grad school rambling
2005-02-05 - 9:31 a.m.
Graduate school applications are in the works. Which is to say that they're in. And I'm waiting. It's the waiting that kills me.
So, I'm going to do something productive. Next weekend, Mike and I ae going to visit Eugene, OR. If there's the possibility that we're going to be living there for the next few years, we should probably at least check it out before making any decisions. I'm trying to set up meetings with professors there--the ones whose work interests me. The nice thing about this program is that I might get the opportunity to teach a low-level acting class. They also expect PhD students to direct. These would be nice things to have on my cv. So many theatre positions want PhDs who can teach acting and directing. It's not where my love is, but having the credit could at least get my foot in the door.
Then I have to set up a meeting with the UW people. The more I look at this program, the more I think that it's not for me. I made the mistake of looking at the program at UT Austin. I originally ruled it out because it's in Texas. I've heard good things about Austin, but I'm not sure that I want to live on an island of liberalism set in a sea of pickups and shitkickers. Their program, though, rocks. *sigh*
The UW program seems to be shrinking. The number of people listed as PhD faculty has dwindled, but the faculty as a body hasn't changed. People have been declassified, apparently. Of the three faculty left, one specializes in American theatre history between the wars (don't care), one is a Brecht scholar (Brecht is interesting, but not someone to whom I want to devote a great deal of time and study), and one is interested in contemporary theater (great, but he's not apparently interested in the weird, edgy stuff). All three would no doubt have to be on my committee, but I don't want them to be.
Oregon also has a small faculty, but they all seem to be kooks of one variety or another, which is right up my alley. Minnesota's faculty is huge, so there are plenty of choices of people with whom to study. I've been in contact with students there, and they all seem to be fairly happy with the program. The drawback to this program is that completion rates are relatively low. But, they've recently restructured the program to help alleviate the problem, so at least they're aware of it.
I don't think that I mentioned that we went back to Nebraska for Christmas. It was generally good.
I've applied for a manager's position with the company that I work for. I know that I've been going on about grad school, but there's no guarantee that I'm going to get in anywhere, so I'm doing what I can to make things better, just in case. I don't expect to get the job, anyway. I couldn't get hired as an assistant manager, I'm not sure what makes me think that I could get hired as a full-on manager.
fin.
