crazedandinfused

I've typed like seven different responses to this and I don't know whether to respond with a moral argument or a statement of objective fact. Objectively, the very nature of government is re-distributive. Example: when an army is raised, the protection which that army affords all citizens of the state is distributed equally while the costs are concentrated within a smaller proportion of the population (usually economic elites). The very nature of government is extraction and subsequent re-distribution. See Mancur Olson, 1993: http://www.jstor.org/pss/2938736
Now, if you want to make the argument that we shouldn't have government at all, then we can discuss this matter on those terms. However we should be mindful that many of the conveniences which we associate with modern life (roads, an electrical grid, potable water, toilets which you can throw used toilet paper down, the absence of roving bands of ax wielding ruffians) are the result of the growth of government. The private sector simply would not build an interstate highway system nor provide an efficient police force (see, much of the 3rd world and an outfit named Halliburton). Not because the private sector is evil, but because undertaking such a project simply isn't profitable in the short-run.
Beyond the obvious need for government to provide public goods, one could make the argument that government is needed to provide private goods as well, again through re-distribution. Subsidies to agricultural interests benefit a relatively small proportion of the population while imposing a general cost on John and Jane Q. Taxpayer. It is a gross inconsistency, as well as the height of hypocrisy, that many individuals who are virulently opposed to re-distribution support it when it benefits their own particular industry (see Charles Grassley re corn).
None of this even addresses the reprehensible 'moral argument' made regarding 'rightful gains' and 'reaping what one has sowed'. Remember that we are talking about healthcare! In the richest country the world has ever known it is a shameful tragedy and a blight on our national conscience that people should go without healthcare. Anybody with a thread of morality or compassion, who knows the history of the 20th century and is cognizant of the way in which much of the world lives, would agree that the right to live and be healthy is a basic human right.

"how could you be rejected? You're the smartest person I know!"
Perhaps, but that says more about you than it does about me.......

Got accepted to Maryland today! Woohoo!!! It was a bit of a surprise, but.. woohoo! If I get funding it is a definite contender.

That's the best. Hands friggin down.

I have enough credits to graduate and am on fifth year. Long story, here's my problem: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1394851-question-about-dropping-out-5th-year-employment-gap-4.html#post14872678

"People pretending to be your friend and drop you once they got what they are needed " What would be an example of what they want from you?

I can't take this. Doesn't this person have anything better to do? This country desperately needs something like a new Civilian Conservation Corps.

I can't take this. Doesn't this person have anything better to do? This country desperately needs something like a new Civilian Conservation Corps.

I am not going to write a short dissertation on what you should do, but if it were me, I would go for the MA at Columbia, if money is truly not an issue. Go live it up in New York. For me, my time spent at a normal job after college, only proved to me how unfit i was for the real world and the dull life of office work. I think this was a good experience, as it helped me empathize with people who have real jobs, and give myself a sense of distance from graduate students who talk about how difficult their life is (making the library seem like a coal mine or even a cubicle). You will meet people like this, but they are everywhere (some of them are on this board). So unless you feel like you need a dose of reality, I would say keep riding the train called academia.

p.s. This isn't meant to say I don't work hard, etcetera, but a lot of grad students do not truly appreciate how weird and awesome the academic lifestyle is.

Sigaba,

I have to say that I find your tone to be incredibly rude and presumptuous. I simply wanted to know the best way to discuss these issues so that I could account for gaps in my academic record. I have no intention of leaving the information out of an application, but I thought that people might know the best way to bring it up. There is no harm in asking. The responses that you have given on this thread and others in the forum, remind me of one of the reasons I have been so hesitant to become a part of academia. It seems that the more degrees a person has the more likely they are to develop a narcissistic and judgmental attitude towards others. I have said once that I feel no need to hide my personal life from the committee, so I'm not entirely sure why this matters enough to you to actually ridicule someone you don't know online.

