Name

Wonda Baugh

School

Bowling Green State University

Degree Program

Second year PhD student in American Culture Studies

Previous Degrees

Masters Degree in Women’s, Gender and Sexualities Studies from University of Cincinnati, 2008; Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Women’s and Gender Studies and History, 2005

Dissertation Topic

Disability studies

Research Interests

Gender studies, disability studies

Advisor

Not yet chosen

Hobbies

Running, walking the dog

Graduate School – Application Process

How did you select your graduate school and program?

I selected Bowling Green State University because it offers an American culture studies program that features an excellent popular culture department. My background is in women’s and gender studies, and while I knew that I still wanted to apply feminist theory to my work, I decided that I wanted to choose a broader research area. American culture studies seemed like a good fit for the kind of research that I wanted to conduct, and Bowling Green State University is a great place to study that field.

Did your application requirements include standardized test scores?

I had to take the GRE in order to get into Bowling Green State University, so in order to prepare, I studied the vocabulary words that were going to be on the test. For my program, the mathematical side of the GRE is not especially important, so I didn’t focus much on that.

What kind of information did you include in your personal statement?

In my personal statement, I discussed the fact that I am a nontraditional student, since I didn’t go back to school to earn my bachelors degree until I was 35 years old. I also discussed my personal reasons for being interested in American culture studies. Finally, I made a point to be very honest about the area of research I wished to pursue so that the admissions committee would have a clear idea of my focus.

How did you choose faculty to approach for letters of recommendation?

It was very easy for me to choose which faculty members to ask for letters of recommendation because I graduated from a small masters program with only about 6 students. That meant all the professors in the department were essentially on our thesis committee, and they are the people that wrote letters to recommend me for a doctoral program.

Do you have any tips for a student who is considering applying to graduate school in American culture studies?

You should talk to some of the current students in the programs that you are considering in order to get an inside perspective on the school and the way in which the department functions. This is also a good way to introduce yourself to the people who may be your future colleagues.

Graduate School – The Program

How long is your program and how is the curriculum distributed?

Most people complete the American culture studies program at Bowling Green State University within 4 years, although some students take 5 years to finish. Students are expected to complete all of their coursework during the first 2 years of the program. The third year is split between studying for your comprehensive exams, which take place after the first semester of that year, and beginning to write your dissertation. Finally, whether you take 4 or 5 years to finish your program, the remainder of the time after exams is spent writing your dissertation.

What is the focus of your dissertation research?

I haven’t completely solidified the topic of my dissertation, but I am building on the idea that I want to study the way that disability is represented in television and film. Specifically, I am interested in knowing how the images that are produced and seen on television create the ideas that non-disabled people have about those that are disabled. For example, there is a common stereotype that “crazy” people are violent, which may or may not accurately reflect reality. But the fact that we reproduce images that support that idea means that those images create fear in the public. I have many disabled family members, so I want to explore that area in greater depth.

How is the dissertation process different from working on a masters thesis?

The dissertation is supposed to be about 3 times as long as my masters thesis, which was around 70 pages long. I haven’t begun writing my dissertation yet, but I have a lot of work cut out for me. Fortunately, there isn’t much to distract a person in Bowling Green, so it is a good place to write a dissertation.

Does your program have an internship component?

There is no specific internship program associated with my American culture studies program, but I am also earning a certificate in public history, which does require an internship. For the internship, we teach other people how to work in a museum.

What role does your advisor play in your education?

I don’t communicate very often with my current advisor since she is just a general advisor for all of the pre-dissertation students in my program. Once I pass my qualifying exams, I will choose an advisor from the faculty that makes up my committee. That relationship will be much closer than the one I have with my current advisor.

Does your doctoral program require comprehensive exams prior to graduation?

Yes, my doctoral program requires students to take qualifying, or preliminary, exams. We take those during the first semester of our third year. The exams consist of 4 essays which each have to be 10 to15 pages in length. All of those essays are to be written over the course of 4 days.

Graduate School – Paying for It

How are you funding your education?

I am funding my education through a diversity scholarship. The scholarship required both economic need and academic excellence, in addition to demonstrating diversity. It used to be that most PhD students were funded, but in the humanities field, that tradition is changing very rapidly. I feel very lucky to have earned this scholarship. Many people now are funded in exchange for teaching undergraduate courses for 3 or 4 years. But due to my scholarship, I only have to teach for 1 year, which is quite abnormal.

Graduate School – Living Life

What are the time commitments for a PhD in American culture studies?

The time commitment for my PhD program is about a 50-hour work week. I spend about 9 hours each week in the classroom and another 30 to 40 hours on homework. There isn’t much time for spontaneous weekend getaways or anything like that because I really do have to be committed to my work.

How has graduate school affected your personal life?

One way that graduate school has affected me is through my family life. I am the first person in my family to go to college, so they are extremely proud of the work that I am doing, but it is a little foreign to them. You can’t understand what a doctoral program is like until you get there. They don’t totally understand that I have to stay incredibly focused all of the time. For instance, I can’t just sit and talk on the phone with my sister for 2 hours, because if I do, that means I have to stay up that much later to get my work done.

Graduate School – After Graduation

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years, I would like to be a professor at a community college teaching about gender or ethnic studies. I don’t know if that will happen so soon because jobs are so few in this economy and the competition for them is incredibly fierce. Taking that into consideration, I may teach online for a while.

Graduate School - Advice

What insights can you offer a student who is interested in pursuing a PhD in American culture studies?

I would advise anyone who is thinking about going into a graduate-level humanities program to read a book called Graduate Study for the Twenty-first Century: How to Build an Academic Career in the Humanities by Gregory Semanza. It explains the ins and outs of graduate school in a way that nobody else will.