Sigaba

@amlobo-- You might find this book useful, especially if you download and read some of the documents referenced in the footnotes.

@Jeffster-- My conclusion is based upon using the search function for less than a minute and finding several threads that answer the questions asked in the OP. That is, in less time than it took the OP to type up the questions, the member could have found previously offered guidance. I understand that many newer members of this BB would like to think that the challenges they face are new, that their questions are unique, and that their insights are novel. This attitude undermines the effectiveness of the BB because it encourages newer members to start new threads rather than to build upon existing ones. In regards to your characterization of my "hijacking" the thread, you have again demonstrated an inability to read carefully. The OP specifically asked for "age related' advice which my reply offered.

Do what you can to minimize the temptation to reinvent the wheel. Do your level best to learn from those who have gone before you and have asked similar questions. Consider the utility of incorporating your questions into ongoing discussions. When assessing the guidance you've received, consider the background, the expertise and the experience of the person who offered it. If I sound snarky it is because this BB is going through a phase in which newer members are repeating questions that have been addressed many, many times. While this trend provides opportunities to get great guidance from experienced graduate students such as jullietmercredi, it also provides opportunities to miss equally sound guidance from experienced graduate students such as jullietmercredi. IMO, this trend represents a "lost opportunity" for many of you to start the transition from being undergraduates to being graduate students. As graduate students, you will often encounter an implicit expectation that you are doing the leg work to find the answers to your own questions, and from there generating additional questions and answers. (In some quarters, this leg work is called "research".) Additionally, some of you who are in your twenties may be walking into a buzzsaw as new graduate students. Your cohort is developing a reputation for having attitudes of entitlement and self-absorption. (Consider how members of the generation of 1965 talk about the OWS and Tea Party movements) Regardless of the accuracy of this perception (Christopher Lasch had the same complaints back in 1978), perception is reality. While it is your choice as to what questions you want to ask and how you want to ask them, do not be surprised if those who are most capable of helping you decide to tune you out. If you think this can't happen to you, ask yourself why you're asking strangers on the internet for guidance rather than going into a professor's office and getting mentored? My $0.02.

I'd consult the responses to the questionnaire I distributed to students at the beginning of each class and collected at the end of class. While the response rate was always much less than desired, the feedback I'd receive would be helpful for getting back on track for the next section (even if it was a different section later the same day). IMO, a graduate student should probably not apologize to undergraduates for an off day. While the intent behind such an apology is honorable, the gesture has the ability to backfire in a big way. (Undergraduates using the apology to argue for an undeserved break on a graded assignment, to bolster an argument about a TA's "incompetence," and to rationalize tuning out the entire course even more.) If a graduate TA's teaching plan goes bad, he/she can make things right by clarifying things at the beginning of the next class meeting, or by distributing a hand out, or by holding extra office hours, or by giving additional guidance on the next graded assignment. My $0.02/YMMV.

@YoungHistorian-- Are you sure that "no one answered his question at all" and that we "all just danced around it"? You've been a member of this BB since 31 May. Have you used any of that time using the search function to see what type of guidance has been offered to aspiring history graduate students in general and to the OP in particular? It is increasingly disturbing how many aspiring graduate students say they want to study history but demonstrate a profound unwillingness to use the (re)search button.

IMO, another factor to consider when assessing the usefulness of an internship is the perceived value of productivity in the workplace. Salaried employee of a public or private institutions can be under tremendous pressure to be "productive." Measurements of productivity may not include the training and mentoring of interns or using mentors at all. In such an environment, the temptation to assign interns knuckle dragging tasks can be great. This impulse will be especially strong if software is used to track productivity. For example, consider the following scenario. An experienced staff member has the choice between performing task Z in three hours or he can spend two hours explaining to an intern how task Z should be done and another two hours making sure that the task is done correctly plus the time it takes the intern to do the task. While the latter option has its rewards, a positive impact on the weekly project tracking report isn't one of them.

