In the spring, the Graduate School Workshop brings together current and recent Boston University PhD students in the humanities to discuss the process of applying to graduate school and completing advanced degrees in the humanities. The Workshop is also a forum for undergraduates to ask questions about graduate work in the humanities.
On April 5, 2019, the Center hosted the inaugural session. The workshop was structured as a panel for undergraduates considering applying to graduate school, featuring a lineup of graduate students from English, Ethnomusicology, American &
Pardis Dabashi (EN), Brian Barone (MU), and Julia Mix Barrington (EN)
New England Studies, and the History of Art & Architecture. Representing a wide variety of graduate school experiences, the panelists’ expansive conversation covered the application process, the dissertation, the political implications of graduate school, and the academic job market.
The panelists spoke engagingly and honestly about their reasons for applying to graduate school and answered the questions of undergraduate attendees with warmth and frankness. A desire to inhabit a genuinely intellectual community came through from all participants. Graduate students and undergraduates kept talking long after the panel ended and exchanged emails so that the conversations could continue.
