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Fobe

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  • Location
    Sudbury ON
  • Application Season
    Already Attending
  • Program
    Interdisciplinary Humanities MA

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  1. Hi all I asked a similar question a while back but am looking for some advice. I completed my BA in 2010 then MA in 2011 (history). I decided to hold off on a PhD indefinitely, I wasn't sure if I would ever do it, largely because life prevented me from getting great marks in the MA - it was only 3 classes and I got 80, 81, and 75 so average of 79ish. Anyway, I finally decided I would like to do the PhD but decided to try to do some more MA level classes (Interdisciplinary Humanities) to improve my application. I did, and did quite well with an 85 average, so would like to include it on applications. But in order to do the courses I had to enroll in the program (I was only worried about completing courses but would have been happy to finish the program if able). I did receive external funding for the first year but not for the second year and therefore couldn't finish the program. So my question is this - would it look bad to include an unfinished second MA on PhD applications even though it shows the good marks? Would I be better served to leave it off? I was also hoping to use one of the profs as a reference, so there's that as well. Any thoughts here would be appreciated.
  2. Thanks all! I'd been running on the assumption that funded meant funded, but I remember reading something a few months back at one school that suggested otherwise, but I haven't for the life of me been able to find it again. I'l definitely be applying for all those scholarships as well - I've got a couple years before I'm applying for programs, I think. (baby #2 on the way - I don't want to be doing grad school with a newborn!) I'm just a planner so am trying to figure out where and all that now. And as for insurance, my husband is American so hopefully that will somehow help us out with getting a cheaper rate? Maybe? Haha, who knows.
  3. Hi all, I'm a Canadian student, exploring options for History PhD programs in the US. I've been combing schools' websites but haven't had any luck finding answers to my questions. I'm just wondering if funding for international students would be any different from the funding described on programs' sites. The most I've found so far is occasional references to funding being dependent upon "international student status" so I don't know if that means if you're an international student period or if it's related to maintaining that status through grades, something to that effect. Anyway, I'm sure this changes from school to school, and I know I could contact schools to find all this out, but I'm really in the early stages of exploring these options, so don't want to start harassing schools just yet. I'm hoping to get some feedback from those with experience so I can get a general idea what to expect... and whether studying in the States is even remotely an option in terms of finances!
  4. Fobe

    New Field for PhD

    I'll be applying to PhD topics this year, but am thinking I'll apply in a different field than my MA work has been. I've actually done two MAs, one in history in which I looked at relationships between British women and Aboriginals in Canada in the 1830s, the other in interdisciplinary humanities, and my thesis looks at the relationship between food and colonialism. I am (obviously) still interested in this field, but I think I want to move to 20th century political history. I know some people who have changed fields between MA and PhD, but having done two MAs in colonialism, conference presentations, and working on editing a paper for publication in the field, would the sudden fairly major jump in fields lower my chances of successful applications? I feel like it would not necessarily impact admissions chances too much, but major scholarships look at experience in the field, so I'm wondering about that. Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts on this!
  5. I don't agree with the second point - that seems excessive - but the first one isn't totally unheard of. When I was doing my MA, my supervisor recommended only using originals of primary sources rather than translations. It makes sense, really, because if you happen to get a bad translation it can change the whole meaning of the text. If you're studying Ancient Rome, no doubt she's assuming you have a good reading knowledge of Latin, so translating a work yourself shouldn't be an issue. Now as for getting the actually originals from a museum in Italy - either she is completely unaware of reasonable limitations for MA students, or she doesn't mean you to take that quite so literally. For example, when my prof told me something similar, we were talking about the Jesuit Relations, and she wasn't suggesting that I find the originals in a museum and read those, simply that I find a published copy in the original French. Most likely your prof is thinking along the same lines - I'd clarify with her.
  6. Thanks, I actually did my first MA in history there though, finished in 2011! (I'm crazy - doing a second MA before I go on to PhD!) I'm curious, who did you work with?
  7. I probably won't have time until mid-April, but if you're still looking for readers at that point, I'd be happy to take a look! (Of course, if you wanted to send it now I might be able to squeeze it in somewhere) Either way, best of luck on it!
  8. Fobe