In fact, I have found that it is through connecting my past to my present that I have had the most success with my students. There is a reason I don't hide my past, and it has clearly worked in my favor up to this point. In addition to teaching courses on the history of sexuality, I use my personal experiences to reach students who have grown up in poverty, who are dealing with family issues or medical issues, and who are most generally struggling with the world. My duty as a Christian is actually more important to me than getting into a Ph.D. program, and I would not be true to myself if I started hiding it now. Understandably, we all have different priorities in our studies, but I am telling you that given my priorities, disclosing personal information about myself is not something about which I am concerned. I am sure you will have more to say about this, as you clearly are an argumentative person, so have at it, but I have finished with this thread. I appreciate all of the genuinely helpful and honest replies that I received.

I find it amusing and dismissable because it centers around an assumption that most young students at TGC choose grad school to "avoid" the job market and somehow escape the responsibilities of adulthood. The writer's main critique of TGC seems to be that it "is puncturing [her alter-ego's] illusions about what grad school could represent for a young adult eager to take a time-out from the neurotic competitiveness of real life." Maybe I haven't spent enough time outside of the History forums, but I think that most at TGC (especially the veterans and frequent posters) have chosen to consider/attend graduate school because they genuinely love their discipline and/or are serious about pursuing a career in academia. Most of us (at least within the History forum, and maybe the Humanities and Social Sciences in general) have made an informed, independent, and conscious decision to devote ourselves to a discipline that is dramatically under-appreciated within society. We've made a deliberate decision to pursue a career path where the job market is absolute shit, the salaries are meager, the benefits are (often) nonexistent, the lifestyle is hectic, unstable, and unpredictable, and those who are employed are overworked into the dirt. We're not starry-eyed idiots trying to live up to some misinformed and hyper-romanticized illusion of what life of mind is like. We do it because we love it, but we know that it's not going to be pretty and we have no illusions about it.

If somebody's applying for grad school because they're scared of a bad job market or because they want to avoid the so-called "real world" (a term I despise, since it's not like undergrads and high schoolers exist in some alternate reality devoid of responsibilities, stresses, and problems), then he/she was in for a rude awakening sooner or later.

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)

European HistoryKelkel (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)

African HistoryOseirus (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)

Latin American HistoryCageFree (20th century, Southern Cone),
BH-history,
The People's Scholar (18th-19th century Colombia)
StrangeLight (20th century Central America)

East Asian Historyalleykat (Modern China),
kyjin (Pre-Modern Japan)

Near/Middle Eastern Historyuhohlemonster, (modern Israel, Iran, Palestine)
oswic (modern Egypt, gender)

Atlantic Worldsandyvanb
crazedandinfused

Global/World History
[*]cooperstreet (Cold War)


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)


Cultural
[*]StrangeLight (gender, race, ethnicity, and religion)
[*]hbeels (race/ethnicity, religious, masculinity/feminimity, print/literature)
[*]crazedandinfused (race, nationalism, performance, rhetoric)

Yeah, I think consensus on the boards is pretty clear.

Two things:
1) I certainly understand the desire to have all you apps done by a given date of your choice. I was determined to have all of mine in by Thanksgiving before I went to my Mom's house and I met my deadline. I regretted it and here's why. Your app looks very different once you have actually submitted it, and by mid-December I had thought up of a million alterations that I would have done if I had still been able. There were 7 applications that were fully submitted, and even though the deadlines were almost a month away I wasn't able to change them. Everything looks different in hindsight, and having submitted some, you can make each subsequent one marginally better. That might give you you a little more sense of control in a process where agency is precious. Just a thought - and to totally demolish it, I'm going to a program whose deadline was Jan. 15.
2) So, if you really do want to get your apps in by your own deadline you could build your template app - that is, have a template of a SOP, a writing sample, and your letter-writers ready to go - and wait until mid September to individualize each app once you've heard back from POIs. Early September might still be a little early, so if you're really set on a somewhat arbitrary deadline (in the sense that you chose it, not the program. i don't want to invalidate your feelings!) maybe push it forward a few weeks?
My 2 Cents.

