More thoughts

[feuervogel]

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.

Comments

[kouredios]

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

[feuervogel]

That's an interesting article. Thanks!

I think one of the reasons I'm hesitant to consider Comp Lit is that I'm not really a lit-analysis person. Which is why the German Studies PhD is also kind of ehhh, because there's such a literary focus. I kind of want to do non-literary culture like history and sociology, or just get a credential to teach adults. (Private schools, community colleges, whatever.) I wish I were more interested in film and music, because there's probably an interesting thesis in the changing TV/film or music landscapes in Germany.

Or since I'm a giant football nerd, tracing the history of Turkish Germans in the DFB, from Mehmet Scholl to Mesut Özil (and the future), looking at smaller clubs and youth clubs, which are the breeding ground for future pros, and maybe fan culture and how fans accept (or not) Turkish players.

[kouredios]

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?

[feuervogel]

I really need to talk to the department here and see if a thesis on football culture would be completely off the wall. (A lot of my uncertainty boils down to "I need to talk to the right people, but I haven't figured out what questions I need to ask them so I sound intelligent.")

All the US-based programs I'm looking at include instruction in the curriculum. None of them have a specifically teaching-focused course, but they all emphasize methods of pedagogy.

The German-based programs I'm looking at are all German-as-foreign-language programs, but German universities have more stringent curricula and admission requirements, which zombie said I should just write them and ask about, explain my situation and ask what I need to do to fulfill the requirements, and he'd even proofread whatever I came up with.

But that involves selling the house and moving, which is a HUGE risk, and I've always been very risk-averse. (Our HOA covenant doesn't allow us to rent out our house. Ben says if that becomes relevant, he'd rather petition the board to make an exception (they don't want, basically, slum lords) than straight up sell the house. We'll see.)