    Editing Woes

    Thanks for the response. He is paying me for the editing - I had been helping as part of a TAship last term, but this term he contacted me again offering to pay me himself for my help. Last term I was doing the "clarify" kind of help, though, so I didn't mind it. Anyway, I have decided to stop doing the editing. I really don't feel comfortable changing so much, and I certainly wasn't about to completely add all new sentences and totally change the structure of the essay (which the paper really needs to make sense). I guess I'll just have to hope that it works out for him!
  9. Fobe

    Editing Woes

    Not strictly about 'teaching,' but I think this fits best here. I'm doing editing work for a fellow student at my school. English is his second language, and at times (ok, most of the time) the writing is so bad I genuinely wonder how he was admitted to a PhD program in the humanities. I'm getting incredibly frustrated editing his work. I'm wondering about a couple of specific things, though. In the past when I've edited for him, it's been as a teacher would mark his work - 'what do you mean by this?', 'clarify this', 'take this idea further'... stuff like that. Now, though, he wants me to just change the document to what I feel works best. But where do I draw the line on what to change? A lot of the ideas need a lot of work and further development, so where is the line between editing/improving the paper and changing the ideas? (I'm exhausted right now so I don't know if I'm making my meaning clear here, but hopefully you'll get what I'm saying.) I'm just looking for thoughts/advice on this. Also, every once in a while he'll have a very good, clear, understandable sentence amid the otherwise barely logical mess. These sentences almost always have references after them, but no quotation marks. There's obviously some level of plagiarism here (though I'm sure it's unintentional and he just hasn't realized it). (How) do I tell him to check these sentences without saying that they stand out because the rest of his writing is terrible? I want to be honest and helpful, but not hurt his feelings!
  10. I'll be applying for PhD programs in Colonial North American/Aboriginal history, esp women's history. I'm considering applying to: York, McGill, Queen's, UWO, BC, UVic, Saskatoon. I might apply to some American schools, too, I haven't decided yet.
  11. I'm presenting at a conference next month and although I'm confident enough in my paper and presentation skills, I'm somewhat shy when it comes to mingling. If someone comes up to me, I'll have no issue carrying a conversation, but if nobody does, I'm worried I'll just stand in a corner looking awkward. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for walking up to academic folks and starting a conversation. What works for you? It's not strictly my field (I'm history but it's a humanities conference), so I'm not sure if I'll even know anyone's work well enough to try to start a conversation based on "I loved your work on..." Any thoughts?
  12. Hi all, I've been reading here for a while, new to posting though. I have a question I'd appreciate some input on. I finished my undergrad in history in 2010, then immediately went on to an MA at a very good school, also in history, which I completed in 2011. I've since taken time off of school. I've just started working on a second MA, this time in Interdisciplinary Humanities. The reasons for a second MA are three-fold: first, when I was working on my first MA, I had some pretty hardcore family issues come up, so my marks suffered. They weren't terrible by any means, but I don't think good enough to make me competitive for PhD programs, at least not my top choices. Second, interdisciplinarity is huge in history, so I figure it can only help to complete this program. And third, I'm not in a position to move to any of the cities in which I can do my PhD at this point, and, frankly, I was missing school something fierce! I needed to get doing something! The program I'm in now is a 2-year program, and the school is fairly small so the funding I'm receiving doesn't even fully cover tuition. This year I am getting OGS (a $15,000 scholarship - Ontario students will know!), but next year it's not guaranteed. And even if I do get OGS again next year, that will bring my total years of government-funded programs to 3 (I received SSHRC for my first MA). Given that there's a limit to the total number of years you can receive gov funding (either 4 or 6, I don't remember), and I am hoping to be awarded SSHRC for PhD, I don't know that I *want* to get OGS again next year. Without that funding, though, I'd have to get OSAP to cover my tuition costs, and, frankly, I do NOT want more student debt. So, my question is: since I already have a completed MA, which would cover the admission requirements for a PhD program, if I complete this year of this new program but then don't complete the program, what do you think would be the chances of getting into a PhD program when the time comes that I do apply? If I get good marks this year and bring up my average, will that help? Or will the unfinished degree make me look too unreliable? I'll likely suck it up and finish the program with OSAP if I need to, but it's nice to know what all my options are. Thanks for any input!
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