Hello folks! As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am applying to PhD programs yet again for a third time this year. I have already submitted my applications to the classics PhD program at Ohio State University, the Interdepartmental Program in Ancient History at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, the Graduate Group in Ancient History at the University of Pennsylvania, and the classics PhD program at the University of Toronto. Before the application deadlines next month, I will also be submitting applications to the classics PhD programs at UCLA, the University of Washington, Bryn Mawr, and University of Virginia.
As longtime readers can possibly tell, I have adjusted my strategy for applying to PhD programs this year. I am planning to apply to no less than eight programs this time, which is two more than I applied to last year and twice as many as I applied to the first time three years ago. Moreover, of those eight programs, five of them are programs that I have never applied to before.
In previous application cycles, I focused on applying to programs that have among the highest academic job placement rates in the field, but, in retrospect, I don’t think I ever had much realistic chance of getting into most of those programs simply because the universities I have attended aren’t prestigious enough for them to consider me a serious applicant.
This time, I have primarily decided which programs to apply to based on where I think I would be a good fit given the research interests of faculty and where I think I might have a realistic possibility of getting in. The majority of the programs I am applying to are at public flagship R1 universities because I think that those programs may have slightly less competitive admissions than programs at elite private universities and I may have a better chance of actually getting into one of them.
In the meantime, I am still writing my novel, which is currently around 76,000 words. That may not sound like much progress, but I have been revising heavily and I think that the story is significantly better than it was a few months ago. I definitely will not have it done by the end of this year as I originally hoped, but I am still hoping to have a complete draft by a few months from now and hopefully to get it published after that.
I promised in my previous post that I would write a post reviewing The Return, but, unfortunately, I will not be able to do that this month because the film was a limited release and my local theatre only showed it on its opening weekend, which I missed, so I won’t be able to see it until it becomes available for streaming and I have no idea when that will be. My former master’s thesis advisor Joel Christensen has written a (generally negative) review of the film for Hyperalleric, which readers may be interested in. That being said, it was recently announced that Christopher Nolan’s next film will be an adaptation of the Odyssey, so it sounds like another adaptation is already in the works.
Good luck! A naive question, perhaps, but I am curious if academics in your field are reading your blog in decent numbers – and sometimes ‘headhunting’ you for their PhD programmes? Maybe that’s just not how academia works at all.
Unfortunately, as far as I am currently aware, not really.
I mostly only know whether someone has read my blog based on whether they’ve left comments or shared my posts on social media. I have occasionally received comments from recognized academics, but only rarely and nearly always on posts in which I talked about their work. For instance, I received a single-word comment from Jonathan Burgess on the post I wrote last year about the epic cycle and a longer comment from Emily Wilson on the post I wrote this year about Homeric translations. Peter Gainsford has left comments a few times, although none recently. I know that some of my professors have sometimes read some of my posts. Joel Christensen, Jeremy Swist, Bret Devereaux, and a few others sometimes share my posts on social media. Others may read my blog without me knowing.
I write this blog mainly for members of the general public who are interested in the ancient past, rather than for professional academics. Most academics do not read blogs like this one. Moreover, academia structurally doesn’t really value or recognize writing for a popular audience and many academics (although certainly not all) regard writing for a popular audience as a waste of time. I doubt that this blog will ever earn me much academic recognition. Despite me having written about the ancient world online for over eight years at this point, I’ve never had anyone in my field try to “headhunt” me for a PhD program based on my online presence. Writing online has brought me lots of exciting opportunities (e.g., getting interviewed by NPR, consulting for film and stage productions, etc.), but all of those opportunities have come from outside academia in my field.
Thanks for the reply. I can understand why incentives would mean someone in academia writes only for other academics. But if academics are generally not even reading about their own field except in academic journals it feels like they are missing out.
We all hope you will be accepted this time! It has probably been said a myriad times already, but it really is a sorry state of the field when they rate scholars’ applications based on how ‘elite’ their earlier institutions are rather than on the scholarship they produce. That said, as a foreigner to both America and graduate studies I don’t quite know the meaning of “flagship R1 universities”.
Good luck also with the revision of your novel, and I hope the holidays have been nice for you!
Have you considered applying to a Comparative Literature Program? Your interdisciplinary background and multilinguistic studies, with periods of interest spanning from the Classical Ancient world to present critical theory might make you a fantastic candidate. University of Oregon has a program where grad students teach their own Epic, Drama and Fiction courses before designing other, more creative courses of their own. I know UC Berkeley and University of Chicago also have Comp Lit programs, but I’ll bet you’d like Eugene.
I have a couple of friends who have looked into comparative literature programs, but I haven’t personally looked closely in that direction, partly, I suppose, because I still tend to think of myself more as an ancient historian than a literature scholar, although my work has a fairly literary focus. It’s probably too late to apply to comp lit programs for this year at most places, but, if I don’t get in anywhere this year, maybe in a future year I will think about other fields.
Even if your blog is coming to an end, as you’ve suggested might end up happening, I strongly suggest doing a some sort of final post (of the type we’re used to) on something related to ancient history.
By the way, you once said that “, I don’t really believe in the concept of “deservingness” based on merit. I think merit is just a fiction that powerful people made up to justify hierarchies that grant them greater access to power and resources” (https://talesoftimesforgotten.com/2023/12/16/update-i-have-applied-to-phd-programs-again-december-16th-2023/#comment-45167). Perhaps you could write a post on this subject? It is a word (and concept) we use all the time, after all.
The blog is not coming to an end. Tales of Times Forgotten will continue in some form in the future. Right now, though, I’m focusing on writing my novel and I’m not sure in what form I will continue the blog in. I’m still figuring things out.
I don’t plan to write a blog post about merit. The opinion you’ve quoted above from one of my previous comments is just an opinion I often find myself thinking, especially in my more skeptical, cynical, or depressed moments. I’m not even sure if I myself fully believe it all the time. As you’ve probably gathered, I tend to have a very skeptical, contrarian, and pessimistic disposition and it has become very difficult for me to earnestly believe in the goodness or honesty of almost anything in society. I often find myself questioning widely-held notions precisely because they are so widely held, but I’m sure that, if I wrote a blog post seriously arguing against such notions, I’d be pilloried and I have less appetite for public ridicule now than I used to.
I thought that statement would be interesting to know more about, and I’d love to know how we can move past outdated ideas, but you’re right that there are some things people will metaphorically murder you for if you publicly say them (especially if you go into detail). And I as well have certainly felt like there is no good in this world, but I know there must be, at the very least, a tiny bit.
What form might the blog continue in, if not the one we’re familiar with?
Spencer, you are determined and that’s what it sometimes takes. I’m glad you are also focused on your book which fills the time while writing and researching. If you are accepted to my local university you’ve applied, it would be a pleasure to meet you. What are your plans after PHD? Do you want to teach, do field work, write books, research? Just curious. You are into a subject dear to my heart. I hope your dreams are realized!
Unfortunately, I am not shocked at how poorly academia has failed you, despite how upset I am that you didn’t get into a PhD program on your first try. I graduated from a PhD back in 2016, and have yet to find a stable job in academia. Sadly, I have decided to look elsewhere for a job, despite how much I love to teach and interact with my students. And it’s not just me, I have colleagues and friends who have been left less than satisfied with academia.
Thank you for taking your time to create and maintain this blog. I see the hard work you put into your posts, and I understand not being able to give it that same kind of attention, when you are working on your first of many successful novels.
Best of luck on your applications, your novel, and your future.