SILCS is a four-week summer institute to promote diversity in the field of English. For our current events, program profiles and institute news, read our blog below, or read our blog archives here.
For more information about the Institute, click here.
Applications for SILCS 2010
18 December 2009, 10:09 am
Application forms for SILCS 2010 have been added to our how to apply page. We will accept applications between Jan 4, 2010 and Feb 10, 2010. Please note that our application requires the following:
- A completed application form with attached writing sample that you will work with during the Institute for use as a graduate application essay.
- A signed sponsor form by a faculty member in your department who is willing to mentor you over the next year as you begin to apply for graduate programs.
- An official transcript.
- A confidential online survey. Information about this survey will be sent to you once you have completed the rest of the application.
We wish you the best of luck!
SILCS grads in the news
21 September 2009, 1:57 pm
Recent SILCS graduate Sametta Taylor was profiled by her local newspaper in July about her “life-changing experience” at SILCS. You can read the article in the Berkley Independent here.
News: Ph.D. enrollment growth
16 September 2009, 2:34 pm
The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) has released its annual report for 2008, Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 1998 to 2008. Enrollment for all U.S. minority groups increased 4.5%, compared the 1.5% increase for White, non-Hispanic students, and nearly all minority groups saw greater growth in 2008 than the average annual change from 1998-2008.
Growth in first-time enrollment from 2007 to 2008 was greater for students from all racial/ethnic minority groups than for White students: 10.6% for Hispanics/Latinos, 8.8% for American Indians/Alaskan Natives, 6.7% for Asians/Pacific Islanders, and 6.5% for Blacks/African Americans, compared to 3.5% for Whites. (link [PDF])
The one ethnic group that did not see a greater growth than average was Blacks/African Americans. The 6.5% growth was the lowest growth for all other groups except Whites and was lower than the average of 7.6%.
Similarly, though all fields showed moderate growth in enrollment, only the Arts and Humanities demonstrated a lower growth rate than the average for that field and the lowest growth rate of all other fields in the study. This was particularly the case in terms of Black/African Americans, who only showed a 1.6% average annual increase in Arts and Humanities, the smallest growth of all ethnic groups.
Inside Higher Ed noted that “many graduate programs have for years now been creating programs to diversify their pool of students, and [Nathan E. Bell, director of research and policy analysis for CGS] said that he hoped the data suggest that those efforts are starting to pay off. He noted that many of these efforts were destined to take a while to show returns.”
Weeks Two, Three and Four
24 June 2009, 9:46 am
The month has flown by here at SILCS. It’s been rainy and cool most of the month, which we like to refer to as “good studying weather”. For those students who have never been to New England before, we would like to point out that this is unusual June weather, even for us.
On June 8th, Dr. Sujata Iyengar from the University of Georgia came to talk about her work in English Renaissance Literature. She was followed on Tuesday by Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher from Wheaton College, who talked with the students about their goals for the future.
On Thursday, June 11th, Drs. Lena and Michael Hill from the University of Iowa came to talk to the students about their individual graduate school experiences and their experience of searching for a job together. They accompanied the students on Friday to Yale University to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, where Lena showed the students the materials she had worked with as a graduate student there.
That following Monday, June 15th, Dr. Valerie Lee from The Ohio State University spoke about why she became an English professor. On Wednesday, the students went into Boston to watch an exhilarating performance of The Color Purple. They next day, they listened to Dr. Patricia Chu from the SUNY University at Albany.
Friday was a trip to Boston College and Harvard University, and the weekend was spent working on their papers. This week has been GRE prep classes with Kaplan, as well as preparing for their final symposium on Saturday.
Everyone will be heading back home on Sunday, but there are still more events to come: this Friday, a number of graduate programs will be coming to our graduate recruitment fair, and last year’s SILCS graduates will be coming back for a reunion. We’re excited to see everyone again!
Week One
8 June 2009, 1:53 pm
It’s been a very busy first week here at SILCS. Last Sunday, May 31, all of the students arrived on campus for a welcome dinner with President Ronald Crutcher and his wife, Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher. The food was delicious and the conversation engrossing, as the President regaled us with stories of how he first became a cellist and everyone shared details about themselves. Several of the students discovered a mutual interest in playing the guitar (badly).
Monday was the start of classes. Dr. Robyn Warhol-Down joined SILCS once again as an instructor. The students read Barthes, Foucault, Benjamin, and Fish, and began to do research for their final project. Dr. Herman Beavers from the University of Pennsylvania spoke to the students Monday night about the idea of risk and how it relates to African American Studies. On Wednesday, the students heard Dr. Lisa Lebduska from Wheaton College speak about rhetoric and composition, and on Thursday Dr. Dagmawi Woubshet from Cornell University spoke about his work in comparative literature.
The Brown University English Department and John Carter Brown Library welcomed the students for a visit on Friday. The day was unfortunately rainy, but the rain cleared on Saturday in time for a relaxing trip out on Narragansett Bay with Save the Bay.
There are many more events scheduled for this month so keep watching this space for more updates!
Welcome SILCS class of 2009
20 April 2009, 4:23 pm
Congratulations to our 12 students in the SILCS class of 2009. We are looking forward to seeing all of you in June. By now, everyone should have been contacted as to the status of their applications. If you have not received notice, please let us know. Watch this space in June for news of Institute events!
Applications update
20 March 2009, 8:37 am
The decision for the students accepted into the 2009 institute has been delayed until the beginning of April. All applicants will be notified of the status of their applications at that time.
Congratulations
23 February 2009, 11:07 am
We would like to congratulate our 2008 SILCS graduates on their acceptances into graduate programs, mostly in English but also in French and comparative literature. Our students have currently been accepted into:
Brown University
The University of California at Irvine
Dartmouth College
Indiana University
The University of Michigan
Northwestern University
The Ohio State University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
The University of California, Los Angeles
The University of Pennsylvania
The University of Texas
Washington University in St. Louis
And there are more acceptances arriving every day! Congratulations, everyone.
Update:
Here are a few more schools to add to the list:
Columbia University in the City of New York
Cornell University
Rice University
Tufts University
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of Vermont
Applications due Feb 20
12 February 2009, 8:40 am
Applications for SILCS 2009 are due Friday, February 20. Remember, the program is open to anyone in their junior year of college with one year of schooling ahead of them. If you are attempting to fax your application and having trouble, please be patient: due to the high volume of applications, the line may be busy. Please wait and try again.
Best of luck to those applying!
SILCScast 006: Dr. Herman Beavers
1 December 2008, 9:56 am
In our final podcast episode, Dr. Herman Beavers from the University of Pennsylvania talks about the role of cultural and literary studies in poetry. During his lecture he covers five poems: “Incident” by Countee Cullen; “Frederick Douglass” by Robert E. Hayden; “Miss Rosie” and “Why some people be mad at me sometimes” by Lucille Clifton; and “American History” by Michael Harper. The podcast is marked explicit for the brief discussion of “Incident”.
