Skip to content

Trust me, I’m a Doctor(al student)

grad-school

This woman is HIGHLY ambitious.

We know it might seem like we’ve been withholding information about applying to PhD programs. For a little while, that was indeed the case. There are certain ways in which MAPH needs to be done for MAPH’s sake, and it’s important to explore other career options outside of “THE ACADEMY.” But by now, many of you are still probably on the PhD bandwagon (or at least very seriously considering hitching a ride) and the time to start thinking about your next steps is now. So, throughout the rest of the quarter, we have a series of PhD application and academic professionalization events that we think you should go to. (Oh, and read this article – it’s distressing and refreshing all at the same time, and does a good job of outlining the types of questions you want to ask yourself as you weigh this decision.)  Continued…

Posted in Uncategorized.

By cmckeon
April 30, 2013

No comments

7 Reasons to Apply for Externships

externships obviously

Your brain on externships.

Next Tuesday, April 30th, we will be holding an Information Session for Externships at 12pm in Classics 110. It will only be 30 minutes and packed with valuable information, so you should definitely attend if at all possible!

In the hopes of getting you interested, here are 7 great reasons I just came up with to apply for externships this summer:

Continued…

Posted in Events, Job Stuff.

By Sarah
April 24, 2013

No comments

MAPH’s Colloquium Magazine: We Tell You Some Things About It And Why It Is Wonderful

editors-note-issue-1-chicagoWhat is Colloquium?

The short answer? It’s MAPH’s online magazine of awesome stuff.

The longer answer? Well, that takes a bit of explaining…

I remember looking around Social Sciences 122, the grand room that marked my first weeks of lecture* at University of Chicago. I swooned at the elaborate wood-paneled walls, the layered chalkboards sliding up and down, the archaic light fixtures. I remember Professor Wray reciting the Big Names who had lectured in SS122, from Hannah Arendt to Slavoj Žižek. I looked around at a room full of strangers, and I wondered if there was an Arendt or a Žižek among us. Toward the end of my MAPH year, I knew the answer to that question….

*also called Colloquium, leading to frequent casual confusion

Continued…

Posted in Uncategorized.

By Bill Hutchison
April 2, 2013

No comments

Campus Days ’13: What to Do if You Get Here Early

In town for Campus Days with time to fill? Don’t trust Yelp (We totally get it.) to guide you to a good meal and tasty beverages? Never fear. We in the MAPH office spend a lot of time in Hyde Park and we have plenty of suggestions (read: ironclad opinions) for where to go and what to do, whether you are on campus or roaming around the neighborhood. This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good one.

 On Campus

tumblr_ldsocppCsn1qdgpr3o1_400

First things first, just wander around. The campus is rarely prettier than it is in the spring; if the weather is good, a leisurely stroll through the arches and  across the quads really can’t be beat. If walking around aimlessly is not your thing, or if you have exhausted your aimless walking possibilities and you want a specific destination, we are partial to the Oriental Institute. The collection is fantastic (and really, really old), the building is beautiful, and admission is free (although the museum suggests a donation).

Also worth checking out is the Mansueto Library,a giant glass and steel ellipsoid on 57th Street that contains fancy robots that brings you books by request from deep inside the earth. It’s really cool.

Off Campus

Go to the lake. More specifically, go to Promontory Point. (It’s a short walk from campus and well worth it.) Or go to the DuSable Museum. Or browse in one of the excellent bookstores that Hyde Park is home to: Powell’s, tons of used books at great prices (1501 E 57th St, Chicago, IL); 57th St Books, a great general interest bookstore in which to wile away the hours (1301 E 57th St  Chicago, IL 60637); The Seminary Co-op, one of the best books stores in the whole wide world (5751 South Woodlawn Avenue).

Food/Coffee/Strong Drink

coffeeZ&H (1323 E. 57th St) has tasty, tasty sandwiches and good coffee. Bonjour Bakery (1550 East Hyde Park Blvd) makes a mean croque monsieur and really good croissants. Rajun Cajun (1459 E. 53rd St) Despite its misleading name, this place has tasty Indian food. Oh, the samosas! Valois (1518 E. 53rd St) is a classic cafeteria and a Hyde Park institution.

Robust (63rd and Woodlawn), The Sip (5301 S Hyde Park Blvd), the aforementioned Z&H, and Café 57 (1520 E. 57th St) all serve pretty good coffee (Z&H is the best, in our opinion.)

There are a couple of good bars in Hyde Park (they are dive-y in a pleasant way). The Cove (1750 E 55th St) has a fun jukebox and darts and foosball. Jimmy’s (Woodlawn Tap) (1172 E 55th St) is just a few blocks from campus and has cheap burgers and fries. It’s a classic college-town bar.

If you want still more suggestions, just email us. We will be happy to point you in the best direction.

Posted in Uncategorized.

By Sarah
March 25, 2013

No comments

The New 53rd Street

As I’m sure many of our current Hyde Park denizens are aware, 53rd Street has been undergoing drastic and exciting renovations! Here are some highlights from the changes that will happen, and in some cases have already happened, on 53rd Street.

