One of the key components of the English Department at the 乐播传媒 Boulder is the rigorous and highly selective PhD program in Literature. The fully-funded five-year program involves coursework, a Comprehensive Examination, undergraduate teaching, and a dissertation has trained a large number of bright and accomplished alumni. Their graduate work at CU English has prepared them to excel in an array of positions inside and outside of academia.听
For a one example of our recent alumni from the PhD in Literature program, we look to Dr. Alex W. Corey. Corey is currently a full-time Lecturer on History & Literature at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dr. Corey graduated from CU Boulder in spring 2017, with a dissertation titled 鈥淏eyond the Blues: Music, Gender, and Black Modernisms.鈥� In their research, Dr. Corey asks how the gendering of sound led into and emerged out of the racial dynamics of twentieth-century American musical culture.听
When considering the ways in which CU prepared them for their current position at Harvard, Corey shared a couple important insights. They recognize that extensive teaching experience as a PhD candidate within the Department set them up 鈥渢o excel as a faculty member in History & Literature.鈥� Also, their work as the manager of the Laboratory for Race and Popular Culture 鈥減rofoundly influenced the way [they] teach pop music now.鈥�
They continued: 鈥淥ne of the most important things I took from CU鈥檚 English program was a hard-fought ability to write clear, concise arguments without relying on jargon鈥攎any thanks to [faculty members] Dr. Cheryl Higashida and Dr. Adam Bradley, in particular, for their considerable guidance on this front.鈥澨�
Dr. Corey has taught a variety of undergraduate courses at History & Literature. They taught 鈥淐ontemporary American Literature and Popular Music,鈥� which explored how pop music and recent U.S. literature engage with questions of social power.听 With a historian, they co-teach 鈥淪ocial Justice Activism,鈥� in which students study a range of overlapping areas of political activism since about 1900. Topics include anti-lynching campaigns, agricultural labor organizing, Black feminism reproductive justice activism, and indigenous demands for recognition. Each year, they also advise two seniors writing honors theses and have evaluated 4-5 senior theses each year.
When asked about their biggest accomplishment since graduating from CU Boulder鈥檚 PhD program, they named being awarded the Jan Thaddeus Award for Teaching and Service in History & Literature in 2019. 鈥淭his award means so much to me in part because students nominated me and wrote confidential letters on my behalf. History & Literature is a community of excellent teachers, and it is a true honor to be recognized for teaching and mentoring in the context of such amazing colleagues.鈥�
Currently, Corey is working on three projects. They are in the final stages of revising a former dissertation chapter to send out as an announcement of their book project. They explain: 鈥淭his essay examines the drafting process of James Weldon Johnson鈥檚 1912 The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. It shows how the late infusion of Frederic Chopin鈥檚 music into novel鈥檚 manuscript was a way of sonically aligning the narrator with excessive femininity, even as he lives as a white widower raising children on his own.鈥� They are spearheading a project to improve accessibility and inclusion within History & Literature鈥檚 curriculum. And with colleagues, they are of teaching faculty at Harvard.听
Corey looks back fondly on an array of experiences from their time at the 乐播传媒 Boulder: 鈥淔ond memories include all the hours I spent writing my dissertation with wonderful colleagues at The Cup (now sadly closed), Innisfree, and Sanitas; 听waking up at 4:30 AM to go backcountry skiing before a full day of research and writing; and finding an awesome queer and trans community in Boulder. And I鈥檇 be lying if I didn鈥檛 mention that Colorado sunshine.鈥