Another SOP
I would appreciate any input and criticism people could provide on my SOP. No need to be gentle... I've been through creative writing workshops, so I have skin of steel!
I would be happy to read anyone else's SOPs as well... I'll be critiquing some for the next few days, but if you really want me to look at yours, let me know what day it was posted, and I'll go look for it!
People are sometimes surprised that I majored in both English and physics. It's an unusual combination, and as an undergraduate at Whatsamatta U, I did not initially make any connections between the humanities and science courses I was taking. In Fall of my junior year, however, I took a course on religion and science in which we read physicist Lee Smolin's Life of the Cosmos. I was moved by Smolin's view of the universe as an almost-living thing, the result of a self-organizing process that spans a multiverse. I was equally intrigued by his ideas about finding a new kind of objectivity in the modern world - an objectivity based on piecing together multiple subjective view points.
Smolin's text became the starting point for my thesis, in which I analyzed the role of science in the poetry of Jorie Graham and Alice Fulton. Under the guidance of my thesis adviser, Professor World's Preeminent Stein Scholar, I became familiar with some of the influential writers in the field of science and literature, such as Alfred North Whitehead, Ira Livingston, and Roy Harris. I also learned more about contemporary poetry through reading works by Helen Vendler and Thomas Gardner. Focusing mainly on Graham's Materialism and Fulton's Cascade Experiment, I explored a variety of topics in modern science including self-organization, indeterminacy and uncertainty as positives, and objectivity vs. subjectivity. The main conclusion of my thesis is that Fulton and Graham are, like Smolin, trying to find a new way to make objective statements about the universe by incorporating multiple, flawed perspectives. Their poetic projects share the same goal as Smolin's work as a theoretical physicist.
One of the ways Graham and Fulton pursue this project is by providing a voice for marginalized groups. In my thesis, I touch on some of the implications contemporary scientific theories may have for feminism, but I would like to expand on this research in the future by investigating how different scientific theories have been used to justify or deny stereotypes about women, animals, and other disempowered groups. At the same time, I hope to continue studying texts that discuss or refer to quantum mechanics, relativity, and theories of self-organization. I think these scientific theories can merge with literary theory and become tools for analyzing a wide variety of texts.
School X would be the best place for me to pursue this course of study. At School X, I could benefit from working with the many professors who study in science in literature, especially Professor Thingamawho and Professor Thingamawhat. There are also several professors in the History and Philosophy of science department - such as Professor Thingamajiggy - who are working out the philosophical implications of various ideas in contemporary physics, and these are the kinds of ideas I would like to incorporate into my study of literature.
In conclusion, I love School X and would do anything to get in, up to and including quickies in the back room.
One specific question I have is whether or not I should mention the fact that I've been out of school for two years. I got married, moved back to my home town, and have been working at random jobs. That doesn't sound relevant or interesting, but I'm afraid they'll wonder what I've been up to.
I would be happy to read anyone else's SOPs as well... I'll be critiquing some for the next few days, but if you really want me to look at yours, let me know what day it was posted, and I'll go look for it!
People are sometimes surprised that I majored in both English and physics. It's an unusual combination, and as an undergraduate at Whatsamatta U, I did not initially make any connections between the humanities and science courses I was taking. In Fall of my junior year, however, I took a course on religion and science in which we read physicist Lee Smolin's Life of the Cosmos. I was moved by Smolin's view of the universe as an almost-living thing, the result of a self-organizing process that spans a multiverse. I was equally intrigued by his ideas about finding a new kind of objectivity in the modern world - an objectivity based on piecing together multiple subjective view points.
Smolin's text became the starting point for my thesis, in which I analyzed the role of science in the poetry of Jorie Graham and Alice Fulton. Under the guidance of my thesis adviser, Professor World's Preeminent Stein Scholar, I became familiar with some of the influential writers in the field of science and literature, such as Alfred North Whitehead, Ira Livingston, and Roy Harris. I also learned more about contemporary poetry through reading works by Helen Vendler and Thomas Gardner. Focusing mainly on Graham's Materialism and Fulton's Cascade Experiment, I explored a variety of topics in modern science including self-organization, indeterminacy and uncertainty as positives, and objectivity vs. subjectivity. The main conclusion of my thesis is that Fulton and Graham are, like Smolin, trying to find a new way to make objective statements about the universe by incorporating multiple, flawed perspectives. Their poetic projects share the same goal as Smolin's work as a theoretical physicist.
One of the ways Graham and Fulton pursue this project is by providing a voice for marginalized groups. In my thesis, I touch on some of the implications contemporary scientific theories may have for feminism, but I would like to expand on this research in the future by investigating how different scientific theories have been used to justify or deny stereotypes about women, animals, and other disempowered groups. At the same time, I hope to continue studying texts that discuss or refer to quantum mechanics, relativity, and theories of self-organization. I think these scientific theories can merge with literary theory and become tools for analyzing a wide variety of texts.
School X would be the best place for me to pursue this course of study. At School X, I could benefit from working with the many professors who study in science in literature, especially Professor Thingamawho and Professor Thingamawhat. There are also several professors in the History and Philosophy of science department - such as Professor Thingamajiggy - who are working out the philosophical implications of various ideas in contemporary physics, and these are the kinds of ideas I would like to incorporate into my study of literature.
In conclusion, I love School X and would do anything to get in, up to and including quickies in the back room.
One specific question I have is whether or not I should mention the fact that I've been out of school for two years. I got married, moved back to my home town, and have been working at random jobs. That doesn't sound relevant or interesting, but I'm afraid they'll wonder what I've been up to.