Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with postgraduate

Where can I find a list of Postgraduate Photography courses in the United States?

stackhaus23 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:10:56 -0800

Where can I find a list of Postgraduate Photography courses in the United States? I've been looking at taking a Masters Degree in photography here in the UK. However, since I love to travel – especially to the US – somone asked "Why not look at courses in the United States?"

...good question! The only problem is, I don't know where to start... other than Google.

Any suggestions?

Help me take control of my education! Law, cognitive science...

macg02 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:27:22 -0800

Help me take control of my education! Law, cognitive science... Hi! Long time reader, first time asker. I'm 22, Irish and have studied up to now Law and German as an undergraduate. I've just had a pretty rough experience during a year abroad in Germany, the net result of which is that I have to repeat a year back home.

That has to do with some unrelated personal issues, which I'm dealing with now (finally...!), but it was made a lot worse by the feeling I'm losing control of my education.

Ok, so I chose to study law, against the advice of my parents who thought I'd be more philosophically or linguistically inclined. At the most anxious point over the past year I thought about packing it all in and starting again with computational linguistics.

That's getting at where I want to go, but I then don't want to abandon law totally.
I think the law/computational linguistics choice represents two sides of what I'm ultimately trying to get at - the nature of argumentation, and its implications/uses.

I don't want to abandon law totally... It's just I don't want to study 'just' law...

Further, I have, with little consistency, tried to learn in my spare time (for 'learn,' replace: reading a few popular science books), about persuasion, linguistics, jurisprudence, cognitive science, rhetoric, logic, economics, psychology, yadda yadda. The whole learning on my own gambit worked in the past, especially with languages, but I was studying those languages at school, working towards exams, learning on my own because class was boring. Now there's no structure to my self-directed learning, and no goal in sight.

It feels like I'm trying to do it backwards - if I was in America I'd study liberal arts first, with all those cool things like cog sci, lingusitics, languages; satisfy my curiosity, and then go on to law school...

So do I try and quell my dillettante-ish quest to learn everything to do with language and logic, and just get on with studying law?
Do I try and satisfy my lust for learning and keep on with studying those things at home, with little to show for it?
Or is there a post-graduate programme or field of studies I'm overlooking? I'm thinking of something like Symbolic Systems at Stanford (which seems more undergrad orientated) Would anyone even take me?

I'd love to do like Joseph Campbell and spend 5 years reading intensively in a shed in the wilderness, but I'm dealing with anxiety/add issues; I really think I'd fall apart without more structure and short term goals...

Thanks if you've read all of this! I'm driving myself crazy trying to tie these things together in some kind of coherent, worthwhile sense. Part of this is definitely me upset that *maybe* I'm not as smart and successful as I imagined myself to be, but I think I could do well if I got reenchanted by education. I could also just try and get by in the real world, but education does mean a lot to me.

Bonus points if you can suggest cool futuristic fields of study, and how to get at them - you know, neural networks, ontologies, natural language programming (all this stuff has to have links with law) - I'd even like to try programming, but as alluded to, I don't think I could do it on my own; I'd need structure: it would just become one more thing amongst all the other cool learning vying for attention. I'd prob start, then drop it after being distracted by a shiny penny and deciding numismatics is what I *really* want to study..

Thanks

Clinical Psychology reading

curious zoe — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:44:47 -0800

My friend is applying for clinical psychology postgraduate study at the end of this year and she would like to make sure she is well read on relevant books (nb. not text books) and blogs etc before the interview. Can anyone reccomend any books, websites or blogs that would be good for my friend to review prior to her interview?

Ideas for postgrad programs for an engineer?

rybreadmed — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:22:34 -0800

What kinds of postgraduate programs could you recommend for an out-of-the-box mechanical engineer who wants to make a lot of money? I received a BA in English, MBA in finance, and a BS in mechanical engineering (in that order). I'm trying to figure out what to do next--if anything. I enjoy engineering, and I luckily have a job--but I don't like my job most of the time, and feel the company treats its engineers rather poorly. I think they do this BECAUSE the economy is in the crapper and it's not like we can just walk out and find another job that easily. I'm looking for a new skill, certification, and/or body of knowledge that will set me apart.

So I'm thinking ahead. I'm trying to come up with some ideas of future education I may pursue that meets the following:
1) High demand for people in that field.
2) Good-to-high pay (at least $100,000 per year) on graduation.
3) Allows me to keep my day job as an engineer while in school.
4) Would allow me to stay in Los Angeles (or commute to surrounding areas for said program).

I'd be flexible with number 3 above if the probable payoff would make it logical to leave my current job. And as I said, I'm looking ahead. I'd like to make a good amount of money to support my family (a lot of money would be even better).

I've considered law school (particularly patent law), but that would take another fours years and a fair amount of money. There are many part time programs in the LA area, but I'm looking for something in the 2 year or less range. I've also considered something like biomedical physics. High demand and high pay, but I'd likely have to leave my current job (since it's a full-time program, and it'd likely be difficult to get my work and school schedules to mesh). I'm not in the financial position that I could leave my job for a couple of years. That would be very difficult.

So throw out some ideas. Maybe you know of some obscure program that most people don't even know about; let me know! Thanks so much for your help.