Continued…

Posted in Uncategorized.

By Sarah
March 22, 2013

No comments

Everything (seriously, everything) you want to know about MAPH Summer Internships.

Work?You know how we have been telling you all since Colloquium to use this year to think about your professional life, as well as your academic life? Well, this time we really mean it. Now that the bulk of Winter Quarter is behind you, it is time to seriously consider—and more than consider, actually take action on—your post-MAPH plans. You will hear a lot of moaning and groaning from us over the next few months begging and pleading with you to come talk to us about resumes, cover letters and all other things “job-application-y.” These are all things that you should do. And while a great burden will befall you come June 15th, MAPH tries to alleviate some of this stress by offering paid (yes, you read that right: PAID) summer internships.  Continued…

Posted in Uncategorized.

By cmckeon
March 20, 2013

No comments

AWP Series: Jessi Haley

Wrapping up our series of AWP posts is this one from Jessi Haley.

jessi haley“AWP is like a music festival,” a friend told me last week.  “You have to have a really solid plan so you can see most of the stuff that you want to.”

Okay, I thought, maybe.  Maybe that is how you do music festivals.  With a plan. I, on the other hand, tend to show up with a vague idea of what is going on when and wait for people and/or circumstances to guide me to the good stuff.

But I took her advice; I pretended like I was at a music festival. I thumbed through the heavy directory, letting my eyes settle on random pages so that the titles of events jumped out at me haphazardly.  I listened to the advice of my fellow MAPH people and sometimes followed them places. I skipped readings and panels that were probably informative or even enlightening.  On Saturday afternoon, I ran over to Charlestown to spend an hour nervously holding my cousin Vicky’s fragile, squirming newborn when I could have been, I don’t know, acquiring more half-priced copies of Tin House? Continued…

Posted in Uncategorized.

By marenr
March 11, 2013

No comments

AWP Series: Ariana Nash

Continuing our series of AWP posts this one from Ariana Nash (MAPH ’13)

The Bookfair

 ariana signingMy first AWP, I imagined that someone would ask to read my work, I would meet my future publisher, and maybe there would even be a parade with confetti announcing my presence to the writing world. Or, I didn’t so much imagine this scenario, as find myself surprised when it didn’t happen. Instead, I had a few awkward conversations, bought too many journals I was never going to read, and felt a kind of agony of irrelevance — a stark reminder that I capable of intense egoism and insecurity.

My second AWP, I did a little better. I took home a few journals that helped me find new places to send my work — having not backed away awkwardly from tables or hastily grabbed what someone tried to sell me, but instead stood at their tables reading long enough to decide I liked their journals. I managed to learn a little about book contests, since I was finishing my first manuscript. I also met an editor or two from journals that had published my work. Of course, not to paint too rosy a picture, one editor told me, when I realized I had “introduced myself” without giving my name and belatedly told him who I was, that it didn’t really matter since he wasn’t going to remember my name in a few months anyway. Continued…

Posted in Academics, Practical Matters. Tagged with , , .

By marenr
March 11, 2013

No comments

AWP Series: Charlie Puckett

A dispatch on the Boston AWP Conference from Charlie Puckett (MAPH ’13 ) Creative Writing Option

The 2013 AWP Conference & Book Fair is held at John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in the Back Bay streets of Boston. Once most people finish reading the center’s name, they take a nap and then go inside. In the 193,000 sq. ft. building there are 8 billion people and they have all written a book or a poem or frequently have creative ideas. These people walk around many tables that also have books and magazines and ideas on stickers and people who have jobs sit behind these tables and say many nice things to those who do not. UChicago’s MAPH program has a table at Booth 2811 on the second floor and there are very good looking people behind it, which is necessary because there are lines to meet them and less attractive people might not be able to manage the task as well.

On Thursday night at 6:30, the 2013 Keynote Presentation, a conversation between Nobel Laureates Seamus Heaney and Derek Walcott moderated by Rosanna Warren, celebrated the successful opening day of AWP Boston. Warren declared the conversation a draw on the account that no one could understand their accents, though most favored Heaney as the winner due to his ability to make speech sound like a fawn lapping water from a brook in solstice moonlight. Everyone agreed, however, that it’s a good thing both Laureates use the medium of writing for their art and that Walcott had a mustache but Heaney did not. On Friday afternoon, Don DeLillo gave a reading from his work and participated in a conversation with himself because everyone in the audience was very busy whispering: “It’s Don DeLillo, It’s Don DeLillo.” Continued…

Posted in Uncategorized.

By marenr
March 9, 2013

No comments

AWP Series: Ariana Nash Signing!

ariana signing

Update from AWP: MAPHer Ariana Nash signing her book of poetry, Instructions for Preparing your Skin. Ariana’s book was published in 2011 by Anhinga Press, and won the Philip Levine Prize for poetry. You can check out her book’s webpage here, where they’ve posted a few samples of her poetry. We also have a short video from Ariana’s signing: see it below!

Posted in Uncategorized.

By Sarah
March 8, 2013

No comments