Students learn value of English Ph.D.s

Many English graduate students often ask themselves what they can do with a doctorate in English. And to help clear up some of that confusion, a career panel entitled "Some Don't Teach (Some Do): A Panel on Life with an English Ph.D." was offered Monday in Bennett Hall's Penniman Library. The panel sought to correct the misconception that teaching is the only path open to those who complete graduate work in the field. The panel's speakers -- all of whom earned doctorates in English from the University in the late 1960s and early 1970s -- discussed how their doctorates affected their later job experiences. Jon Deitz, a vice president at Pope and Talbot, began the discussion by noting that "much of what we do now is not so different from what we started doing ? 30 years ago." Deitz -- who did his dissertation on the Restoration and 18th-century comedy -- connected his graduate studies to his present career by explaining that they both entail examining tasks and trying to get people to "think in a certain way." Real estate entrepreneur Victor Goodman also connected the skills he learned at graduate school to those he uses in his career. Goodman joked that he's "gone from reading about people in castles ? to selling castles on dry land." Most of the panelists said they had originally intended to teach, but difficulties finding university jobs led them in different directions. Andrea Jacoby, a Fulbright Fellow who began her career teaching at Earlham College, now owns an architectural firm. Emphasizing the value of a doctorate in English, she said making the leap from "literature to numbers" was not difficult because both involve analytical skills. " If you know how to learn? teach ? and communicate, you can do it in lots of different modalities," Jacoby said. "A person with a Ph.D. can succeed in the financial world." Despite the largely positive comments about the value of English doctorates, some panelists felt the degree was not always beneficial. Ian Irvine, a counsel for a financing firm, felt his doctorate was sometimes detrimental to his career. Irvine -- who attended the University of California at Berkeley Law School at age 38 -- said others perceived him as "quirky" for having a doctorate. And Dan Bronson, an English professor at Montclair State College, noted that advanced studies in English can be viewed negatively. "Sometimes people see a Ph.D. and take it the wrong way," he said. But despite their opinions on the value of English doctorates, each panelist stressed that there are many options open to those interested in doing graduate studies in English.