Heimat Historian

Congrats to the Ohio Staters. Now I wish I had applied (if only for the early notification.)

So one of my schools sent me an email that one of the official transcripts I submitted (electronically) doesn't have my graduation date on it. What?!?

I appreciate it. I attempted some data analysis on my own, but I'm also applying for a PhD in history....

That's good news about the emails. As for graduate work, the expectations are higher. One thing I'd recommend is read intelligently, i.e. don't get caught in the detail weeds. Read for the argument first, fill in details later. Anyone else have ideas?

Any of these would be great: University of Colorado, University of Indiana, University of Kansas, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, Rice University, Penn State, SUNY - Binghamton, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Iowa, UT-Arlington, Brandeis

Tell me about it. Has anyone had an interesting email traffic? Odd POI requests?

I know exactly how you feel. The forums have also quieted down which doesn't make things easier! Post stuff folks! ANYTHING!

Do you happen to have data broken down by school? Just curious.

I'd actually rather not. It may be a bit superstitious but I don't want to jinx myself. I'm happy to post more when I get something more concrete.

I certainly hope it's that easy! I also hope to hear something soon after the interview, but they'll probably make me wait.

Ok. So one of my schools requested a Skype interview! Now what?!?

I've been looking at last years admission reportings and it seems like at least a few schools could start sending stuff the end of this month. Hopefully we'll get good news sooner rather than later.

Oh wow. Which school was that for?

So a bit crazy right now. One of my professors for my MA program (who I reached out to for a rec but who never got back to me) called me. Penn State reached out to him and asked why he didn't write for me. They're looking at my application right now. He is going to write them back and explain that I attempted to reach out to him but he did not respond in a timely matter. He also asked me to send him my Personal statement and a summary of my writing sample. He's going to write me an additional letter of recommendation to go along with the three already submitted. Kind of freaking out....

I've gotten a lot of responses from POI to the effect of "your research sounds very interesting. Please make sure you apply." Some even recommend I mention their name as willing to work with me. I don't know how much weight any of this carries, but it's nice to hear. My undergrad GPA isn't great either (3.2) and I didn't complete my first master's program. Those are points against me I suppose.

Just tying up loose ends. The waiting is terrible as well as the anxiety of waiting for those final letters of recommendation.

I thought it time to put down my final list of applications as I hope it will help my anxiety a little bit. All are for PhDs, coming in with an MA (4.0), excellent verbal GRE, good letters of rec, strong writing sample. U. of Colorado-Boulder U. of Indiana - Bloomington U. of Kansas U. of Minnesota U. of Illinois-Urbana-Champagne Rice University Washington University in St. Louis SUNY - Binghamton George Washington University U. of Iowa UT-Arlington Brandeis U. of Florida Central European University Drew University I don't know how quickly any of these schools will get back to me, but I hope to have a few choices. We'll see what happens. I'm open to any advice/words of encouragement. Happy New Year!

I called the school I'm applying to and they said I could use a receipt as a placeholder. All seems to be well. Thanks all.

3 of 13 submitted. I do have a question about transcripts. Some schools require an uploaded unofficial transcript. Is there a way around this requirement? Two of my previous schools don't send emailed transcripts. The application program itself won't let me submit. Anyone else have any solutions in case I don't get the transcripts in time to scan and upload?

Hi all, I'm graduating with my MA in history from University of Texas at San Antonio this month. I will be applying to PhD programs in history, focusing on German immigration and German cultural celebrations/institutions in other contexts. For example, my major seminar paper (didn't do a thesis) was on German Turnvereins (gymnastic societies) in Texas from both an ethnicity perspective and masculinity/athletic body. So far I have a pretty extensive list of schools that I'm still whittling down. I'll probably end up applying to between 10 and 15. Top of the list currently are Iowa, WashU, Tulane, Rice and UT Austin for American studies. Happy to have any advice. Thanks!

