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feuervogel ([personal profile] feuervogel) wrote2013-01-16 11:14 am
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More thoughts

I could take a couple classes at UNC (though not this semester, since it's too late for that).

I could get a second bachelor's and transfer all my general education stuff. I don't know how my existing courses would transfer, or how I'd fit into the requirements. (I think option 2 is the one I prefer? Since I'm interested less in the literary stuff than in history and non-lit culture?)

I could apply to a different program entirely? Various people have suggested Comp Lit, which, well, I don't really want to compare two literatures. Though I like the idea of queer/feminist studies.

But what would I *do* with that? I think I want to teach German as a foreign language. I've taught before, but not full time on my own. I did a rotation on my residency where I taught pharmacokinetics (I was pissed about that; it's my worst subject). I made lesson plans, gave homework, lectured, and gave tests. Yay. I've also done patient and peer education, which is a bit different, since you just give a seminar on a topic.

I need advice. From someone involved in the field. Who can tell me whether a research-oriented PhD is overqualifying. Who can tell me what types of jobs I can get (other than academia) with a PhD.

Uncertainty is very stressful for me. I do not like this.
kouredios: (Default)

[personal profile] kouredios 2013-01-16 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
FTR, Comp Lit isn't always, only, about comparing literatures. You need to know more than one literature and language for your exams, but that's about it. Comp Lit, for me especially, has been about widening the frame of how we talk about literature; about using interdiciplinarity and intertextuality in more innovative ways. It's about including texts beyond traditional literature--not just genre literature, but also film and television, even memes and youtube videos. And especially in my department, it's about problematizing translation.

Of course, that may depend a bit on whose Comp Lit department you join. What's true at UMass isn't necessarily true everywhere. :)

Also, I was recently linked to an article about alternative academic careers, which may be interesting for you: http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/01/14/essay-preparing-academic-or-alt-ac-careers
kouredios: (Default)

[personal profile] kouredios 2013-01-16 09:15 pm (UTC)(link)
That makes sense, yeah. But, like you said, that's true for a German Studies PhD as well.

UMass has a MAT (masters in teaching) program in Latin, which is very language-focused. Does anywhere have something like that for German?