather enjoy my commitment to my field than slave away doing something profitable that I hate. I'm just thankful not to have debt. I guess that's not much of an issue in Europe.

My program was pretty annoyingly "woke," but if you keep your head down and focus on your work, no-one really cares. The woketards were only a small fraction of the students, baizuos who got off on raising hell. They were a pain in the ass for the administration, but most of the profs and other students didn't really care about their rabblerousing.

>>17261143
>Piled higher and Deeper
Well, congrats, it's still quite an achievement. What field, fren? How long did it take you?

[Anonymous No.17261210]

>>17261098
>me
>undergrad in the humanities
>all my fellow students are retarded
>all the lecturers are also retarded
>I am also probably retarded for enrolling
>probably going to flunk out because I am too lazy to write essays (or even take notes)
>it's going okay
>>17261137
Depends on where you go. I went into a mid grade university and the quality of the student body is awful. The teaching is decent, but no one cares about degrees provided by unis like mine. The top of the line universities can probably get you any job regardless of what degree you take.
>>17261143
Do you mind sharing the subject, anon?

[Anonymous No.17261239]

phil undergrad here
I suck

[Anonymous No.17261264]

>>17261185
that sounds fine then, Im the same I dont give a shit about money as long as I get by, it just has to be in this field because nothing else I can maintain interest in, just whatever lets me commit to my field and contribute and not have to wage slave. I think I could keep my head down because Im so depressed I dont care but I dont know if I would be able to do it for long, thats why if I do it I have to take my masters in europe.
>>17261210
Im in the same boat then, Im in a mid grade university in Texas. I already made peace with the fact most student bodies are horrid, I already have depression anxiety so I dont talk to people to begin with and can avoid any trouble.

[Anonymous No.17261440]

I know a few grad students. The smart ones must be hanging with other people because mine are not. None of them used their advanced degrees it was just a way to gain social status and avoid adult life

[Anonymous No.17261464]

>>17261098
>Tuition, for instance, is an important item in the term bill, while for the far more valuable education which he gets by associating with the most cultivated of his contemporaries no charge is made.
University is a scam

[Anonymous No.17261523]

What is the point of graduate school, for say, humanities? Last year because of covid I was able to read about 30-40 philosophy books. It only cost the books and I already have a job.

[Anonymous No.17261543]

>>17261523
what's your job?

[Anonymous No.17261549]

>>17261098
I dropped out of my MA midway

[Anonymous No.17261559]

>>17261523
Outside of the practical need of gaining a degree in your field, there is the value of establishing contacts in a small, elite, exclusive career field. The interpersonal dialogue that comes from research, writing, and critique between students and faculty adds enormously to the learning process (if it's a good program. I have heard that people in midrange programs can sometimes be a lot less committed). The discursive quality is in general much higher than /litl....
At the same time, there's a lot you can discuss here, and things you can say here, that go outside of what's accepted in an academic context... Which is why I keep coming back here.

[Anonymous No.17261561]

>>17261543
Audit, I ask people if they've done their job. While waiting for their responses I read Greeks and pomos

[Anonymous No.17261595]

>>17261559
If money were no object it would be nice I suppose to study something as a group with a dedicated advisor. My undergrad experience was the opposite of course, few people read and our day care professors usually tried to encourage participation instead of letting the people who cared enough to read run the whole conversation. Sort of the worst of both worlds.

[Anonymous No.17261610]

German here.

I get payed 1500 Dollars a month for writing my PHD.

Being an Anglo must suck so much lol.

[Anonymous No.17261620]

>>17261610
you have no fucking idea

[Anonymous No.17261635]

>>17261620
So tell me, how much does it suck, I am quite sadistic, give me something to masturbate about.

[Anonymous No.17261658]

>>17261210
See if you can find notes online or from a friend. I also do not like writing essays but I have been using a method for when I get writers block. I write ideas in bullet point format down the page. No logical order or anything. Just get out as many thoughts on the subject as you can. Then go back and expand on each point for a half page or so, whatever comes to mind. Usually this helps me overcome my writer’s block and helps me organize my thoughts, and with a little bit of rearranging you might end up with a working outline.

[Anonymous No.17261676]

>>17261610
Brits have to pay for their PhD programs? Even in the US schools pay for you to do your PhD. If you are paying to get a PhD in the United States you are a fool.

[Anonymous No.17261726]

>>17261610
>>17261676
In Britain, if you have good grades and a good degree, you will get paid to write your PhD. Otherwise, you will be the one paying.
>>17261658
>See if you can find notes online or from a friend.
I just memorise everything lol. The issue is that I can't cite anything and that fucks my essays.
I think your essay writing method is good. I also jot down bullet points and then expand those into a proper text. The real issue is that I can't be bothered to actually write anything.

[Anonymous No.17261732]

>>17261635
Faggot eurotrash

[Anonymous No.17261747]

>>17261732
I am not european, I am german.

Not being european is whats being german is all about.

