dr. t

This is a somewhat controversial opinion, but I have now had several advisers who discourage book reviews until, at minimum, you're in a TT job. The basic gist of the argument is that if you're given a bad book to review, you can either take it to task and make some enemies, or you can foul it off and have people think you're an idiot and a coward - a no-win situation. I'm not sure this scenario is actually something that's common enough to merit an absolute prohibition, but it is something to keep in mind.

PhDs in education are more if you're interested in school administration. And the pay benefits of, say, a history PhD would not make up for the earnings lost during the degree. But make no mistake: although college professors do teach, their primary responsibility is research, across the board. That's what you need to enjoy above all else if you want to pursue that course.

Because "all the way" is an MA in Education, if you want to teach high school. HS isn't some sort of intermediate step.

Languages are, alas, the key to the production of quality scholarship on medieval Europe. Competent reading ability in Latin, French, and German is the minimum realistic requirement. That the University of Houston's requirements there are not particularly strict is a warning sign and an indicator as to the quality of the program, not an unexpected boon to be thankful for. If you look at books and articles being published in medieval history, you will note that strong technical skills, including excellence in multiple languages, are a constant theme. Publication is, of course, the key component in getting a job, which is the actual point of going to grad school. A PhD program is not a place where you can acquire language skills, but one to hone them to a fine edge. Look at the University of Toronto's level 1 Latin exams. If you can get through those with little difficulty (note they do not permit a dictionary), then I'd say you're fine and to go for it. If not, you really need further language study, regardless of UoH's desire for cheap TA labor.

Some points in no particular order: Although I hold my AB from Harvard Extension, I wouldn't recommend it for a AM if your goal is a humanities PhD for a variety of reasons. Yes, an online MA will be looked down on. But more importantly, the reasons why you would need an MA in the humanities go well beyond the simple credential. Consider not only what admissions committees will think of that online MA, but also if it will actually help you acquire the skills you need to be competitive in a PhD program. You don't need a PhD to teach high school. In fact, a PhD is entirely useless if you want to teach high school. If your interest wanes over the next five years, that's not a bad thing. As you get older, you change. That's a fact, not a failure or a missed opportunity. One of my friends started his PhD in Byzantine history at Harvard while in his mid-30s. I wouldn't worry about your age.

You have a bunch of stressed, nervous people with shared interests and multiple open bars. What could go wrong?

Currently-enrolled medievalist here. If anyone wants to talk about the field or their applications, let me know! @unræd is also a great resource, if they're still keeping an eye here.

Well thank goodness you've been able to see you way past all this advice you asked for and can continue on the course you originally intended

I would say that, after being forced to slog through Fromherz's recent book, that it would have a great impact on your scholarly potential to pick up German and Latin as well. Languages aren't merely a hurtle you need to leap over, which is how I sense you're approaching them based on your responses in this thread. They're the core and foundation of your scholarship. I would also note that @Sigaba's point is a broader one than you've acknowledged. He's not been really talking about your particular need for more Arabic training, but rather why you found a statement by a senior scholar in your field insufficient and needed to question it further by asking a bunch of randoms on the internet.

What about those entering the top 5? The ones you're going to have to fight for jobs with on the other end?

You're not suggesting people go on the internet to get the great void to affirm whatever course of action they've decided on, are you? That's just crazy.

NB: Older works (say, pre-1980) tend to be more difficult to skim/gut.

Stay for the year, see where you are at the end. 2 weeks is too short.

That's... really not what I meant?

You're making it out to be worse than it is. Don't get inside your own head. First, the students who are 10 years younger than you aren't fresh out of college, I imagine. I've personally found the age disconnect drops off rapidly at around 25 or so. Second, there's no rule that says you have to have anything other than a professional relationship with your cohort. It's a big world! Do you run or exercise? Make friends there! If you don't have a hobby, now's a great time to join a club and learn one. Maybe there are other older graduate students in other departments - go to events and colloquia and find out. All that said, you are going to have to sacrifice a bit. Yes, you have a house and a kid, but if there's a regularly scheduled bar hour after seminar, for example, make that someone else's problem every once in a while.

Seriously, though, it's ok! I think everyone goes through this multiple times during grad school (and, rumor has it, in the great thereafter). This too shall pass, and laughter is the best medicine.

Report: Today The Day They Find Out You’re A Fraud Sources are confirming that everyone—absolutely everyone—will finally figure out today that your entire life is a desperately fraudulent joke, and that you yourself are nothing more than a charlatan and a hack. WASHINGTON—While experts agree you’ve been remarkably successful so far at keeping up the ruse that you’re a capable, worthwhile individual, a new report out this week indicates that today is the day they finally figure out you’re a complete and utter fraud. The report, compiled by the Pew Research Center, states that sometime within the next 24 hours, people will find out that you have no idea what you’re doing, that you’ve been faking it for years, and that, through continuous lying and shameless posturing, you’ve actually managed to dupe virtually everyone around you into thinking you’re something other than a weak and ineffectual person. They’ve had their suspicions all along, sources said, but today their suspicions will be confirmed. “Though you’ve somehow gotten this far in life without anyone discovering you’re not what you pretend to be, it’s all about to come crashing down, and not a minute too soon, to be frank,” reads the report, which goes on to note that you don’t deserve anything you have—not your job, not your relationship, not even your parents’ love—and you know it. “You’re incompetent, you’re petty, you’re vain, you’re barely keeping it together beneath that confident exterior you project, and your little charade is just about over.” “They’re all on to you,” the report continues. “You do understand that, don’t you?” Your boss and coworkers will realize today that you are completely unqualified for your current occupation, experts confirmed. Already, they are reportedly starting to sense that you’ve just been skating by—pretending to know what you’re talking about, as if you actually possess any kind of real or meaningful skills—and that you’re far more of a liability to the company than you’ve ever been an asset. Several experts also noted that any potential employer in your future will immediately recognize that your entire career has been a sham, that you more or less bluffed your way through school, and that you’re unfit for any task beyond menial labor. According to the report, the people you are closest to, from friends to family to your romantic partner, will find out today that you’ve merely been impersonating someone who deserves to be in their lives—piecing together just enough lies about yourself to trick them into thinking you’re a genuine, understanding person. In addition to everyone you’ve ever met knowing you’re a huge imposter, even strangers on the street will know, the report stated, in most cases simply by looking at you. “People will soon surmise that you’re just a feeble, self-obsessed loser, scraping by from day to day and hoping not to get found out, and you know what? They’re right,” reads another section of the report. “The pathetic deceit that lies at the very core of your being, that defines you, that is you won’t be a secret much longer, because the rest of the world is going to figure out what your parents have known all along: You’re a big fucking joke.” “On some level, deep down, you knew this day had to come,” the report concludes. “And now it has.” At press time, sources confirmed that here we go: You can see it in their eyes. They know. They all know. Every last one of them absolutely knows. And you deserve every bit of scorn and rejection that is coming your way. http://www.theonion.com/article/report-today-the-day-they-find-out-youre-a-fraud-35133

Four to eight is about right, depending on field.

Modern languages? Latin and Greek seem sufficient for what you've expressed as your interests. What about French and German, the latter being particularly important?

By all means apply to MSU - they do indeed have a strong African History department. But please don't use rankings, particularly for subfields. They mean exactly shit, and foster the wrong idea about how postgraduate work actually functions.

Very carefully. I wish I had a better answer.

https://www.allisonharbin.com/post-phd/why-i-left-academia-part-1 Quite the read, and a fairly concise statement about how intra-university politics work.

Yes.

Nope! Sorry, I should have made that more clear. As long as it's clear you're doing history in your writing sample, you should be totally fine.