Sigaba

I recommend that you look up each program to see if the requirements have been modified for this application season. Pick a date and if a department has not made a change to the requirement by then, you can decide your next steps.

I had a classmate who had a JD. He could not get his head around the fact that the graduate school and the department viewed the degree as a professional degree, not even the equivalent of a master's degree (he wanted to transfer law school courses to get credit for M.A. requirements). I think that one of the key intellectual distinctions between a JD and a Ph.D is that the latter requires one to create new knowledge, the former does not.

While @jbc568's reply was not convivial, I think it would be a mistake for you not to consider very carefully the guidance it offers. As a graduate student you will be expected to generate answers to your own questions. IME, using the application process to develop that skill is very beneficial. Using your OP as an example, providing the names of what one thinks are top journals and then asking for feedback sends an entirely different message than asking for suggestions.

@iosman001, I don't think so. I don't think they will punish you for one W in the face of multiple national and international crises. You could call the program and ask the question directly if that will help you to relax so you can get some rest this summer and then start getting ready for your next term.

Please do what you can to monitor yourself during your breaks and free time so that those intervals are truly free.

Why is your thesis director offering this guidance repeatedly? What are the benefits and challenges of taking an extra semester to prepare for your exam? What can you do to focus more on preparing for the exam and to put aside temporarily your other concerns?

A way to address this question is to use a resource like LinkedIn to identify positions similar to the ones you have in mind as "low level" and to look at the work/education experience of incumbents who have been hired within the last several years. A question. Would you be willing to focus on the administrative and financial aspects of curation if those skills led to more opportunities?

If your program is going to be on line, and especially if you're gong to be teaching, I very strongly recommend that you ask your department in writing for policy on how to use technology. The policy should have enough "how to," "do-s", and "do nots" that allow you as end users to protect your risk. IMO, the policy should answer questions including: What are a T.A.'s responsibilities as a T.A. if a student does not have access to Zoom? What may T.A.'s do if a student broadcasts from his or her residence wearing controversial items of clothing, or displaying firearms, or is disruptive? Ideally, the policy will include measures for you to be reimbursed for license fees if not also network access and technology. (It's my position that departments should subsidize fully professional accounts that T.A.'s use and mandate that all section meetings be recorded., and that T.A.s be issued equipment that belongs to the school.) I understand and share some of your frustration. I do ask that you understand that many academic institutions are realizing how dependent they are on revenue generated by people being on campus and the revenue generated by taxes on a municipal, county, and state level. In some cases, institutions may be deciding that they simply do not have a choice -- either open campus or start firing people as a broader plan of shutting down entire programs and departments.

Here's the link to a recording of the discussion. There's a "commercial break" about a third of the way through that features a conversation that includes some folks from Deloitte. I would not fast forward through this conversation.

I would treat syllabi as the intellectual property of the academics that developed them or of the institution they work for. I would also, as a sign of respect, ask for permission to use someone else's work product. (And if they work for an institution with a restrictive IP policy, they may not have the legal ability to grant permission. https://www.wiley.com/network/latest-content/who-owns-your-syllabus-a-primer-on-intellectual-property-for-faculty

I am an analyst at a consultancy. One may have a better chance of getting a job if one looks for opportunities at firms addressing the impact of COVID-19 on various industries that do not have a significant public sector component. You will likely benefit from demonstrating the ability to work effectively with limited training.

I just attended an online panel discussion hosted by the Chronicle of Higher Education and sponsored by Deloitte. The topic was "Sustaining the Private College Business Model in a Global Crisis". The discussion was recorded and I will post a link when it becomes available. For me, the key take away is that COVID-19 has accelerated the time of reckoning for smaller colleges and universities. These institutions have to figure out simultaneously how to reopen campuses for in person instruction and how to make the transition towards sustainable business models. Overall, there is no change to my previous guidance. When developing a list of programs of interest, spend a significant amount of time doing your due diligence on the parent institution's financial health and strategic plan. However, I would add that if you are considering master's programs at a smaller school, expand the scope of your due diligence to include the risks involved in attending a school that may be in severe financial stress within the next five years. Will "guaranteed" funding really be available in year two? Will POIs be able to give you the support you need when they themselves may be under profound stress about their jobs? I would also recommend that anyone making the decision to attend on campus classes the coming academic year take a long hard look at @TMP 's post here.

If such an outcome comes to pass, I would recommend that you not take it personally. With each doctorate it issues, an institution puts its reputation on the line, as do committee members.

As an Americanist, I respectfully disagree. Because of the level of turmoil in the United States today, I think that @Sleepless in skellefteå would benefit from submitting application materials that reflect an understanding of the current relevance of the religious experiences of immigrants from Northern European countries towards the end of the long nineteenth century, an interval of U.S. history that saw the spreading and deepening of racism. @Sleepless in skellefteå, this isn't to suggest that you need to change your intended course of study / fields of interest or take a teleological view of the past. I am suggesting that you may benefit if you prepare your materials with the understanding that a wider range of factors beyond an applicant's interests, skills, and potential can come into play--especially when a season is intensely competitive. How can you demonstrate that you will make a positive addition to a program in an era of turmoil that may soon match the late 1960s? Please consider the benefits of considering some "big picture" questions including: Why is religious history important today? How does your take on religious history align or differ with the way social and/or cultural historians view matters of faith? How did the religious experiences of Northern European immigrants help them to endure the intensifying grind of everyday life in modern America? My $0.02.

