I may be a lord, but I'm not a master. That is, I don't have my master's (or Master's or Master or master...okay, I'm kidding, this is the rule) degree. I've been longing for one ever since I graduated (though not the day of...my son had been born two days before I graduated, and I was more worried about him surviving with only half a heart than another degree), but I've never done more than occasionally and idly hoping for the chance to get an advanced degree.
The thing is, I don't know why. It's strange, because I'm not interested in being a doctor. After all, why be Doctor Dowdle when I'm already Lord Dowdle? (Though Lord Dowdle, PhD sounds pretty cool.) So it's not as though the advanced degree qua degree is what appeals to me. Then again, maybe if I earned a master's, then I'd want the next step, too.
There's also a question of what I would study. My first impulse is to say MFA, since that's kind of the thing that writers go into who want a master's degree. There are a lot of arguments for and against MFA programs, though a lot of them seem to analyse the value of taking advanced classes in order to be more marketable. That wouldn't be the point of an MFA for me. It'd be an excuse to focus a lot more on my writing and improve it. Perhaps that's why I'm not pursuing an MFA at this point: It's hard to justify the cost of the program when I want the degree and a chance to write more. Besides, I'd likely end up writing less by being in the program--a classic example of letting my learning get in the way of my education.
Another option would be a comparative studies degree. According to my friend, whose master's is in comparative studies, it's a bit of a humanities catch-all that would allow me to pursue what I think could be a valuable contribution to academia--and, much to everyone's surprise, it isn't Shakespeare related. At least, not directly. Shakespeare will end up in whatever I do, wherever I do it, because he's in my blood. No, I would like to do a Venn diagram of Milton and Mormonism, exploring as much orthodoxy and heterodoxy within both Milton's Anglicanism and both early- and modern Mormonism as I could get away with--or have the stomach for.
The first option (the MFA) would require a lot of writing, but it'd likely be creative writing and not push me as far, intellectually, as the second. I'm guessing here, but I believe that the MFA would stretch my skills much further than they're likely to be able to go on my own, but the intellectual challenge would be the lesser of the two. I can say that with so much assurance because have you read John Milton? One of the best editions of his work, the Hughes edition, has capacious footnotes, often which take up more space than the poem or writing itself. This isn't simply because there's so much to say about Milton, but there's so much to explain about him, tracing his arguments and (dear heavens) his allusions into all sorts of complexities. Milton is incredible, but he's not simple. I don't know if my feeble brain can handle what Milton laid down.
So that's one of my issues. The other, aside from logistics (where and how to pay for it), is the question of my own energy. Would I be recharged by having my life drained into advanced schooling? I already struggle with getting enough exercise, enough family time, enough sleep. Do I need to deprive myself of that? Can intellectual growth be a large enough justification for attaining that goal? Do I want a master's degree because I want it, or is it because I think I want it? What about my wife? Should she go back to school before me? Is that something that she wants enough? Our kids are at the cusp of being school-bound all day, so maybe the timing is better now than before? Maybe I can get away with it in the near future?
I'm not a master of anything--least of all an understanding of what I really want out of life--but I think, at the very least, it's healthy that I'm asking these questions.
Whether or not I'll be able to find answers to them remains to be seen.
Apology to those who clicked the link thinking I was talking about the show Master of None from Netflix. I didn't mean to mislead you. I've never seen the show, so I can't...y'know...talk about it, save acknowledging that I know it exists.
The thing is, I don't know why. It's strange, because I'm not interested in being a doctor. After all, why be Doctor Dowdle when I'm already Lord Dowdle? (Though Lord Dowdle, PhD sounds pretty cool.) So it's not as though the advanced degree qua degree is what appeals to me. Then again, maybe if I earned a master's, then I'd want the next step, too.
There's also a question of what I would study. My first impulse is to say MFA, since that's kind of the thing that writers go into who want a master's degree. There are a lot of arguments for and against MFA programs, though a lot of them seem to analyse the value of taking advanced classes in order to be more marketable. That wouldn't be the point of an MFA for me. It'd be an excuse to focus a lot more on my writing and improve it. Perhaps that's why I'm not pursuing an MFA at this point: It's hard to justify the cost of the program when I want the degree and a chance to write more. Besides, I'd likely end up writing less by being in the program--a classic example of letting my learning get in the way of my education.
Another option would be a comparative studies degree. According to my friend, whose master's is in comparative studies, it's a bit of a humanities catch-all that would allow me to pursue what I think could be a valuable contribution to academia--and, much to everyone's surprise, it isn't Shakespeare related. At least, not directly. Shakespeare will end up in whatever I do, wherever I do it, because he's in my blood. No, I would like to do a Venn diagram of Milton and Mormonism, exploring as much orthodoxy and heterodoxy within both Milton's Anglicanism and both early- and modern Mormonism as I could get away with--or have the stomach for.
The first option (the MFA) would require a lot of writing, but it'd likely be creative writing and not push me as far, intellectually, as the second. I'm guessing here, but I believe that the MFA would stretch my skills much further than they're likely to be able to go on my own, but the intellectual challenge would be the lesser of the two. I can say that with so much assurance because have you read John Milton? One of the best editions of his work, the Hughes edition, has capacious footnotes, often which take up more space than the poem or writing itself. This isn't simply because there's so much to say about Milton, but there's so much to explain about him, tracing his arguments and (dear heavens) his allusions into all sorts of complexities. Milton is incredible, but he's not simple. I don't know if my feeble brain can handle what Milton laid down.
So that's one of my issues. The other, aside from logistics (where and how to pay for it), is the question of my own energy. Would I be recharged by having my life drained into advanced schooling? I already struggle with getting enough exercise, enough family time, enough sleep. Do I need to deprive myself of that? Can intellectual growth be a large enough justification for attaining that goal? Do I want a master's degree because I want it, or is it because I think I want it? What about my wife? Should she go back to school before me? Is that something that she wants enough? Our kids are at the cusp of being school-bound all day, so maybe the timing is better now than before? Maybe I can get away with it in the near future?
I'm not a master of anything--least of all an understanding of what I really want out of life--but I think, at the very least, it's healthy that I'm asking these questions.
Whether or not I'll be able to find answers to them remains to be seen.
Apology to those who clicked the link thinking I was talking about the show Master of None from Netflix. I didn't mean to mislead you. I've never seen the show, so I can't...y'know...talk about it, save acknowledging that I know it exists.