Despair, debt, frustration, a decade in school rewarded with guaranteed joblessness. If this cocktail of woe sounds good to you, consider getting a Ph.D. in English, History, or any other humanities discipline. At the New York Times, yet another of the recent spate of articles explaining how utterly dismal the prospects of recent humanities Ph.D.s are.
The Humanities Ph.D.: Less Than Useless
Stocking Stuffers
It’s not even Thanksgiving, but Dalkey Archive Press is already Jingle Bell rocking their holiday sale. 60% off pretty much all Dalkey books.
Spinal Tap
“Who is this woman?…What yoga DVD did she escape from?” Chloë Schama criticizes the recent trend in book covers featuring women with their backs turned to the reader, including Ian McEwan’s Sweet Tooth and John Irving’s In One Person.
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The Ultimate Literary Celebrity
Has Joan Didion become “the Ultimate Literary Celebrity“? In an article for the New Republic Laura Marsh says “yes,” and then explains how that happened. Marsh’s efforts pair well with Franklin Strong‘s recent Millions essay on “The Manliness of Joan Didion,” Joan Didion being a literary figure who easily adapts to any description.
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Harry Potter V. Willy the Wizard
Lit crit becomes a legal matter: “The contrast between the total concept and feel of the works is so stark that any serious comparison of the two strains credulity,” wrote the English judge who has dismissed the case against J.K. Rowling brought by the estate of Willy the Wizard author Adrian Jacobs. Jacobs’ estate claimed that Rowling had plagiarized elements of Willy the Wizard‘s plot in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
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Leave the Room Buried
Recommended Reading: Robert Macfarlane at The Guardian on what it means to be living in the Anthropocene age–in which human influence on the planet is permanent and profound–and how our writers and artists are responding to the crisis.
Reading about Reading
Recommended Reading: Clare Beams writes for Ploughshares about the effect of reading a story in which someone reads a story.
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Most Epic
This week in book-related infographics: an “Obsessively Detailed Map of American Literature’s Most Epic Road Trips.”
excuse you, humanities are linked to everything in context as all that we humans portray ourselves to be in our worlds and minds. whatever outcome a single human action has, it can be reinforced logivcally through some kind of humanity I.E Pssychology. discouraging young adults getting a phd in a humanity is completely shameful in the many interests of human life. without the common study of humanities, iI highly doubt you would even know how you make yourself human and exactly what fits you as an editor into the society which you write posts for
Had you read the post properly, perhaps you would have understood that I was not arguing against the spiritual or human value of an education in the humanities but the material and economic value of a higher degree–a doctorate–in the humanities.
Please read more carefully before you’re rude and dismissive. And thanks for reading.