Neist

Oh, and I'm totally getting an unwelcome sense of deja vu. I asked my old boss to write me a reference for a scholarship application to rare book school (a very specialized training program in LIS). This perhaps three to four weeks ago? I asked if they could have the letter to me by last Monday, with the caveat that while the application isn't due until tomorrow, I can't even begin the application materials without the reference letter; the system doesn't allow it. I have no letter as of this writing. I called once as a reminder, and I've sent a tentative "it's cool if you're busy, but please try to get it to me by Sunday" email several days ago. Going to be a little bit disappointed if I can't apply for a scholarship because I doubt I can go without a scholarship. Not really angry, but kind of sad and disappointed.

That should have been an extra semester. Emperor of typos shall not be dethroned soon. To be honest, there isn't a lot of people who go through this program. It's pretty particular, and I doubt there have been more than 3-4 students in the program in the last five years; you've to be independently accepted into both departments, and you have to compete with the entire history of science department for funding (only 2 of us applicants got funding this year). Graduate students are the best to critique the nature of graduate school because the transition is still very fresh. I'm enjoying myself, but something about the entire process seems very broken, or at the very least misaligned.

Of my two degrees, one program only offers directed readings of the summer (of which I'm only allowed one during my MA), and the other program only offers highly specialized courses during the summer (most of which are not relevant to my interests). I'm going to take two classes this summer, but beyond those two courses, I'm unsure if I'll be able to take classes in the summer ever again. I think I have rather sound reasoning to extend my degree by a month. One MA takes 30 hours, and they expect a two-year completion. Okay. The dual MA takes 54 hours and they expect that I'll do it in three. And my course load is more structured, so a typical MA gets a few electives (so they could take more summer DR courses). Taking two summer directed readings courses, one could complete an MA in the history of science side of the MA on two courses a semester. I'm almost required to take three a semester.

I've sort of thrown my hands up at this point. I'm going to do the best I can with the time I'm given. As long as my grade are sufficient enough to maintain funding, I'm not sure if I care all that much.

That sounds pretty odd to me... I'm not sure if many, let alone a majority, of the students in the program I'm in have ever studied abroad pre-graduate school, and we're arguably one of the strongest early modern science programs in the US. Granted, this is within a history of science department, and my experience is only anecdotal, but requiring experience studying abroad still seems odd.

Glad to hear from you! I managed to get a B on a paper, but I admit that it wasn't a great effort. It's difficult to put in as much effort as I would like when I have little to no time to polish a paper.

I'm a little irked that my program's expectations demand that dual majors be more overworked than regular MA students. I think I'm going to talk to someone in order to see if I can get an extra semester to complete my degrees.

You know, the amount of work that I'm doing this semester is borderline unhealthy. This is my first semester in graduate school, but wow, is it a lot of work. I almost feel that the amount of work that's being forced upon me (or at least strongly encouraged) is potentially irresponsible of the education system as a whole. I almost wish I attended a year-long school with a quarter system. At least I could swamp myself with one topic. As it stands, I'm ingesting so much information that it's beginning to blur pretty significantly.

Ohio is pretty good in general. Bowling Green State has a dedicated popular culture MA, and they also have (I believe), the third largest collection of comics in the US. Given @Ramus's suggestion, Ohio might be a good place to be.

I kind of feel like this thread needs to be pinned. I don't want to discourage people, but people need realistic advice, and I feel as if realistic advice is that it's highly unlikely that most people who get history PhDs will even obtain a tenure track position, at least until the job market gets a little bit better. Of course, it might get way better, given that fewer people are majoring in history.

Science writing programs would more or less fulfill the needs that I think she/he requires, and science writing can go either way, that being more or less technical. Some science writing programs require previous science experience (I think the Sci Comm program at UCSC requires it). However, some are specifically designed to provide technical training (Columbia's Earth and Environmental Science Journalism program is like this). Even MIT's 1-year fast track program has a lab component to help people. As per the sort of training professionals have, it's hard to say, and it probably depends on who your intended audience is. If you want to inform people who are not incredibly literate in science, then it can be difficult to write on a basic enough level to be useful to a lot of people if you're incredibly scientifically literate. A lot of the for-mass-public science writing that I'm familiar with is by journalists or historians, not scientists, but it's possible that I don't circulate in those crowds. For example, Deborah Blum is a wildly successful, and I don't believe that she has formal science training. But then again, Rebecca Skloot is also pretty successful, and has a BS. In a long, rambling sort of way, I'm trying to say that there's paths to pursue science writing/journalism, regardless of one's background.

I feel you. My undergraduate capstone adviser applied to 47 positions before he got hired at the school I attended. In any other field, 47 positions might not seem that daunting, but 47 faculty position in history is pretty daunting. It must have taken years to find a job. Although, playing devils advocate, it is apparently much easier to obtain a position if you study something desirable and not overly common. Anecdotally, I hear Asianists have a little bit easier go at jobs. I have considered going for a PhD in library science because I'm interested in bibliographic studies, and I can probably do more or less what I want to there. Plus it's a way better job market. In this last year's almanac, The Chronicle reported that there were ~1050 History PhD graduates in the reported year. That is insane. In contrast, LIS programs awarded ~50 PhDs. Bad job market is bad.