PhD programs offered to foreigners?

zaebiz — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:59:50 -0800

Are there any respected PhD (or advanced research) programs offered from anywhere in the world that can be undertaken outside the country of the University that is offering it? I am mostly interested in law or legal history but am eager to hear about any line of study offered out of any country. I am also interested in the opportunity to travel.

What do you do in an advanced degree?

divabat — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:27:31 -0800

Those of you doing [post]graduate degrees...what exactly are you doing? I've been looking into various advanced degree programs (Grad Cert, Grad Dip, Masters, etc) but I'm finding it difficult to imagine what sort of work one does in an advanced degree.

My family comes from a science background: my sister did biotech research for her Ph.D and my dad did coursework in engineering for his Masters. Apparently my aunt did a Masters in Sociology but I don't know what this entailed for her. I'm getting a degree in the Creative Industries, and have been looking into advanced degrees in non-profit management, arts, or education.

What DO you do in your degree? Do you do a lot of reading? Is yours more practical? Do you get to do a project?
How academic is your degree? Do you have to do a lot of writing in a certain style?
How much opportunity do you get to travel, or do experiential learning? How about conferences?

I figure this would differ wildly between programs and schools, but my only concepts of advanced degrees are either sit in a library then write a long densely academic thesis, or do research in a lab and write a long densely academic thesis (research is fun, but writing long densely academic theses is my definition of hell).

Which path to a career in libraries: diploma or master's degree?

Rora — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:25:29 -0800

Which path to a career in libraries: diploma or master's degree? I'm contemplating pursuing a library career and weighing my options. On one hand I could do my master's in Library Sciences. But, to put it bluntly, I'm scared of higher education. I came out of my undergrad feeling unmotivated, insecure, and with a middling GPA. Because of my average grades, I'd have to go back to school to raise my GPA to acceptable admission levels, lengthening the amount of total schooling to at least three years. I have no guarantee that I'd be successful in university the second time around, which puts doubts into my ability to get accepted and then succeed at a master's. Boo hoo.

The second option is a library technician diploma at a college. I have more confidence (rightly or wrongly) in my ability to succeed here. I don't think I'd have any problems getting accepted and because of my bachelor's I can take an accelerated course which would only take one year vs. two.

So what are jobs like for library technicians? Is the work interesting, is the pay decent, am I going to be stuck working at the beck and call of a real librarian? Should I suck it up and go for the master's? Advise me, librarians of Metafilter!

I need help already... it's gonna be great!

twirlypen — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:06:32 -0800

What tips do you have for someone about to embark on their first year of postgraduate study? I just finished a four year Arts/Science degree in English and Geology. I've now just started an honours year in Geology. This will involve about two months of course work (separate components including field trips around the place) and then spending the rest of the year on my project. The project is looking at zinc isotopes in tree leaves, hoping to find a relation to ore bodies under cover.

So, for the first time ever I'll be working on a huge project that takes many months, covers many different aspects, and will result in a nice juicy thesis. What did you do/wish you did that helped when you were in a similar situation?

New York Creative Writing/Critical Theory PHD

0bvious — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 05:48:51 -0800

New York Creative Writing/Critical Theory PHD: I am currently undertaking an MA in Creative Writing and Critical Theory in London, and plan to go on to PHD after I finish. I would ideally like to go to an East coast USA/New York university to do this (for several reasons). I'd like some help with finding a good list of possible institutions... I am interested in Narrative form, from a Creative/Critical theory perspective. I also want the ability to utilise other areas of any university I take a PHD in to broaden the scope of my thesis, thus:

- I am interested in the Evolutionary origins and purpose of narrative (a university established in Evolutionary Psychology perhaps).

- I am also interested in the neuro-psychology of narrative form, (i.e. Which came first: the narrative or the human mind? How does each relate to/influence the other?)

- My studies will necessarily follow a semiological/semiotics path...

A New York based university with departments and/or specialists in these fields and a firm PHD basis in Creative and Critical Theory is what I am looking for.

Does such an institution exist?

Roehampton Creative Writing Masters

0bvious — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:44:00 -0800

What do you know/think about the University of Roehampton, London? Most especially I am interested in its School of Arts, and its MA in Creative and Professional Writing.... Good uni? Did you attend there? What are your experiences of the Roehampton area?

Any info gratefully appreciated

Studies options for a foreign medical doctor in Canada

zouhair — Thu, 04 May 2006 06:29:58 -0800

As medical doctor I want to follow some postgraduate studies related to health (good if in research) so I can be in tracks in two or three years I excpect to go living in Canada next year, but as a medical doctor I can't work in there without an equivalence process. This process is relly tough, even if I pass all the exams of the mcc, getting a residency match in Canada is a little esier than flying to the moon for a foreign doctor.

So I want to follow some studies related to health (genetics, epidemiology, communotary medicine, etc..) so I can work in research field.

If you have any advice or if you have done something like this yourself, thanks to share with me.

Distance learning in IR - more MSc than PhD

dmt — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 10:12:33 -0800

Postgraduate qualifications in International Relations by distance learning: does anyone know of any good schools or courses, I'm thinking probably MSc rather than PhD. Also any experiences with distrance learning gratefully appreciated