[Anonymous No.17262381]

bump

[Anonymous No.17262397]

>>17261098
>teaching grad level film studies class
>complaint that I don’t do enough queer cinema
>now make people sit through hellraiser and discuss it in depth
God I hate how I can’t teach what I want to teach, constantly hamstrung by administrators.

[Anonymous No.17262418]

>>17262397
lol

[Anonymous No.17262430]

>>17262397
>>teaching grad level film studies class
There is your mistake, just get a blue collar job and do something of actual worth.

[Anonymous No.17262441]

>>17262397
But you have such sights to show them

[Anonymous No.17262471]

>>17262441
lol

Still sad though, imagine paying for that horseshit.

[Anonymous No.17262513]

>>17262397
Hellraiser is great though.

[Anonymous No.17262515]

>>17262471
Eh, I watched Cronenberg in an undergrad film class and we did an intricate Deleuze-Bergson analysis on it, it was pretty interesting actually.

The irony about all upper level humanities studies is that your field’s only application is to pass it on to a small circle of students who will themselves become overspecialized profs some day (in the best case scenario). It has no real world application outside of academia, not even journalistic film criticism.

[Anonymous No.17262536]

>>17261726
I sometimes get distracted by the need to cite stuff. If you already have your sources, I just leave a note to go back and cite and then do all of it at the end of the essay. This takes longer than it would to do it as you go, but if it means beating writers block then it’s worth it.

[Anonymous No.17262544]

>>17262441
You’ve no idea
>>17262513
Yep and people either love it or viscerally hate it
>>17262515
>Deleuze
>no application outside of academia
You’re either retarded or don’t have any understanding of Deleuze.

[Anonymous No.17262559]

>>17261440
>just a way to avoid adult life
Can you blame them? Academics is pretty damn cozy compared to most jobs

[Anonymous No.17262583]

>>17262559
>constantly have to publish papers I don’t want to write
>by the time you have a PhD you have maybe 3 people in the hyper-specific area in which you’re the expert on
>administration are always fags
>no guarantee I am employees next semester
>can’t actually teach what should be taught
Honestly the conferences and frens are the only decent parts

[Anonymous No.17262595]

>>17262515
>The absolute STATE of anglo academia.

Things like this are to be experienced by an individual alone, fucking grading an essay about a film takes the whole point from it. Like blogging about a film. Don't do it. Disgusting.

I will be honest with you I am digusted by the mere thought of considering writing an essay about a film academic.

>>17262544 I have not the slightest bit of respect for you, I hope the next economic crisis takes your professional hipsterism from you and forces you to work in construction, you are exactly what is wrong with todays academia.

The destruction people like you cauce acsends the academia, it also affects art.

[Anonymous No.17262668]

PhD here. Glad to see so much hate for grad school. I used to say it can still be wort hit if you're just ultra careful and know how to exploit it for your own purposes, but with the pandemic I don't know if even that is still good advice.

[Anonymous No.17262694]

>>17262668
How do I become a PHD without grad school?

[Anonymous No.17262710]

>>17262595
>Buttangry reply
>Reddit spacing
Would you like to go back?

[Anonymous No.17262719]

>>17262595
Dilate

[Anonymous No.17262727]

>>17262710
Every sentence is heartfelt. A reddit poster would defend your horseshit instition of academia. Dontcha think bro?

I am from europe if you need to know that.

[Anonymous No.17262735]

>>17262719
Tbh the class he teaches sounds like it dilates on the daily basis.

[Anonymous No.17262751]

>>17262735
>>17262727
You come off as someone incredibly upset that they’re not a part of academia.

[Anonymous No.17262758]

>>17261098
>Anyone else here in or completed a graduate program?
Law school. best years of my life

[Anonymous No.17262770]

>>17262751
But I am! Just not that horseshit, I am writing my doctrate on analytical philosophy and think that things like that should not exist at all.

Humanities! There actually are some courses like that in my european high prestige university.

What a disgrace.

[Anonymous No.17262773]

>>17262758
I considered becoming a barrister in the UK then realised the governmental control body can strike you off the practising roll for literally any reason at any given moment if they feel like it.

[Anonymous No.17262774]

>>17262758
>Law school.
Look at this jolly fellow! An actually respectable profession!

[Anonymous No.17262786]

>>17262397
Show Blue is The Warmest Color. It’s a great film on its own.

[Anonymous No.17262790]

>>17262694
You don't.

[Anonymous No.17262815]

>>17262668
I'll get a masters but I dont think ill bother with a PhD ever unless I get a guarenteed job and its free. I just want a job in the humanities because its the only thing I can study without becoming suicidal Im not even asking for much anymore besides that and a living wage

[Anonymous No.17262817]

>>17262770
Oh wow another student that fits exactly into the stereotype of his field. I’m sure you’ll be making novel contributions in no time, keep up the good work!
>>17262786
>French age-play lesbian film
I’m down
>2013
Too bad, i can only run 20th century films.

