Advice for Prospective Graduate Students, Visiting International Scholars, and Post-Doctoral Fellowship Applicants

Each year, I get contacted by many prospective graduate students, post-doctoral applicants, and international scholars seeking temporary affiliations with the University of Pennsylvania. Please understand that I simply do not have the capacity to speak to each person individually even if only for a brief phone or Zoom call, because these types of requests are far too numerous. Please read the information below and hopefully it will answer many of your questions.

For Aspiring Grad Students:

The University of Pennsylvania is a very large and bureaucratic place. There are complicated rules regarding who can and cannot take on Ph.D. students. Because I have a full appointment in Russian and East European Studies (REES), which does not have its own Ph.D. program, it is impossible for me to supervise a dissertation in REES.

Although I am a member of the Graduate Groups in Anthropology, Comparative Literature, and of the Lauder Program in International Relations, I can only chair dissertations in Comparative Literature (which is the field furthest from my own). I can serve as a “primary advisor” in Anthropology, and can serve as a member on dissertation committees in other doctoral-degree-granting departments at Penn (but not as chair or primary advisor).

However, I do not currently sit on any doctoral degree admissions committees at Penn, nor do I receive any “graduate credits” from the School of Arts and Sciences. This means I have no power or influence over the admissions processes, and I have no funds with which to support Ph.D. students who would like to work with me. Without my own credits, my support for your application is relatively useless.

The best thing to do is to apply to a Ph.D. program at Penn which best suits your interests, and mention in your application statement that if admitted you would like to have me [Professor Ghodsee in REES] as a member of your future dissertation committee given the nature of your proposed research area. If you are admitted to a Penn doctoral program, please reach out through my contact form and we can discuss further logistics. I have served on the dissertation committees of students in a variety of disciplines, but it is best to contact me only after your first semester of coursework.

For Post-Doctoral Fellowship Applicants:

There are various opportunities at Penn for postdoctoral fellowships, and some of them require a letter from a faculty mentor willing to supervise the work. Unfortunately, the University of Pennsylvania created many of these opportunities without a clear understanding of the limits of faculty time, and, to date, most of these programs have offered little recognition and no compensation for what is a fairly large commitment and responsibility. Hopefully, this policy will change in the future, but until that time, it is beyond my capacity to engage with these programs.

For International Visitors:

Because Penn is an Ivy League research university in a major metropolitan area, there are many international scholars who aspire to come to campus as a visitor. Outside of specific fellowship programs, Penn does not support international researchers in any significant way. If you have your own funding and can arrange your own housing and visa, the best that the REES department can do is offer you a library card to access our campus libraries and online resources. We do not have offices to spare, nor do can we provide administrative support. This is a limited opportunity, however, for scholars who have research projects directly related to Russian and East European Studies, and who will not require an office, mentorship, supervision, administrative support, or future letters of recommendation.