I am in the process of completing an MA in Middle Eastern History in Israel, where 3/4 of the coursework covers the Arab and Muslim world (Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Iran) and the remaining 1/4 is about Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. At this point I am very interested in applying to PhD programs specifically in American and European Jewish history, and what I am wondering if how admissions committees will view the MA on my CV in relation to my proposed field of research. As a more general question, how related does one's MA have to be to the PhD field of interest?
On the one hand, it's not as if I did an MS in Neuroscience and then applied for a PhD in Classical Economic Theory. The MA I am doing covers material on Israeli (and therein Jewish) history, and I am interested in another aspect of HISTORY, not of a different field altogether. On the other hand, my PhD interests are not specifically related to Israel or the Arab-Israeli conflict but rather to the Jewish diaspora. I should also add that I have a decent level of Hebrew which is important to at least some Jewish Studies departments.