@margarets-- You are badly misreading ktel's posts. You, not ktel, are the one approaching the issue of collaboration as exploitative. You, not ktel, are the one talking about being dishonest. I think you should take a big step back from this thread and spend some time vetting your assumptions. (Starting with your understanding of irony.)

@lockmein9-- IMO, you might benefit from doing research on the viability of your areas of interest. The objective of this task is to see If your areas of interest fall into trajectories of historiography that are fairly doing well or if you aspire to study fields that a majority of established professional academic historians would consider unimportant (like military and naval history. But I'm not bitter. ) Define as clearly as circumstances allow what you mean by the "intellectual history in the British Isles c. 1600-1800" as well as your other areas of interest. Concurrently, figure out what areas of interest represent the other end of spectrum--perhaps a variant of popular culture-- and see how well scholars in these fields are doing. Then, using resources such as jstor and printed (not digital) editions of the AHA's Directory of History Departments and Organizations in the United States and Canada, start researching how well others who share your interests--and those who have "rival" interests are doing. Who is getting hired? Who is getting published in prominent journals? Who is writing featured book reviews? Who is asked to contribute in discussions of "the future of history"? Who is winning the big prizes? Who is giving keynote addresses at professional conferences? And so on. If you find that the cohort you imagine joining as a historian is, as the saying goes, pooping in the tall cotton, or is on the outside looking in (and I'm still not bitter), or anywhere in between, you can re-ask yourself pragmatic questions about your career options in the Ivory Tower. HTH.

@margarets-- If you present yourself IRL as you do in this thread, I could see how you'd have difficulties establishing rapport with your classmates. (And just so you understand, ktel is talking about establishing rapport, not prevarication.) Instead of asking yourself if your classmates are worth the effort, you might benefit from treating yourself to a beverage at your favorite coffee house, turning that question around, and having a candid conversation with yourself.

annieca-- How long have you been interning?

MOO, you should do what you can to develop your relationship with another history professor so that you have the option of asking this person for a letter of recommendation. I also think that you might benefit from doing additional research on the programs you would like to attend. Find out how members of the faculty position themselves on the issues of interdisciplinary approaches to history and women's studies. The House of Klio remains in disarray. Even when there is broad agreement over how the forest should be tended, there can be intense disagreement when it comes time to talk about trees, boughs, branches, and leaves.

MOO, the answers to your questions should be driven by conversations with the professor supervising your work, a firm understanding of your department's vision for the courses you are teaching, and your school's overall approach to teaching undergraduates. Even if you've been given the latitude to run the class as you wish, your grading policies should still fall within the standards and practices of your department and your school. Unless you receive specific instructions to hold the line on grades, think twice before turning your sections into strongholds against grade inflation. This is not to say that you should give any undergraduate a grade she hasn't earned. I am merely suggesting that you double check to make sure that your grading practices fit into the established contexts of your department and your school. By tradition if not also by design, some courses may be easier and others may be "weeders." You will save yourself (and your department) a lot of heartache if you do not endeavor to re-invent the wheel.

FWIW, an earlier thread discusses this very topic.

@BW-- I think your use of racial epithets is inappropriate if not also revealing.

MOO, you might do well to keep asking yourself--if not also others--these kinds of questions. The rules of the road in the Ivory Tower might be drastically different from those you're used to navigating in the private sector.

IMO, it is going to depend on a case by case basis upon the programs to which you apply. Some departments in some fields are increasingly concerned with grade inflation. This concern may lead to your UG GPA being significantly less important than other aspects of your application. Were I in your situation, I would hold to the sensibility that learning the course materials is the foundation of success. Moreover, I recommend that you give careful thought to the dynamic that leads to you not doing well on tests. As a graduate student, you may have in-class exams as part of your coursework. And then there will be your qualifying exams. Concurrently, I recommend that you take a long hard look to figure out why you get flustered. Is this issue going to emerge down the line when a professor decides to use you as a chew toy? Are you ready to brawl with graduate students during class? In regards to your SOP, I recommend that you focus on your strengths and on how you intend to maximize your potential and not draw attention to your (perceived) shortcomings. HTH.

kk34-- To clarify, the purpose of my post was to add on to your sound guidance, not to criticize it.

