Job Discussion Forums

[forgot2panic]

[johnslat]

Dear forgot2panic,

You do now - 5 posts is the requirement.

Regards,
John

[maastricht]

You don't need a PhD to love literature, write about it or teach people about it. You'll probably reach more readers blogging about literature online than publishing in a scholarly journal or book that is so expensive that no one is going to buy it (or read it, for that matter). The problem with the PhD is how much it costs and how much time it takes. If you can get a full scholarship (including full room and board), or financially have no problem bearing those costs without going into debt, then fine. I myself am currently doing what most would consider a financially stupid thing, but I believe I can afford it, and I am the only one who knows how much money I have.

I took an MBA seminar at a US university I was attending, and we went around the room and everyone told the class what job they had lined up. At the time, almost everyone had a prestigious job (i.e. McKinsey, Goldman). I wonder what the situation is today. I am guessing that a fraction of the class has those kinds of jobs lined up. Some people profited from the system either by luck (they happened to be born at the right time and/or to the right family), and others perhaps because of some other reason. But those who are chasing the golden carrot now and are oblivious that the game has changed substantially and, in my opinion, permanently, are going to be devoured by it.

With academia in the humanities there wasn't much of a financial carrot to begin with, but prestige was the holy grail. The funny thing is that prestige is so slippery that those who chase it are always miserable. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that. But if you want to go down with the ship, if the ship is a metaphor that represents purely your love of literature, that ship need never sink. If it represents the quest for prestige, that is like sailing in a ship full of holes that constantly need to be patched. Especially if you didn't go to Yale (which was the top Lit dept. when I was in school). And trying to join a system now, which in the US I would describe as a bunch of bloated humanities departments trying to suck the last few drops from the giant student loan bubble before there is nothing left to suck, is like the Titanic after it's hit the iceberg and people are fighting for the lifeboats. (I suppose the model in Canada would be a hybrid of student loan bubble and misallocated government resources).

[GMark]

I'm a lit major, and after I graduated I made a serious study of screenwriting using the skills my degree taught me. In my view. a literature professor with a background in Hollywood film story would be a blast. So I say GO FOR IT!

It doesn't matter what you want to do in life, you'll always find people who will tell you that you shouldn't do it, why you won't, and how you can't.

By the way, feel free to PM me if you have any screenplays that need a read

[forgot2panic]

@masstricht,

Thanks for your insights. Racking up more student debt is the last thing I want to do at this point in my life. Luckily, I was on scholarship at SC so most of my debt was incurred due to rental/insurance fees in my production classes, and thus is lower than many recent grads. Moreover, Montreal (and Canada in general) tops my list of destinations in large part because of the low relative tuition for citizens/residents. Seems like everyday news of university fee hikes make headlines here in California.

Indeed, I won't deny that prestige is one allure, but it's only one a several. Academia is something I've always enjoyed being around. I find it stimulating and renewing, and to be able to impart the sort of inspiration I received from many of my professors would be a reward worth the hazards and disappointments of which you speak. Misery? That's more or less my status quo, my blood type. I only seek those twinkling instances where, if for a minute to an hour, I rise above and see the world for what it could be. Misery often feels like tranquility, these days.

@GMark

Hate to disappoint, but I haven't any screenplay worthy of escaping the shredder as I transition to novel-writing. Not to say that I didn't have my boardroom suitors and meetings with executives. I won a competition in college and had the phone ringing frequently with former classmates and other would-be collaborators. I'm of that brand of creative who can't stand the sight of his work within two weeks of its completion. More generally, script format feels like a straightjacket. Not only that, but its not an end in itself. By nature its to be tampered with, more often than not by an assembly line of hacks who have their own foul vision of your work. Not to imply I dislike the cinema. I still very much enjoy the medium. However, screenwriting is simply an inferior mode of personal artistic expression.

I do really appreciate your encouragement, though. And I'd also like to think that my background will lend itself looking at literature from some interesting angles.

[GMark]

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!