Department of English

The Director of Graduate Studies conducts workshops for English graduate students to learn about professional development skills, the academic job market, and a diverse set of careers. Recent workshops include:

Demystifying the Job Market

An introduction to the workings of the job market meant for graduate students at all stages in the program, including a discussion of the MLA job ads and of sections of The Professor Is In.

Grant Writing Workshop 

An introduction to the basic steps in crafting a fellowship application: writing an introduction, telling a compelling story, foregrounding your contribution, and articulating the project's relevance beyond your field.

Summer Before the Job Market

A session on writing, planning, and making the best of use of your summer. Focus is on preparing for the job market and writing dissertation completion fellowship applications.

Career Diversity 101

An introduction to planning for multiple possible career paths.

Writing a Diversity Statement for the Job Market

An information session on the philosophy behind, and the components of, the diversity, inclusion and equity statement that is often required as part of academic job applications.

Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement

An information session on best practices and strategies for crafting a teaching philosophy statement for the academic job market.

More Career Resources 

Proseminar

This biweekly proseminar (ENG 350a) for first-year PhD students addresses the social and professional aspects of academic work in literary studies. Our series of discussions and workshops cover skills useful for teaching and scholarship, practical issues such as navigating graduate school, institutional questions about academic and related work, and larger questions about the future of the humanities. The course format combines discussion, brief presentations and guest speakers, and is intended to accommodate a wide range of student concerns and interests. The required course text is Karen Kelsky, The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job.

English Graduate Student Conference

Since 2004 the graduate students have organized an annual conference on a pressing theme in literary and cultural studies. Participants are chosen from an open call for papers to come to campus and present their work, with respondents drawn from the department faculty.

Mandel Center for the Humanities

The Center hosts many events throughout the academic year.

• The Mandel Lectures in the Humanities: A prominent scholar presents a series of lectures over the course of a week.

• Close Looking: An interdisciplinary series offering in-depth discussion of some of our university's greatest treasures from the Rose Art Museum and the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections.

• Bridging the Two Cultures: Members from the Science faculty share the methods and goals of scientific research. This series aims to forge new connections and increase mutual understanding between the different academic branches of the University.

Brandeis Novel Symposium

This Symposium has a dual focus: Scholars with expertise pertaining to the chosen novel will explore the work and its context and a panel will approach the work with a broader set of theorectical, critical and conceptual issues.

Departmental Sources of Funding

Each spring the Dept. selects a recipient of the Milton Hindus Memorial Endowed Dissertation Fellowship. The ~$2000 Fellowship is named after one of the founding members of the Brandeis faculty and a long-time teacher and scholar in the English Department.

Each fall the Dept. selects a recipient of the Gilmore-Valenze Dissertation Endowed Dissertation Fellowship. The ~$1,500 Fellowship was created by Michael T. Gilmore, a much-beloved faculty member, and his wife.

Due to the generosity of a donor, the Department is usually able to offer $350-500 Preyer travel grants each semester for graduate students to attend conferences or pursue research at libraries and archives.

Each fall, 4th-year PhD students receive a supplemental stipend of ~$2,000. This funding is provided by the an endowment from the Evan Frankel Foundation.

Other University Sources of Funding

Please visit the GSAS Fellowships and Grants page which includes information on conference travel reimbursement, University Prize Instructorships and Dissertation Year Fellowships.

Please visit the Graduate Students Affairs (GSA) Funding Opportunities page for information about travel grants, conference hosting funding, and the Provost Dissertation Fellowships.

External Funding

Applying for external funding is an important and rewarding part of graduate school training. We encourage students to apply for short-term and full-year fellowships and several workshops are held throughout the year to workshop these applications. Links to select national fellowships are below (note that this site is updated often):

Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships

American Association of University Women Dissertation Fellowships

American Association of University Women International Fellowships

Getty Pre-Doctoral Fellowhips

Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowships

Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

Please visit the GSAS External Funding page for additional information.