Hey, everyone.
I realize this subreddit is a big-tent gathering place for academics of all fields, but I get the impression I may be able to get especially good insight precisely because of that.
Quite honestly, this post is more or less a request for guidance, or career advice. I'm 26 years old and I just finished completing my master's in philosophy. I wrote my thesis on Karl Marx and Martin Heidegger, taking up Marcuse's abandoned project through Walter Benjamin's notion of the aura of the work of art. I'm happy to say that, after having a somewhat rough experience in undergrad, I managed to finish my master's with a perfect 4.0 and, moreover, without having to do any revisions at all on my thesis.
My professors have repeatedly stressed to me that they truly believe I have the potential to go far in academic philosophy. Sometimes I believe them, sometimes I don't. But what I do know for certain is that I can't quite imagine myself doing anything else. There are many instances I could relate to all of you about how this field of knowledge calls to me, but I won't bore you with them. Suffice it to say that I'm determined to go all the way and earn my Ph.D.
My desire to earn a Ph.D. is actually what (mostly) brings me here. I sent applications in the winter to eight American universities known for their studies in critical theory and continental philosophy - to name a few, the University of Oregon, Emory, and Fordham - and I did not make it into any of them. I'm not too crushed by this. I more or less expected it, given how many now-academics have told me something similar happened to them.
I was convinced that I wanted to stay here in the US to do my Ph.D. But, given the sorts of philosophers that I'm interested in, I've been told time and again that it's worth going to Europe for the best dedicated programs. The problem is that I don't quite know which programs are good, beyond a few in the UK like Essex, Sussex, Warwick, and Birkbeck. France and Germany seem very appealing to me, although the two languages I speak fluently (English and Spanish) would not help me very much there.
Nevertheless, Europe or not, I've got at least a year at this point to kill. The most logical step seems to apply for jobs at community colleges, and attempt to get some articles published. What journals would you recommend, though? Moreover, is it still worth it trying to go to conferences at the moment? Would you even take this path at all or am I going about things in the absolute wrong way?
That's more or less where I am. So, if I had to distill all this down to a few questions:
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Do any of you know of good critical theory programs/departments in Europe? Specifically in France and Germany? Maybe Spain and the UK as well? Can you tell me anything about the application processes? They seem very different to the American method.
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Can any of you recommend journals that are currently accepting papers?
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Do any of you have experience applying to teaching posts at community colleges? Do you have any advice?
Thanks very much in advance.
Submitted July 01, 2021 at 04:59AM by void-haunt
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