Graduate
Graduate Alumni Interview: Teddy Duncan
Teddy Duncan,
MA in English, literature concentration
Spring 2022
Bio
I earned my MA in Literature from USF in 2022. For my portfolio, I had two very different papers that represent my range of research interests: one was a Lacanian reading of The Awakening (with an emphasis on silence and the limits of the symbolic) and the other was a paper that explored the meat-commodity and its function and circulation in the economic market. The Lacan paper is forthcoming in the Midwest Quarterly in January 2023 and during the summer of 2021 I also had an article published in the International Journal of Zizek Studies. I hope to one day publish an academic book in Animal Studies that further explores the meat-commodity and its implications. At Keiser University I will be teaching First-Year Composition, American Literature, and Creative Writing.
What is your position now?
I was recently hired as a full-time English instructor at Keiser University!
Why did you come to the USF graduate program?
There were a lot of reasons: initially, I applied because my mentor during my undergrad recommended USF. After being accepted into the graduate program, I looked further into the assistantship situation and was really excited that I would immediately start teaching and get that collegiate instructor experience. To me, that was imperative: to teach and find out if I enjoyed being an instructor or not (and, to see if I was any good at it). Also—albeit all GTA wages are genuinely sub-livable—USF's teaching stipends were comparatively better than other programs that I applied to.
What was a unique opportunity you had at USF?
USF gave me a lot of great opportunities! The mentorship program was fantastic and helped me connect with an undergraduate student and assist them with their research journey. Also, finding other former students and faculty members whose scholarly interest intersected or overlapped with my own. There was not a faculty member whose work aligned exactly with what type of research I was engaged in (animal studies), but in every class that enrolled in there was something I could extract (whether that be a theoretical approach or a literary text) that was applicable to my portfolio papers or contributed to my bookshelf. Every class and every faculty member’s research interests led me to some new unexamined textual territory.
And although I attended during Covid Times, the English department was very open and friendly—I really enjoyed my interactions with everyone and developing friendships.
How did USF prepare you for your current position?
I haven’t started my position yet—so I’m not exactly sure (my position begins in July). The two years of composition experience certainly prepared me for what is to come, along with all the pedagogical knowledge I got from other instructors and the practicum course and my instructor-mentor during my first semester (much love to Marshal).
More importantly though, USF prepared me for the job market. Navigating the job market is tough, especially if you have a non-terminal degree in an academic field (like I do). There were very few full-time jobs available for me, but the English department at USF prepared me extensively for the ones that I did apply for. Dr. Lennon, Dr. Cook, and a former PhD student from USF, Dr. Lance, all ensured that I was ready for everything: they reviewed my C.V., helped me edit the cover letter, and prepared me for the teaching demonstration.
There are a lot of excellent universities with great researchers/instructors offering engaging classes—but what makes a difference in a job market like this is faculty that cares about your post-grad-school life/career and wants to make sure you end up with a job.
What advice would you give to new graduate students in the program?
I have two things I would advise new graduate students to do (that are in direct contention to one another).
1. Delve as deep as you can within your program and studies. Find the texts that you think are complex and fascinating and want to write about along with an approach or prism in which you will read those texts. I would recommend surveying the broad landscape of approaches and theories (there are a lot!). Don’t just look at how the contemporary literary field functions, look at previous approaches too. If there is something that interests you that you’re exposed to in a class (whether that be a theory or an author or whatever) read more into them; find another book on it. Personally, in literary studies anyways, I think it is more important to find a mode of reading—a theoretical prism that determines how you read texts—rather than what literary texts you read (because going into this program, you probably already have a proclivity for a certain kind of text or a sub-field of literature). Pretty much, I’m saying that you should go all the way in and find your specialty in the field.
2. At the same time, try to expand beyond the hyper-specialization of your degree. All English degrees, whether they are in Literature, Rhetoric, or Creative Writing, have an extremely narrow academic market (and I think you don’t realize how narrow that market is until you start searching for jobs). So, as you find what you love in the field, try to do other things that are outside of your specific track: try to turn your degree into a general English degree through experience in other things. I would utilize the internships course over the summer if you can—try out journalism, or freelance writing, or copy-writing, or technical writing, or blogging, or whatever. If you’re here, you probably love writing and reading—and you should get pragmatic experience in other forms of writing aside from academic, if you can.
Also, connect to your other grad students and faculty members—go to the events and game-nights and readings and talks! And if you are not from here—explore Tampa!