Sunday, July 18, 2004
(7:20 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
My turn to solicit advice
Next year, if all goes well, I will be graduating from the Chicago Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in religion. I now hereby institute a tripartite advice seeking event:- Should I stop now? Should I cut my losses and find some nice Catholic high school to teach at? (Incidentally, this might be a good way to scout out a future spouse.)
- Should I take a year off? Keep in mind that I already kind of took a year off before the MA, taking classes only part time. I would likely use this time in order to beef up the old CV. At the same time, do I really need to beef up my CV right this moment? I've already submitted two papers for publication and will likely submit a third before the summer's up; I've already presented at one conference and will likely present at another next year. Plus, I can now basically claim a (stilted, halting) reading knowledge of French and Spanish.
- Should I just apply to PhD programs right this second? My short list is actually really short: University of Chicago Divinity School and Vanderbilt, both for theology (or whatever they're calling it these days). I love philosophy, of course, but there doesn't seem to be a reliable way to do cont phil directly in the US, and I believe that Milbank has shown that you don't need that firm a grasp of the subject in order to opine on it in religious circles. Credible recommendations from theologians are also a bit easier for me to come by. (Yes, this whole explanation of why I want to do theology is a primary example of my rather annoying habit of emphasizing secondary motivations for my behavior.) More of a long-shot choice: Duke for comp lit, given that Jameson and Hardt are both there, and it's a big name. Anything I'm leaving off my list would be good, especially somewhere that I could do a little 20th-century Catholic stuff and "political theology," and where people don't hate Barth, preferably.
I thank all of you in advance, given that everyone was so generous to Anthony when he was soliciting advice.
UPDATE:
I went to Amazon.ca and purchased the following books:
- Le chiendent by Raymond Queneau
- Donner la mort by Jacques Derrida
And no matter what I decide on the Life Issues, let it be known: I really don't want to put together grad school applications. I'm willing to do it, but like Bartleby, I'd prefer not to.
ANOTHER NEARLY CONTEMPORANEOUS UPDATE:
$75 Canadian isn't very much, right? I guess I thought of it as the equivalent of Monopoly money when I was going through the check-out. As another sidenote, let it be known that I am shipping French books, from Canada, to a small village that was originally settled by French Canadians. The circle of life.