Using passive verbal constructions is a good way to "dress up" an email. For example, "I noticed you haven't sent the letter to the program" can be read as an accusation aimed at the professor. By contrast, "Your letter was not received by the program" allows the professor in question an "out." (That is, he sent the letter but it never arrived for reasons beyond his control or knowledge.) Concurrently, very careful phrasing can help to keep the tone from sounding accusatory. While "I thought you were busy" reads a lot like "It was my understanding that you were busy," the two comments can imply drastically different things. (The former comment is an indictment of the professor's time management skills. The latter comment suggests that you may have misunderstood the situation.) HTH.

FWIW, there are fields, such as history, where the definition of truth is hotly contested terrain. In such fields, one may hear graduate students and professors alike calling "B.S." on a regular basis. That being said, I don't know if a first year graduate student throwing the "B.S. flag" is doing himself any favors. Keep in mind that professors have other means to indicate their dissatisfaction with a student's work. These options can include end of semester evaluations, the decision to not advise or mentor, departmental word of mouth, opportunities to influence the decision over a student's subsequent funding--both fellowships and TA/GA/RA-ships, and the authority to take a graduate student to the wood shed and bounce him/her off the walls for a few tense minutes. So while you're point about grade inflation may be applicable to many programs, professors can resort to numerous safeguards if they're so inclined.

While many of you have taken my previous post in useful directions and have offered very sound guidance, I think I need to clarify the specific purpose of my questions. The American Civil War is a point of intersection for several trajectories of historiographical debate. While there is a tremendous amount of overlap among these trajectories, an aspiring graduate student in history can save herself some heartache if she knows where she fits--if only provisionally--in the mix. For example, an Americanist studying the Civil War might focus on specific campaigns, pivotal battles, the politics of command, state building, politics, gender and gender identity, culture, race, class, religion, diplomacy, and battles to address the enduring question "Why did the North win/the South lose the war?" and to discuss the war as a chapter of American history. By contrast, a military historian might look at the American Civil War as part of the sprawling debate over the rise of "modern" warfare. This focus might lead to an emphasis on the formulation of grand strategy, the dynamic relationship between grand strategy and military strategy, evolving concepts of operations, tactics, logistics, advances in military technology, the influence of theorists on both sides of the Atlantic, armed service professionalism, joint and combined operations, and the concept of "military effectiveness." These approaches allow the Civil War to serve as a chapter of Western/modern/American military history. MOO, given the state of professional academic history, it is significantly easier to answer the question "So what?" if one approaches the Civil War from the vantage point of an Americanist. Conversely, making the case for the continued relevance of military history within the Ivory Tower might require an added layer (or two) of historiographical nuance. My $0.02.

@Gurkha-- You might find additional answers to your questions at the Small Wars Council. HTH.

In other words, you disregarded entirely what I wrote, proceeded to have a conversation with yourself, and concluded that you were right all along. Well done.

@Jeffster-- If you're going to disagree "respectfully" with someone, you can show that respect by demonstrating that you've read actually what that person has posted. Please show me where I characterized the Ivory Tower as "minefield" or that my suggestions are aimed at the entire "world." Please show me where I wrote "Do not get involved with undergraduates." While you're at it, would you mind showing me where I used the term "one night stand." Please show me where I did not suggest that graduate students assess and manage their risk when making relational choices. @TakerUK-- In my experience, there's the way one would like things to be and there's the way things are. As Eigen points out, I'm merely suggesting that graduate students do their due diligence to square the latter with the former before they make important choices.