tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200147945040702557.post2870180714259565813..comments2023-08-20T10:48:55.697-04:00Comments on Sustainable Music: Going to Graduate School in Ethnomusicology -- 2018 updateJeff Todd Titonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10384565652765905576noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200147945040702557.post-21568755316322623642018-09-12T18:03:13.479-04:002018-09-12T18:03:13.479-04:00Thanks for the additional suggestions. These mostl...Thanks for the additional suggestions. These mostly have to do with bottom-line concerns. Certainly these are important. But imho these should be secondary to deciding which professor(s) you want to work with, based on their published research and its match with your interests. And their personalities and how well they work with students. Obviously, you need to do some reading to research this yourself--the blurbs about the professors' work on their university departments' web pages are a good place to start, but also read some of their publications too. If you're going to invest 5-10 years of your life in grad school, you want to know as much as possible about where you'll be and who you'll be with. Going to an SEM conference to find out who is working on what is an excellent idea, and while there see if you can find someone whose dissertation adviser is a professor you want to work with--and ask what is good and what is not so good about working with that person. How easy is it to get an appointment to see the professor? Is the professor a good teacher? Does the professor spend a lot of time in the classroom and afterwards with their students? Or is the professor more interested in going to conferences, and holing up somewhere to do their research and writing? Are you someone who needs structure? Some professors provide a lot of structure; others don't. Are you someone who doesn't like to be given structure, but would rather make it for yourself? Then choose a professor who is looser and more laid back. And so on. Interviewing students and professors about their programs at SEM conferences (in my experience) isn't nearly as valuable as visiting the school and talking with them there. At a conference they're usually in a recruiting mode, and you want to find out the hells as well as the benefits of the program. The job wiki has been unreliable on occasion in the past, so don't believe everything you read. As for funding, it's important to compare the number of years, the amount of funding, what's expected in return (how much teaching, how much grading, how much of doing grunt-work for professors), whether there's a grad student union, and so on. But if possible a decision about where to apply should be made chiefly on the basis of the "fit" between your interests and the strengths of the graduate program. I have several colleagues who chose on the basis of the amount of funding, or the prestige of the university, or both; but they found that the programs and professors were not to their liking, they gamed their way through, and were unhappy most of the time. Much better to be relaxed, happy, and free to exercise your intellectual curiosity without having to worry about playing games with professors and with other students. Of course, I also know some who were unhappy with the professors they chose to work with; again, finding the right "fit" is most important. Jeff Todd Titonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10384565652765905576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4200147945040702557.post-33252741709592218192018-09-10T22:56:24.990-04:002018-09-10T22:56:24.990-04:00Lots of good advice here. Things I tell my student...Lots of good advice here. Things I tell my students: investigate the average time to degree, the average years of funding, and the tuition and fees structure. Otherwise you can't meaningfully compare. Ask to be put in touch with (or use website to diy) a current grad student or two,and with someone who's a few years out. Check the job wiki - how do graduates of this program seem to be faring (best we have as societies don't seem to track).If it's an option, go to a SEM meeting, and attend student events and quiz students and faculty on programs while there. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com