Josh J.

Besides obviously Stanford, what are the best PhD programs in History and/or Social Studies Education? What are their strengths? Who are the big names you'd want to work with?

I am interested in doing research on teaching and learning in higher ed...specifically focused on humanities and the social sciences.

Thank you, Sandmaster. I see you are doing a PhD in C&I now. May I ask, are you planning on focusing on higher ed, or K-12?

Hello all, So I hold two masters degrees (one in religion, one in history), and a decent amount of teaching experience in higher education. Being a good instructor has always been important to me, and I've unfortunately seen a lot of HORRIBLE teaching at the college and graduate school level. I am very interested in studying teaching and learning at the collegiate level. There are a million programs out there for studying teaching K-12 teaching, but, from what I've been able to find, hardly anything on teaching in higher education. What little I have found have been masters degrees focused on creating effective community college teachers, with 18 hours of disciplinary work, along with more hours focused on effective teaching. So my question is this: am I simply missing these programs, or are there really no programs at all that focus on college level teaching and learning? I should probably also say I'm totally uninterested in Higher Ed leadership studies...I want to focus on the best practices of teaching in higher ed.

Well, its official. After the last result I was waiting for, I am going to be studying Religion in War in U.S. History at the University of Tennessee!

A prestigious fellowship is a big deal. I would recommend negotiating with school b. Yes, they offered you a great fellowship, but mention that powerhouse school A is offering you 5 years versus three. If they want you that badly, they should be able to offer you funding for a longer period of time. The school I'm accepting typically only offers 3-4 years of funding, but offered me 5 with a fellowship. If they had only offered me 3, it would have been a problem. But if they are offering you a fellowship, then they REALLY want you. And since you've got better funding offers, they will probably work to get you if you give them the chance.

I went the route that xpathos suggested, and they quickly shot back that they used to do that alot more, but don't any longer. I still took the offer....and then i came back the next year with great grades, lots of research, conference presentations, etc., and asked for more, and they gave it to me...so, something to consider.

Well, it looks like I'll be headed to the University of Tennessee to study American Religious History. Not necessarily a traditional place to study religion, but their history faculty is pretty strong in it.

Having done the MTS at Vandy, I can say that most people who get accepted to the MA end up accepted into the PhD there.

Got rejected by the University of Oregon tonight... I thought it was a great fit and my POI there said she was interested in my project... so I'm pretty disappointed.

I graduated with the MTS last year, and am adjuncting this year, teaching environnental history and other courses where I can integrate US History and political theology. I'm living back in Oregon, though, so it would be nice to stay.

It's March 1st. Hoping Oregon finally does something today.

Thanks! I hope you get the funding that you need!

Congrats to the Vanderbilt admit!

Here is to hoping that the University of Oregon actually makes some notifications today. They are way late.