@hbeels: Nice avatar! Together we are an absolutely hopeless team!

Hear, hear. Plus, beef probably kills more trees than do books. I love beef as well. I'm not a very tree-friendly tree-hugger it appears. The stench of hypocrisy is surprisingly delicious.

I'm a little old school for kindle... I need something tangible to hold!
Buying the books that are intergral to my thesis/dissertation and the classics in my field is a no-brainer. I suppose I'm more concerned about the sources I don't think I'll be using much. Oh well. I'll likely end up buying most of them if only for fear I'll need them later.
That's a great point about the notes though, StrangeLight--I'd probably benefit from writing more out than scribbling in the margins.

I might have some questions for you down the road (re: military history over all) .... oh and whatever SL tells you is GOSPEL! I'd take ti to the bank and then some ... StrangeLight for President!

since your PhD research doesn't require you to know anything other than english, then it's absolutely fine if your writing sample's sources are in japanese, which is unrelated. it's actually pretty cool. in general, americanists get a lot of flack (sometimes deserved, sometimes not) for not knowing other languages. so having japanese behind you, even if you don't plan to use it in your dissertation, is actually a point in your favour.

moreover, since you're an americanist, your writing sample doesn't NEED to use non-english sources. unless you were working on japanese migration to the US (or something like that) most americanist programs don't look as foreign language proficiency as a requirement (just as a bonus). but, on the other hand, if your writing sample is on japanese history, then they'd really like to see the japanese language primary sources, even if you plan to move away from japan at the PhD level. it would be impressive to an adcom.

RB--
I think you might have missed my point.

Because professional academic historiography is not highly regarded by Americans in general, public intellectuals like West and Smiley feel comfortable offering generalizations about America's past. IMO, thedig13's piece offers an opportunity to make the point that the serious study of history is much more complicated and that Americans might be better served by looking carefully before they leap.

Moreover, I don't know if the practice of academic history is well served by drawing strict lines of demarcation between "professional" historiography and everything else when it comes to contemporary events. As Donald Cameron Watt pointed out in his seminal essay on the historiography of the Yalta Conference, historians need to protect their domain of knowledge.* If academic historians are to address successfully the widening gap between professional historiography and everything else, we might be better off if we widen the scope of debate sooner rather than later.

My $0.02.

____________________________________________________________________
* D.C Watt, "Britain and the Historiography of the Yalta Conference and the Cold War, Diplomatic History 13:1 (1989): 67-98. Watt argues "The true historian, like the settler, has to contend with brigandage, conmen, get-rich-quick operators, vigilantes, utopians, bushwhackers, religious fanatics and even indigenous inhabitants trying to preserve their traditional hunting or burial grounds (68)."

I like Tavis Smiley and Cornell West, but use public intellectuals sparingly. Cornel West has not written a real academic text since the 1980s. Keep it within the professional historiography as much as possible.

I wanted to share my story since the others here were so inspiring. I am a regular here at TGC. However, to protect my anonymity's anonymity, I am posting this under an assumed username.

I am a first-generation college student in my family. We were also quite low-income. I quit going to high school when I was a freshman. By the time I hit 20, I had already developed a significant heroin addiction. By the age of 23, I was literally sleeping on the sidewalk in Manhattan, even in the winter. I'd always been a heavy reader and I spent a lot of my time on the street reading whatever books I could find or "get." Ever met a homeless heroin addict that could discuss anything from Marxism, 19th-century French literature, Greek tragedy, continental philosophy, all kinds of history, the fine points of Judaism, etc...? That was me. At the age of 28, I got clean and within 2 years had the first of my two kids and began taking classes at the lowest community college in the city. My family supported me in more ways than one and made it possible for me to graduate this spring with a GPA of 3.9+ and some very nice essay awards and fellowships. I also developed fantastic relationships with very prominent professors. Now, this coming fall, I will be receiving full funding from my top choice, an Ivy League school that is ranked #2 in the country in my discipline. It's been an amazing journey and I can only hope it keeps going the way it has.

