The English Department's main office is in Muenzinger D110.
ENGL 5459: Introduction to the Profession (Spring 2020)
What does it mean to undertake graduate studies in English in 2019? The objective of this seminar, which has both conceptual and applied components, is to give each student the opportunity to consider how their intellectual pursuits and professional plans fit into to the broader issues at the heart of the study of English and the humanities in the twenty-first century and how these, in turn, inform their individual academic goals.
We shall draw on and select together a wide range of sources—scholarly publications, blogs, periodicals, guest speakers—to weigh the state of the discipline and discuss such topics as interdisciplinarity, digital humanities, the politics and economics of higher education, the globalization of the study and teaching of English, climate and the humanities, and the place of the humanities outside academe (the list of topics may vary depending on students’ interests).
Alongside these big-picture questions, we shall also consider the nuts and bolts of graduate research and the academic and alt-ac job markets. Students will have the opportunity to explore different forms of academic writing, including abstracts, conference papers and posters, writing samples, fellowship applications, book reviews, and scholarly articles as well as other options, if/as needed.
Each student will, in consultation with the instructor, design and complete an individual or group project based on their professional interests, either within or without academe. Projects will then be brought into the public sphere using the method best suited for the dissemination of the final product: conference-style presentations, poster sessions, webpage, actual submission to a publishing venue, and so on.
Reading List: G. Semenza, _Graduate Study for the Twenty-First Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities_; miscellaneous articles; professional periodicals such as _The Chronicle of Higher Education_.
Required of all MA students in English.
Taught by Dr. Catherine Labio.
Requisites: Restricted to English (ENGL) and English Lit- Creative Writing (CRWR) graduate students only.
Additional Information: Departmental Category: Graduate Courses
MA Designation: Required for 1st Year MAs