evanmarie

Whatishistoryanyway, that's super interesting! And the more I hear about Ohio State the more I can't believe I wasn't planning on applying there to begin with. There are a ton of sociology programs that fit my interests of course, but I am not interested in studying sociology. I have been "a historian" my whole life, and while my interests have strayed to areas that other disciplines have focused on more thoroughly, I think that's one of the more exciting things about studying race and incarceration historically, it's something that needs to be done and hasn't been to the same extent it has been studied in other fields. At UCLA, I am interested in working with Scot Brown (who you may be interested in as well), Eric Avila (more urban), and Robin Kelley. At Michigan, it would be foremost Matt Countryman but also Stephen Berry, and Penn would be Sugrue and Katz. UIC has quite a few profs, and an entire Ph.D track devoted to "Work, Race and Gender in the Urban World." (My interests are still centrally Urban history, and that has effected the places I am planning on applying to). Because, as you guys have pointed out, this work is done more often in other disciplines, I am primarily looking at working with people in my broader fields of interest then attempting to find historians working on these same issues, because there aren't very many in the field. I don't know if I should rethink this approach, but that is how I am going about it thus far.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I will certainly look more into "Critical Resistance." Whatishistoryanyway, I am just curious which programs that I mentioned you are wondering who there would be to work with, and since our interests are similar, which programs you are thinking about applying to?

Thanks for the suggestion, OSU seems like an overall great choice. Just a question, about Alexander, although I know I would need a primary History advisor (and Jeffries seems like he would fit perfectly) how common is it for an outside professor (such as Alexander) so serve on a committee, be an outside advisor, etc? Would that be a possibility?

I will definitely look into both Ohio State and Northwestern! There is a major appeal to Studies programs, as my interests in incarceration lend themselves to many different disciplines (and scholars working in history, soc, american studies, afam and crim j) so it is of interest but as my eventual goal is to become a history professor and scholar, interdisciplinary programs still make me somewhat nervous.

I've been throwing the idea around, and possibly some American Studies programs, but I've been hearing some mixed things about applying to interdisciplinary programs. But do you have any suggestions?

I am a MA student looking into applying to Ph.D programs in the Fall. I have found a solid list of schools so far, but many are at the ridiculously competitive level (not that all Ph.D programs aren't, but some more than others). My interests are in 20th century African American history, urban history, social History, and more specifically race and incarceration, and it's effects on urban communities in the 60's and 70's, but also the involvement of radical groups (such as the Black Panther Party) in anti-incarceration efforts. So far my list includes Princeton, UCLA, Michigan, Penn, UIC, and Rutgers. As I said before, almost all hyper competitive. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for other programs that might be of interest, specifically some that are little less competitive admissions wise! Thanks.