CLCS MA Opens Doors to Career Paths

Recently, Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies (CLCS) M.A. student Emma Bryans presented at the Middle East Studies Association's (MESA) annual conference. But the educational journey that brought her there is a story that resonates with many of us. "I came here in 2020, and I started with business. I hated it. I switched to communication sciences, thinking I would do speech pathology. I hated it, too."  It was an English Comp professor that finally took notice and had a heart-to-heart with Bryans: "They were like, 'You're really unhappy. I've never seen you smile. Let's get you smiling.'"

"Somehow I came upon International and Global Studies, and then I took my first elementary Arabic class. I really liked it…So then I kept going and took a class called Around the Arab World in Eight Days. Each class period was taught by a different professor; I learned about different Arab countries and cultures, and that got me really into it." Bryans graduated with three B.A.s: international global studies, Middle East studies, Arabic and a history minor.

But as Bryans started her senior year, the all-too-familiar "now what?" started creeping in. "So Dr. Rania Mahmoud, who's my adviser now, I had a class with her, and I went to her. She could tell I was stressed out. I didn't know what to do." Bryans knew she wasn't done with her education yet, but she also didn't want to confine herself to a specific field. The career fluidity that comes with interdisciplinary studies is part of what attracted Bryans to CLCS.  

Since joining the CLCS M.A. program, Bryans has been able to take classes in history, political science, English, communications, film, cultural studies, gender studies and comparative literature. "Because I am so interdisciplinary, my options are open. I'm considering going to law school. But I can go to the editing / publishing world; that would be really cool. I could go teach at a community college or a public or private school somewhere else. Some people think I should work for the CIA or the UN."


Another driving factor in Bryans' decision to pursue the CLCS M.A. was the choice between a portfolio or a thesis. "I mean, most people say that if you're gonna go into Ph.D. program, you have to have a thesis … But I don't really have one research question or one thing that I'm really, really passionate about. 
And so a thesis was hard for me to conceptualize … I really like the portfolio option. I think the portfolio option is really interesting and a great opportunity for people."

This spring, Bryans is taking the M.A. Portfolio Workshop with Dr. Lissette Lopez Szwydky. The class is designed for students in the M.A. program in English or CLCS who are using the portfolio option to complete the program. "So this semester, we are taking an article-length term paper or research paper, whatever we've done in the past two years. We are revising it and workshopping it together as a cohort. Workshopping and the peer review process are not part of most masters programs, but it's important." 


They are also reading The Elements of Academic Writing by Eric Hayot. "He is very passionate about the fact that Ph.D. programs and masters programs do not actually prepare the students for professional academic life. Writing a dissertation or thesis also does not prepare students; it's nothing like writing a book or a journal article, so like, what's the point? 
In class, we're going to revise and workshop a paper and try to get it published. This will be the main highlight of our portfolio once we're finished. We're also going to workshop our teaching materials, visual aids, book reviews and stuff like that, a working resume and CV, too. It's a collection of all of our work from the masters program that we are refining really well to help us in the job market. A few people in that class are applying to Ph.D. programs and will be using their portfolio instead of a thesis."

"I think the portfolio is a great opportunity to just build your professional credentials … regardless of your career path. Dr. Szwydky is stressing the diversity of our portfolios; the more diverse, the better. Because it opens your opportunities, no matter what kind of job you're applying for or what kind of graduate school you're applying to."

As part of her career readiness, Bryans picked CLCS for its interdisciplinary approach, opening doors that otherwise might be closed. "I feel like I'm actually way more diversified as a cultural studies person. Something really, really cool about the CLCS program … you get so many different perspectives from so many different people from around the world. I mean, don't you wanna be well rounded?"