Anyway, the point of my story is that, truly, anything is possible. As first-generation students, we face many challenges, especially those of us going to so-called "elite" schools. However, if I can get to where I am from such a low point, any first-generation student issues should appear far less daunting. We get to where we are, largely, due to hard work and a bit of luck or serendipity. And the five years we may spend surrounded by people whose understanding of our issues is little to none is really a very short time. And after it's over, you will continue to have those things that allowed you to get to where you are in the first place. And that is something that no amount of money or class status can buy.

Hey guys,

This is probably not the right place to even post this, but I need some support right now.
I'm having a rough night.
I just found out that my 18 year old cousin is getting married. Her and her boyfriend have been dating for about 4 or 5 months.
Just some back story: She was in Israel for her first year of university this year when she met him. She's a modern religious Jew, so her family is a bit different from mine. Mine is Jewish, but very conservative. My immediate family values education over marriage.
But I can't help but feel a little bad. I'm the eldest of 15 grandchildren and always just assumed I would be the first to get married, especially since me and the second youngest, who happens to be my sister, are 4 years apart. She's the same age as my engaged cousin.
So I always just assumed it would be me. But now it won't be and I'm having a bit of a rough time accepting it. I know it's not exactly a wise decision to get married at 18. She has no means to support herself: no degree, barely any money, and no real skills. Her fiancé is my age (almost 23, which is why this bothers me even MORE) and doesn't have a degree yet either. They've been dating for 5 months. I just don't understand. And because they're both religious, they aren't able to touch each other in any way until marriage. I just...don't get how this works.

I'm not really sure where I'm getting at with this. I'm upset for several reasons:
1. She's very young. She's had trouble with severe depression and (apparent) bipolar disorder in the summer. And then she moves away to Israel, finds this guy, and suddenly she's engaged and over the moon? It just seems strange.

2. I really got used to the idea of being the first. I know it sounds petty, but this girl keeps stealing my experiences! She went away for school when she was 13 years old. Her parents sent her to Israel for junior and high school to get a more religious experience. That year, when she came back for the holidays, she asked me "Does it bother you that I got my independence before you?" Ugh. Obnoxious. So she came back here for her last year of high school and then went back this year. And now she's taking the first wedding away from me too, and most likely the first great-grandchild (I hear from her sister she wants to be pregnant 2 months after the wedding, which will be this August)

3. And I think the first wedding wouldn't be as important to me if I weren't so close to my grandfather. I think because I'm the eldest grandchild, we have a strong connection and are very close. For years, he's been saying the next wedding in the family is going to be mine and he's so excited, etc. I just got used to it!

I should be really proud of myself right now, though. I should be over the moon. I graduated in 2011 with a BA Honours in Psychology with an excellent GPA. I worked so hard for my diploma. I took the year off to work and save money, take the GRE, and apply to grad school and I got into my top school, NYU. NYU has always been my dream - I mean it - since I was 15 years old. I have wanted that program and that school. And I got in and I'm 90% sure I'm going (getting finances in order). I should be so happy right now because this is what I wanted. I didn't want marriage early. I always always said I would have a degree and a career and be independent before I got married. I'm also newly (as of 2 months ago) single and loving my independence. I wish this wasn't bothering me so much!!

And now I have to see them both tomorrow night at a family dinner for passover and meet the guy for the first time. And it's going to be so incredibly awkward because I really don't know what to say to them, or how to behave. And I don't want to hear the comments and excitement around the table or see my grandparents so happy about this. This whole family (except for this girl's mother) were so against this marriage until the guy came back here to meet everyone. And they liked him - so now it's suddenly okay.

I know this may sound petty and obnoxious, but I really needed to vent. Any support is welcome. I just feel kind of icky tonight and needed some kind words.
I've never really felt so completely ridiculous before.