[Anonymous No.17262847]

>>17262583
Yeah but it's still better than a standard office job

[Anonymous No.17262862]

>>17262817
You are not a philosopher, you are a fucking blogger and I hope you end up in construction, like hard constructions with stones, not that woodcraft americans like you call building.

Your entire field is forfeit!

I like black and white russian independent films though.

[Anonymous No.17262887]

>>17262862
You are very cringe dude, please stop posting. You don't understand Deleuze or any of the practical contributions of his field. You also erroneously think that there is a sociological division between analytic and continental philosophy in current year. This is not true. You also seem very concerned with preening your social status over others, which makes me think you have some class problems

[Anonymous No.17263032]

>>17262887
>class problems
Like in working or middle class? Or like in grades received in class?

[Anonymous No.17263062]

I got a degree in marketing with a history minor.
The history bit was to make it more fun, the marketing for the actual career

[Anonymous No.17263072]

>>17262887
>ou also erroneously think that there is a sociological division between analytic and continental philosophy in current year.

There is and I am a part of it, I won't be associated with someone interpreting Hellraiser in class.

The only thing I will give to you that it's propably pretty chill, you are giving the class stoned out of your mind aren't you? That would be respectable.

Sorry for that remark I am currenty laughing about that whole idea of your class.

[Anonymous No.17263146]

>>17263072
>>17262862
>muh analytic philosophy
Actual scientists see your navel-gazing pseudoscientific speculations as a laughingstock. The only reason you are autistically dabbing on film studies so hard in this thread is because you are insecure, you realize your own discipline is equally abstract, hermetic and basically irrelevant to society as analyzing a horror film. Actually film studies is more based and relevant than analytic philosophy since it deals with the implications of and culture/arts, whereas your obscure branch of linguistic-mathematic philosopho-wankery is only read by about twenty people worldwide (all of them no doubt as unpleasant, stuck-up and autistic as yourself).

[Anonymous No.17263200]

>>17262430
Yep, some faggot says the same thing in every uni thread. Get a job bro. Create value bro. Capitalism is da #1 bro
Is it inconceivable to you rockbrains that the intellectual has value?

[Anonymous No.17263206]

>>17262430
Sorry buddy, not for me. Leave that to the rednecks

[Anonymous No.17263242]

>>17263032
Both

[Anonymous No.17263252]

>>17263072
>There is and I am a part of it
You are irrelevant and will be lucky to find a job. Especially with that kind of attitude, it is unlikely. Deleuze is unironically taught to Mossad agents

[Anonymous No.17263305]

Also did an MFA. Honestly I wish it had been more cutthroat. I'd heard rumors going in that competition and division would reign, but it wasn't so. My mfa was cozy and cooperative. On my part, wanting harsher critique and nastiness is probably a coded desire for more mature and well-read peers. Unironically, I thought of myself as the most talented writer of my cohort. I dont say that lightly, as I expect to be published in respected journals soon.

[Anonymous No.17263404]

>>17261747
>attempts to conquer the European subcontinent and unites them under a proto Indo-European symbol designating the pan-European concept of the “Aryan”
Germany was and will be the autistic engine that drives a united Europe

[Anonymous No.17263518]

Anyone done a masters in (urban) planning?

[Anonymous No.17263590]

>>17263200
no it does not outside of computers and math

[Anonymous No.17263598]

>>17263518
jesus do not do that

I did that and now i do taxes for a living

[Anonymous No.17263607]

>>17263518
look at the commercial real estate market. held up by mere straw.

do not go into planning.

[Anonymous No.17263656]

>>17262758
What did you enjoy about it?

[Anonymous No.17263683]

>>17263590
Damn son, Bill Gates purchased your soul for the cost of a few promotional speeches. Get off this board faggot. You're literally a bugman

[Anonymous No.17264045]

>>17263598
>>17263607
Is it that bad? I'm in Europe if that matters. Would it be better to get a pure GIS masters? With my degree (history) I don't have many options besides the few degrees that let me pivot fields, teaching or starting a new bachelors.

[Anonymous No.17264061]

>imagine going to university to study reading, a think you learn to do with 6, and can practice alone every day of your life just to end up working at a supermarket because your degree is useless in society
Sad

[Anonymous No.17264071]

>>17262815
Same. I don't have high hopes though, plan B is construction or the military since office busywork would drive me crazy.

[Anonymous No.17264079]

I don't want a job in academia, I just want a few more years of reading good philosophy before I go work myself to a lonely death. Is there any hope of an absolute brainlet getting into a funded program, no matter how low-tier?

[Anonymous No.17264141]

>>17264079
Yes, there's certainly hope...! Write an original, convincing, and well-researched paper; apply to as many schools as possible; and present yourself well at the interview. There are a lot of funded programs out there. Some will take you without an undergrad degree if your work is strong enough. Good luck Anon!

[Anonymous No.17264180]

>>17264141
Thank you for the reply, it means a lot. Hard work is...hard, here's to doing or dying