Librul Arts Grad School

N

NBMisha

500+ Posts
Youngest kid wants to go to LA grad school. Has BA in English (Bard) and wants ultimately to teach at Univ level. She's asked for "advice" on schools, but I'm in engineering and earth science and know nothing of this other world.

Any LA folks out there that can offer insights? Are there resources for this type of search?
 
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UT #7

If she doesn't know what she wants to study in graduate school, she should wait until she knows.

once she knows, she'll need to decide if she wants a more research oriented career or teaching oriented career. If she's ok with teaching at a two year college, she'll probably be ok with just a master's degree in the subject she wants to teach.

If she wants to teach at a four year institution, she'll need a terminal degree in that discipline, usually the doctorate.

A faculty position at a research oriented or Ph. D. granting university, typically will require her to do at least one postdoctoral fellowship after completing a Ph.D. During this time, typically 2-3 yrs, she'll need to publish as many papers as she can in the top ranked journals of her discipline. She will also need to develop an independent research plan that is first and foremost at the leading edge of her discipline, one that is fundable by federal agencies such as the NIH, NSF, DOE, etc, and will attract graduate students as postdrs. to her group.

Of course then there's tenure. I'm sure by then she'll have it figured out.
 
How realistic is the student? How informed are they of the work required and the job market? They need to research that.

Imo, and not to be harsh or flame, but any college graduate needs to be able to find this out and figure this out on their own w/o the parents' help.

The job market is abysmal and not getting any better. The whole English/Literature "research" industry is pretty wacky. Or wonky. Check out some recent articles in, iirc, The Chronicle of Higher Education (or go to Arts & Letters Daily and try to find the articles). Lit at the grad level can be a very solipsistic, soulless, empty pursuit.

The "advice" on schools, especially if she wants to be faculty, is to get into the best, most highly-ranked school she can.

If this is her passion then what else can she do? If this is more "I don't know what else to do" then my advice to you is make her pay for it, not you.
 
One note about community colleges:

When the economy goes south, people go back to school. Most of them enroll in two-year colleges, preferably to get a technical degree which will have them out and in the workforce in two years. These people still need English, Psychology, Sociology and Speech, as well as an elective from Humanities/Fine Arts. Employees at most community colleges are enjoying unprecedented job security right now.

To teach college-credit courses in a community college (how did you like that use of alliteration? nice, huh?), you must have a master's degree with at least 18 graduate hours in the teaching field. It is not necessary to have a master's degree in the teaching field.

To teach developmental courses (to students who have not proven to be ready for college-level coursework) a bachelor's degree is required.
 
The good news is all accepted Ph.D students will have some sort of funding: ideally a fellowship but more likely the opportunity to TA and eventually teach your own class. The pay is poverty line level but it takes care of tuition and living expenses if she can live frugally for 5-7 years, which is how long an English Ph.D usually takes.

The bad news is that tenure-track positions in English are EXTREMELY competitive right now. So tough the work required to get them may not be worth the stress. Most of the positions are going to be as community college and university lecturers that don't have tenure, but also don't have research requirements. This is a good life for someone who has a lot of intellectual interests, kids, or likes to travel because they'll have a lot of free time and get to drop in and out of the workforce--take a semester off here and there. But while the benefits are good the pay is mediocre and there's no job security.

Another option she'd have is to teach English as a second language in America to foreign students prepping for American universities, or recent immigrants. She could do that overseas now with her B.A. in English, and a Ph.D would get her a little more pay and much more promotion potential. A lot of private English schools need someone to create their curriculum and a Ph.D would be perfect for that.
 
POEM, the Professional Organization of English Majors has a nation wide job placement service with connections to waitress jobs in some of the nicest restaurants in America and now making inroads into healthcare.
POEM link
 
Thanks to all for the informed comment.

She's a very dedicated student. Her question to me was via routine email and not a plea for me to work the problem. She is currently teaching Eng Lit and ESL at Quingdao University in China, so, has a proactive streak going for a 22 yr old. Also is extremely frugal and who pays is not at issue... she'll pay.

Again, thanks for the excellent comments.
 
Overmaars,

I saw you edited your post. Was your issue with the individuals themselves, liberal arts, or the fact these folks decided to pursue a liberal arts education versus a more professional/vocational education? I don't get it.

Plenty of kids get pushed into programs like accounting, business, or engineering because they feel that's the only major with marketable skills. They're taught they can't get a job studying history, economics, or literature. The truth is if you can show in your record that you can write, think critically, and aren't afraid of numbers...employers will teach you all the business skills you need. The top law schools, medical schools, business schools prefer a solid liberal arts education in their students. It's a shame if a kid that loves to write, who could become a great writer maybe the next Larry McMurtry or David McCullough, gets forced to sit through classes on deferred tax liabilities during the best learning period of his/her life.

College should be about learning about our world, learning how to think, learning how to express your thoughts (writing), and improving your intellect. Employers want that type of employee. And if they hire you, they'll give you all the balance sheets and excel modeling training you could want.

That's a big cultural difference between us and A&M...the queen of professional/vocational schools. They're great at what they do, but they're sheep, not thinkers, and do not produce visionary leaders. And looking at texags, literacy and writing aren't high priorities. They seem to be good at photoshopping pictures and cartoons though.
 
Well, no problem on the Old Hippie hijacking, all in good fun. And I've personally been a science education snob most of my adult life. I have recently been rehabilitated, though, via a couple of young LA grads whose intellects grind mine into the dirt.

Depressing.

Still better to be lucky than good.
 
Sorry for causing trouble so I thought I'd try to redeem myself by adding a relevant morsel of information. My sister got her master's in English literature from UT and ended up working as an archivist at a major university history center. She loved it and eventually ran the place.
 
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