Yeah, I've nearly written off the possibility of getting a PhD. I can find a job that I'd like with the MLIS, and I can't see me going into more debt to finish the PhD. I only need to take out a couple thousand dollars a year (because I'm supporting a family of three on my stipend), but it's hard to justify the cost when there's no jobs, given my interests. And if there were jobs, it's likely that people in more prestigious programs would get them. My two cents.

I'm not sure what sort of coursework you're looking for, but have you considered science writing or science communications programs? These immediately come to mind: http://lsc.wisc.edu/ http://esc.web.unc.edu/ http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/academic-programs/earth-and-environmental-science-journalism There are several programs similar to the above. Let me know if this is the sort of thing you might be interested, and I'll look for a directory. I've discovered a directory before, but I can't seem to find it at the moment...

I cannot well comment to the majority of what @fuzzylogician addressed. However, before I decided to pursue graduate school, I worked in a large-ish academic unit of a university for over ten years. The only instances that I can recall that involved your described level of punitive actions resulted from either inappropriate relationships with students or substance abuse issues which seriously impacted their work. I'm sure academic integrity issue would garner a similarly serious response, but they'd have to be fairly significant instances of academic integrity.

I know there's only two of you visible at this point, but I wish you the best of luck.

To add to this, most job postings require something to a general extent of "An MLS/MLIS from an accredited program or equivalent degree." Equivalent degrees are clarified in the link that @avflinsch posted. If you can gain experience in the area of concentration that you want to work in, you should be okay, assuming that whatever program you choose to attend is ALA accredited. An unaccredited degree is much, much less useful than an accredited one. Nearly all jobs want a degree from an accredited program.

Yeah, I think I'm going to take fewer classes next semester and take summer courses. I'm keeping up, but my brain is starting to fry. This weekend I burned through about 400 pages of Descartes. I'm not even sure what I'm thinking anymore. This workload might be manageable, but who has time to think about things, or let concepts sink in, or follow-up with additional sources?

This is a fantastic point that I neglected to mention. In the greater LIS world (which archives are generally considered part of), experience is incredibly important. Thanks for adding this, @NoirFemme.

You know, I'd love a smaller phone; they are all huge anymore. However, I love fingerprint scanner on my Nexus 5X. I can log into my bank account without my password, as can I log into PayPal or pay for things on Amazon or Google Play. I never thought I'd use the fingerprint scanner when I first got the phone, but it's become my favorite feature.

It went okay. Like you said, it was both. This professor thought I was writing a little bit too accessible given the scope of the essay, and in hindsight, I agree with him. If I were writing an editorial for a newspaper, perhaps my tone would have been correct, but not for an academic essay. But I can't be too perturbed about it as I generally want my writing to be as accessible as possible. Also, I think the combo is pretty neat. The program here is pretty unique, and I'm rather lucky to get gotten into it with funding.

An MLIS is definitely the safer route. However, the second degree is incredibly helpful depending on where you work. Some jobs will only require you to have one of perhaps several varieties of degree. This might be public history, MLS, or whatever. But some jobs might also prefer that you have one type specifically, or perhaps even a second degree. So while you wouldn't need both degrees, having both degrees greatly improves your flexibility. Besides, the experience you'll gain from a good MLIS/MLS degree (w/ archives emphasis) and a public history degree (w/ archives emphasis) will be substantial. I'm probably a little bias, but I don't feel as if I could personally gain all the skills that I need with only the credit hours and electives opportuned by a single MA-level degree. Of course, this will vary by program. I say that you go for a dual program, or at least aim for a dual program and funding. I think a dual program with funding is the ideal, and it allows you two avenues of further education (via PhDs) down the road if you ever desire; some really advanced positions in archives or special collections do require PhDs.

Where are you applying to programs? I can only comment regarding programs in North America, so if you're considering programs elsewhere, feel free to be skeptical of my comments. If you're applying to programs in North America, there's very few programs to apply to, generally. There's perhaps half a dozen in the United States, and three or so more in Canada? Several programs in both countries are incredibly competitive, and it's likely that your interests will not align with all of the programs that exist. Off the top of my head, regarding true graduate-level STS programs (not certificate programs or similar), there's: Cornell, Arizona State, Rennsalaer, York, GIT, MIT, Drexel (no PhD program). If you're willing to study in STS-ways in non-STS departments, your options open a bit, but it's still a very small disciplinary world. All of this said, work really hard to adapt your statements to align with emphasis of each program. Fit is king, and there are far too few programs to reliably apply to only programs where fit is ideal. You probably need to be a little flexible. Even still, many programs in North America are very difficult to get into. I believe Cornell only accepted 2-3 applications this year, and there were over 40 applicants, if memory serves. MIT is also incredibly competitive, and I've heard that they typically favor MIT alumni. York is similarly competitive. I've kind of rambled a bit, and I'm not sure if it's all that useful, but what's your interests?

Hm... Professor handed back weekly essays. Professor called me out specifically, stating that my writing is at an interesting point, and I should talk to him during office hours. Said nothing about other students. *squints eyes* I wonder if this is a bad sign or a good sign.

Ah, and one more question. I gather that you want to work in archives or special collections, but what sort? My advice my change depending on your answer.