(the degree program I seek)
Last Friday, I read the department and faculty operating instructions (OIs), as required each year. One of the OIs outlines requirements and procedures for processing applicants for sponsored degree programs. This time, I read the instruction closely, being closer to the time of actual application, and having a vested interest in continuing my education.
For some reason, I was under the impression that I'd be applying for sponsorship this time next year, and had adequate time to decide upon a focus of study and the college of my choice. According to the OIs, though, I must submit my letter of intent (for sponsorship beginning August 2009) by 15 Mar 08. I must submit my complete package, with writing sample and curriculum vitae, degree plans and qualifications, area of focus and plan of attack to include satisfaction of the foreign language requirement, by 1 Apr 08. The curriculum committee will interview me, review my application package, deliberate and tell me if I'm accepted by the end of that month. That will give me about six months to compile solid application packages and apply to the colleges of my choice before 1 Jan 09, the usual deadline for application to a terminal degree program.
The 15th of March may still seem like a long way away, but I suddenly felt...rushed. In my world, it will be here before I know it. Meanwhile, I must make one of the most important decisions of my life. What I decide to pursue my terminal degree in will probably determine how I spend the next 20 years and whether I enjoy it, so...fairly important.
Thus, I've been surfing around this weekend, looking into my options and deciding how much each appeals to me. I'd planned to pursue early modern British literature (Shakespeare), but a while back I began to reconsider it as a career choice. I love Shakespeare, but I'm not certain I want to get that down and dirty with him. Also, literary scholarship in and of itself doesn't excite and inspire me like my first love, creative writing.
I've written my whole life. I've done it for pleasure and for self-exploration almost since I could write. My undergraduate degree is in Creative Writing. (Incidentally, I noticed that my alma mater now offers a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, a program designed and taught by many of my creative writing teachers of yesteryear.) However, I haven't had time to indulge this interest for years now. I was in military training, then I was in college here and there, then I moved to Colorado Springs to teach college, and I have just as much homework as ever before and the same dearth of free time, and...one thing led to another and I haven't committed myself to writing for years now.
Except here. However, this is more of an open journal than an effort to write creatively. Further, this sort of thing, I suppose, officially falls under the title of "Creative Nonfiction."
So here I am, loving all things English, hating the fact that I'll have to specialize, and looking at available specialty options. They fall into these general categories: literature (with a focus on a specific period); creative writing; creative non-fiction; and rhetoric and composition. Sadly, I'm also fascinated with linguistics and the history of the English language. My broad range of interests works against me here. What to choose? And why?
Well. What do I want to do when I retire? Write, with the option to teach. The thing about writing, see, is that you can just DO it without any training whatsoever. You could become a bestselling author if you never graduated from high school, provided you have the basic skills, a good story to tell, and you're willing to work with your narrative until it sings. All publishers care about is the product; they don't care where you went to school or what you have a degree in. All you get from writing schools is the opportunity to work with other serious writers, the motivation to produce on a regular basis, and good feedback and encouragement with your work (which is good to have, don't get me wrong). But don't I want more from a terminal degree?
Yes. Yes I do. I want a good chance of being hired to teach at the college level, should I desire to not retire retire at 20.
I noticed an interesting thing in the short time I researched this topic: every English department is divided. The literary scholars believe themselves purists, supremely knowledgeable and qualified to teach their specialty, and viable members of their profession. I think they view literary scholarship as a societally crucial pursuit. In various senses, they tend to view non-literary scholars as...lesser, somehow. Quasi-PhDs. Good teachers and colleagues but not quite valid English professors. I think they view the graduate work of writers in particular as a joke, in the same sense that non-artists laugh at the art student who sloshes a bucket of paint over canvas for his semester project and graduates anyway.
At the same time, the non-lit scholars tend to view the lit scholars as people with fairly narrow hobbies, stuck in limiting pursuits, and (frankly) rather sad beings. The non-literary scholars doubt the importance of literary scholarship, and wonder at the person who would dedicate her life to it.
So here I am, stuck in the middle with you.
So anyway...as romantic as the notion of am MFA in Creative Writing seems, I'll probably lean toward literature, because I want to read and write, and I wish to be employable, should I wish to continue working in about nine years. What sort of literature should I lean toward? That is the question.
Dunno. However, I am looking very hard at the University of Iowa right now. It looks like an outstanding English college with a plethora of opportunities, not the least of which is to take summer courses in the Iowa Writer's Workshop--which is the most prestigious Writer's Workshop in the United States, and has been for years.
See? There I go again, leaning toward writing. :D
My running buddy suggested to me today that, because the writers and lit enthusiasts need to be brought together, perhaps I could be the one to build the bridge, perhaps with a PhD in Creative Writing, a program which incorporates a great deal of literature.
Another interesting idea. PhD in Creative Writing.
I'm interested in your thoughts, concerns, and comments.
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