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American), zb642 (20th century, labor/working-class culture), BCEmory08 (19th-20th century Catholicism, labor), irvinchiva10 (20th century, immigration/immigration reform) natsteel (early American political culture and intellectual history) unforth (19th century US political and military history, US Civil War) hbeels (colonial, early national, 19th century, transappalachain west, historical memory of these eras/areas) thedig13 (20th century U.S., culture and protest, African-American) Weepsie (North American Mapping, Exploration and Trade, Anti-Communism/Socialism in Interwar period, bit of a mixed bag) lafayette (19th c. [with a dash of 20th], urban, intellectual) vtstevie (Revolutionary/Early Republic New England, infrastructure/economic) macmc (Feminist, gender, and LGBT history) HistThrift (early America, indigenous history) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics), theregalrenegade (18th/19th cent British Empire/environment), jrah822 (19th century Britain; emphasis on colonial relationship to India), grlu0701 (Intellectual & cultural history,fin de siecle Germany and Italy), naturalog (modern European [mostly German] intellectual and cultural/sexuality and gender/political radicalism), runaway (Eastern/Central, memorialization & visual culture), Sequi001 (Modern France, gender and sexuality, colonialism/imperialism) Abetheh (19th/early 20th century Germany and France, religious politics vs secularization) NeutralKate (Modern Russia, modern European economic history) Crackerjacktiming (Modern Germany, gender and sexuality) GloFish (USSR, Stalinism, Soviet-American Relations) jamc8383 (19th/20th century France, interwar culture, relationship between body, mind & place) Heimat Historian (19th/20th century Germany, migration, settler colonialism) African History Oseirus (precolonial/early colonial West Africa), Singwaya18 (20th century East Africa), Safferz (20th century Horn/Northeast Africa), The People's Scholar (Spanish colonialim in Africa- i.e. middle/West Africa) Jogatoronto (Psychiatry in early colonial West Africa) ronwill06(Social and political radical movements) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern Africa) Latin American History CageFree (20th century, Southern Cone), BH-history, The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia) StrangeLight (20th century Central America) Heimat Historian (German settlements in Southern cone and Mexico) East Asian History alleykat (Modern China) kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan) aec09g (Modern Japan) pudewen (Late Imperial China) kdavid (Modern China; focus on the Republican period) Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine) oswic (modern Egypt, gender) Conmel (modern pan-Islamic thought/networks) Atlantic World sandyvanb crazedandinfused Global/World History cooperstreet (Cold War) melissarose8585 Heimat Historian (German settlements throughout world) Jewish History uhohlemonster, (modern Israel) hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust), naturalog (sometimes modern European/Holocaust), runaway (memorialization & visual culture), ticklemepink (20th c. Germany/U.S) Science/Technology/Environment shaxmaty1848 (Cold War) StrangeLight (environmental history, ecological distribution conflicts) Social annieca (Cold War and Post-Cold War East and Central Europe) Classical and Medieval Hogs of War (Monastic Studies and Conflicts in Authority) telkanuru (high Medieval intellectual and social history, Cistercian studies) Cultural StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion) hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature) crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric) alleykat (religion, race/ethnicity, cultural relativism) Heimat Historian (German culture in transnational context) Canadian History truthfinder (New France, religious)

Good news: I've successfully eliminated schools down to 17, a much more manageable number. Geography is quite important to me. Even though I've lived in the South for quite some time now, I was raised along the Hudson Valley in New York and much prefer the weather of that type. Texas and Florida summers are brutal! Thanks for your help

Thanks for your comments. Currently, I don't necessarily have a rigid criteria. I began my search by looking at a few different sites that rank graduate programs just as a starting point. From there I examined the schools and looked at Germanists. Those that were working on research that fit with my interests were added to my list. From there, I further whittled it down into my present list of 17 schools. As far as a transnational approach I want to work on issues of migration and cultural transmission. For example, I hope to examine both the home country (i.e. Germany) and the places where German communities exist (e.g. Mexico, the southern cone, East Africa, New Guinea, Canada, US, etc.). My large questions are: why did Germans migrate? How do we examine German populations in a non-monolithic manner? What type of cultural traditions did they bring with them and transmit to the culture at large? To what extent did these populations assimilate? I want to explore these communities in the context of both official colonialism and unofficial colonialism from the mid 19th century through the end of WWI. Scholarly works that I'm interested in are: The Heimat Abroad: The Boundaries of Germanness (a collection of essays about recreating German institutions in foreign lands). I'm also interested in the work of H. Glenn Penny (who is at Iowa and someone I'd very much like to work with). I hope this sheds some more light on what I'm looking at. If you have some methodologies that will help in my decision making, I'd be happy to have the help. Thanks again.

Got my list down to 17!

Unfortunately, I never worked with Professor Crew while I was at UT. That was also 11 years ago. Thanks for the input.