I recommend that you look into staying where you are while having the professor who is moving remain on your committee and being your mentor. If you look into going with him, I recommend that you should not be surprised if you are told that you will have to start from square one if you come to the U.S. from Asia, unless you can get something in writing from all approving authorities at your destination, including the graduate school, the department, the DGS, and people who would serve on your qualifying exam committee and even your dissertation committee. If the person's decision to move has come as a surprise, you might want to take another look at your relationship with him.

Please keep in mind that as a woman of color, you make a powerful and positive statement for diversity every time you step onto campus, build your skills, and participate in conversations. Insofar as consequences, there are different kinds of negative ones. The one I recommend you keep in the forefront of your thought is the perception of "time on task." A member of your department can ask the question "If @thesubalternspeaks is doing X, Y, and Z, then how is she getting her work done?" It is the kind of a question that can give pause to even those professors who are empathetic to what you're doing." My recommendation is that you develop a range of tactics that will allow you to square the circle of being true to your vision of who you want to be as a person, of being an agent of change, and of developing your skills. I ask that your tactics reflect an understanding that racism in America is older than the United States itself, that the journey of meaningful change is not linear, and, perhaps most important (from my perspective) is that you are a "strategic asset" that is going to be in this fight for decades. The ability to pick your spots, to know that you can find a balance between living your life as you like (itself a victory) and fighting for what you believe. Insofar as the hiring practices of an institution, please consider the potential benefits of clandestine activities, the first of which would be to find out what kinds of considerations (professional, personal, and political) drive decisions to recruit, to hire, and to promote. Sometimes, knowing the story behind the story can help one decide what to do next.

I am recommending that you find a way to demonstrate to members of admissions committees that you will make an excellent professional academic historian that they would want to have as a colleague. Some academics do not mind the shifting sensibilities in which historians are their own "personal brand," there are others who consider such activities unprofessional and hold critical views of "editorializing." One cannot be all things to all people and there are numerous ways to bridge the gap between one's own personal style and the conventions of the profession. Insofar as the need of American anthropologists to be aware of their responsibilities in the field, I have two questions. Is this need a recent discovery or has it been a focus of professional practice for decades? Second, is it the place of a less experienced anthropologist to tell established anthropologists how they should do their jobs? IMO, I think not. I do think that as an aspiring graduate student, it is your place to indicate that you intend to move the needle of existing conversations about professional responsibility and the ethics of fieldwork. Also, I recommend that you discontinue the use of writing "etc" or any variation thereof. Pick words and phrases that indicate that you are familiar with a field of study, not bored by it.

I would not include this disclousre in a SOP. It allows for interpretations that may undermine your candidacy. The statement can be interpreted to say any of the following. You were such a controversial presence in the work place that you generated gossip. At the heart of the controversy is a shared perception that you cannot be trusted. That you would share gossip from a previous workplace indicates that you will do so again. You do not take seriously the decades' old concern among academics that the American government has subverted elements of the Ivory Tower to advance anti-democratic policies. You are not sufficiently concerned with the level of surveillance being conducted by the American government nor private corporations. My $0.02

By being close to campus, you will be able to meet with professors in person (with the appropriate amount of social distancing). If you're able to make the most of such opportunities, you will be getting more out of your education than if you had stayed where you are now. Also, by being in the area, you will have an advantage when it comes to finding places to live and maybe even work.

This is the kind of statement that will turn you into a chew toy in a graduate seminar as the professor doodles on a Styrofoam cup. All someone has to do is find one example and it is off to the races. (I am presently looking at document from 1910 right now.) Or, someone will look up and ask innocently "What sources have you examined to support this finding?" Unless the answer is "everything," your credibility is going to take a hit. "I am not interested in exploring the links between..." is an example of how to say something without stepping on your own tusks.

It's not just about what you write or what you say, it's also about how you think that will make impressions on academic historians. Right or wrong, perceptions can quickly become the reality of how professors and other graduate students view graduate students. (Disclosure: it took a while, but I learned that one thinks in "brain dumps" at one's peril given the short distance from the brain to the mouth.) In your OP, there are indications that you are at least as interested in what you are not willing to do to get into a program as what you are willing to do. How well will that approach work if you are competing against someone like @TMP and @telkanuru who have walked through fire to get to where they are now? How will you fare against true believers who have been working towards graduate school since high school? The point that I'm making is that academic history is very competitive. In its best form, the competition centers around the current boundaries of historical knowledge and the individual limits of each historian. What can you do to show how competitive you are now and how hard you will compete if admitted to a program?

I missed some good threads in 2014 while I was getting my heart ripped out and shown to me. #notbitter

John Douglas Marshall, Reconciliation Road: A Family Odyssey. This work also provides details of the SLA Marshall controversy and interesting information on T. Jackson Lears.

IME, it was very important. I had a solid writing sample to submit with my applications and I did not have the crisis of confidence that many aspiring graduate students on this BB seem to experience season after season. The thesis allowed me to have enough self limit the number of programs to which I applied (two) and to not stress endlessly about getting an offer of admission. The qualifiers here is that I did a five year plan as an undergraduate so my UG thesis was completed and polished going into my application season.

Go Bears...