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navyblackmaroon

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navyblackmaroon last won the day on March 21 2015

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  1. I have heard from UNC graduate students that their teaching experiences are similar to those of their counterparts in other large state schools: handling sections that have too many students, plenty of grading, and a need to teach to survive. The upside of large state schools, however, is that you have more opportunities to teach your own course once you are a Phd candidate. That is very important in this job market. Vanderbilt is decidedly less accommodating when it comes to graduate students lecturing. Those Vandy graduate students who want to teach their own classes do so during the summer or at a nearby school (Belmont or Nashville State community college). Vanderbilt has some big names in early modern European history. However, it seems to me that the program is stronger in some of the countries/regions. There are more students working in early modern Germany and England than in France or Italy. Then again, this is not my field, so I am not an expert. Echoing what amavare mentioned, I would really focus on their recent placement track for early modern Europe students. That is sometimes hard to do with Vanderbilt's non-US fields because some only began accepting large numbers of students somewhat recently (at least compared with better-established programs). I would also consider the overall placement of all Vandy PhDs versus UNC's. At least when it comes to graduating students who eventually land top jobs, UNC has a better track record. UNC has some of its graduates teaching at quite a few top 25 programs (including Vanderbilt).
  2. I have met quite a few MLAS students. The MA students tend to take courses with the PhD students. Some of them even take the seminar course that all 1st and 2nd year Latin Americanist PhDs have to take. The MA students are also encouraged to attend the Latin American History Workshop or the Latin America and the Caribbean Workshop. Overall, my impression is that it is a rather intense program. Unsurprisingly, by the end of it some of the students decide to ditch academia and do something else (consulting, etc).
  3. Congratulations! Paul Gillingham is a great guy. In fact, the entire Latin Americanist group at NU is very friendly.
  4. I wonder if UChicago could be a good match for your interests. Dain Borges has worked on the history of families in the Brazilian Northeast. Moreover, Tara Zahra's second book addressed the issue of children in post-war Europe and the political ideas that originated out of efforts to "reconstruct" families after the war.
  5. That is interesting. I work on Tijuana's urbanization, planning, and subsequent social changes since the 1960s. As already mentioned before, Ramon Gutierrez may be a good person to contact. Another potential person of interest is Geraldo Cadava at Northwestern. His first book was on the common business culture between Sonora and Southern Arizona (Tucson). His current project, on the other hand, attempts to trace the development of Chicano conservatism in the second half of the 20th century. I think Cadava may be really interested on a project that somehow touches the Tijuana-San Diego border.
  6. Unless they admitted somebody last year, they have one Asianist graduate student in the entire program (unless you count the students working on US-China diplomatic history or the British Empire/India).
  7. Congratulations to the Chicago admits. If you have any questions about the program, feel free to message me. Judging from my time there, Vanderbilt's history department never struck me as a great place to work on East Asian history. I knew a graduate student working on Japan and the support system was not as good as in other places.
  8. You are totally right. Last year NU sent me the admission e-mail before my POI contacted me. My impression is that each sub-field/cluster within the department operates somewhat differently when it comes to that.
  9. I am going too. I am presenting, but I didn't plan anything until two days ago. The tickets were surprisingly cheap, but when it came to the hotel I had to settle for one of the AHA deals they had (sharing would have been cheaper, but I didn't find anybody).
  10. I did that. I was at a barely top 25 program, got my MA, reapplied, and then was accepted into a top 5 program. However, my decision was based on the fact that my research interests had changed so much that my previous program was not a viable option anymore. My advisors supported my decision and wrote me letters of recommendation. I was able to make the case that there was an obvious fit issue and that my project required me to go somewhere else. I know other people who have done the same thing. Their reasons, however, were very diverse: faculty member left, uncertainty of tenure for a potential advisor, feeling socially (and racially) alienated from their program/campus location, etc.
  11. I agree with ashiepoo, I wouldn't be terribly concerned about the quant section (unless you are going into economic history). I had a 21% percentile in quant, 94% in verbal, and managed to get into a top 5 PhD program. At the end of the day, the SOP and the writing sample are key. Unlike undergraduate admissions, graduate admission committees are more concerned about the issue of "fit." Is your potential POI interested in your proposed topic? Is the department looking for more graduate students in your field of study? A good GRE score (or a high GPA) will never make up for a POI's relative lack of interest in your topic.
  12. Northwestern University may be another place to consider. Melissa Macauley has worked on how Chinese law changed in the context of European influence and imperialism, while Peter Carroll researches urban history and Chinese modernism in the 19th to early 20th century. The department has a significant cohort of students who work on Asia. Another possibility may be UCLA. R. Bin Wong has written about the comparative development of China and Europe (from the pre-industrial age to the end of the 19th century). They have some other Chinese specialists, but their work may be too distant from your interests (Von Glahn works on earlier comparative history; Goldman on cultural history of the 18th to the early 20th century).
  13. When I think recent studies of the Black Power movement I think Peniel Joseph (at Tuffs). Tuffs PhD program wouldn't be of interest (since its basically Global History), but they actually offer a History MA. I met Joseph in the past and I found him to be a very nice person.
  14. I also was a bit shocked when I first got the first U-SHIP email, so I went to back to re-read the acceptance letter and make sure I had that. I come from another graduate program (and university) that also had free the 'health coverage' stipulation in the acceptance package. Such coverage was done through that university's equivalent of U-SHIP (and named along the same lines). My previous university also listed the price of the insurance but I never paid for it. Given my experience with my previous program (and the fact that U of C is forcing you to take U-SHIP unless you already have active medical coverage to opt-out), I think the department/division/school will pay the listed cost for U-SHIP. U-SHIP is basically their 'health coverage.'
  15. Considering your interest on Imperial Russia's interactions with non-Russian subjects reminded me of Yuri Slezkine. He studied Imperial Russia's interaction with "northern peoples." He is at UC Berkeley, which also has another Russian specialist (Victoria Frede, who was working on Imperial Russia's intellectual history and its intelligentsia). Placement wise, Berkeley would likely be a good place (considering they are tied for first for best history graduate program by US News and World Report).
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