Dear TGC friends,

I’m sure this seems presumptuous for me to create a separate thread but having been on here for more than 3 years, it just seems like I should just do this, rather let this be buried under “decisions,decisions” or “chit-chat.” And there’s a lesson to this.

First of all, I am so grateful that this site exists, even if it drives each of us nuts. It is a place full of rich information and insights (and many “take it with a grain of salt” pieces of advice). It is full of passionate people who care deeply about their future. As Sigaba pointed out once, academia is like a black box. And so is TGC. While this site does attempt to create transparency, it will never be fully so. You just have to trust your instincts; don’t let your nerves get to you. People know but do they really need to say it? Here on the TGC, we are so tempted to share everything we know and that is fine. We want to help each other get to the right places and we seek out each other by subfield or common interests via PM. Future posters will need to take the initiative to read old threads and send a PM to a poster (and hope that the poster checks his/her spam box!). I should say that by doing this way this year, what I’ve seen and heard, it has helped many of us. Perhaps doing this kind of approach has fostered a sense of community full of positive vibes to the level that I have never seen before. So, congratulations!

Yet, I will urge people to consider information shared by previous posters about their campus visits to help them build their lists. Reading about campus visits and impressions by others helped me tremendously in terms of building my lists for Fall 2011 and 2012. My adviser recommended OSU for Fall 2011. If it had not been several positive campus visit reviews that year, I’d probably hesitate, I mean, OSU? I didn’t know anything, it's Michigan or Wisconsin or Indiana. I said, okay, I will apply, no question asked (despite being a Wolverine). The funding experiences of Wisconsin acceptees kept me away from that place for Fall 2010 and 2011, as well as less than favorable reviews of the department culture. I had to strike a deal with my POI there that I could not consider Wisconsin without funding, even though he brought up the issue himself. I learned from here not to apply to UCLA and other places for funding or department culture reasons. So, future posters, if someone suggests School X, use the search function to see if someone’s posted personal experiences with the department. I would imagine that they’re usually spot on.

I do want to say thank you to those who have been so incredibly supportive. I am truly humbled that there were people who reached out to me via PM to check up and express genuine interest in my applications. I seriously thought coming back here for fall 2012 admissions would be a walk of shame. I didn’t want to put off anyone by announcing that it was my third time- I mean this is how freaking competitive History PhD admissions has become. This year was based on luck of timing though I know that both of my POIs truly appreciated all of my hard work and my experiences. I also didn’t realize until later on that my OSU POI had somehow kept me so calm despite no guarantees or suggestions of an acceptance (and that's a quality you want in a PhD adviser!).

I do want to say that my visit to Wisconsin was incredibly pleasant. I loved the close-knit community there and the contagious intellectual energy. The faculty and students were positive despite the financial situation. My POI was a “genuine” person with a mind for details. I truly had a change of heart after I left Madison, which did not put me in a good position mentally for my visit to Columbus. At OSU, though I felt the department was more conservative (not politically but just the culture) in comparison to Wisconsin, everything is taken seriously. The department works hard to ensure that students are happy and satisfied with their training, funding, and professionalization opportunities. Because of its large size, it would indeed take time to find a niche especially that graduate students do not live near each other. Given my POI’s situation that day, our meeting was rather lackluster. So I left Columbus without a decision and I was very disappointed not to have that “light-bulb” moment.

But being a believer of “second chances,” I decided to see if my POI wanted another conversation. She seemed quite enthusiastic so we set a Skype date. I thought, “Okay, if she doesn’t wow me on this, I’m going to think real hard about turning down OSU, my top and most logical choice.” During our conversation, I discovered that she was the One, a beautiful intellectual, personal, and professional adviser match. I just felt right at home in her presence. It was such a pleasure to call her the other day to tell her that I would come to OSU in the fall.

She certainly wasn’t on my radar because her first book had nothing to do with my interests. If it had not been for my MA adviser’s suggestion and my OSU POI’s interest in me and current project, I would have never considered her seriously. If it had not been for positive reviews of OSU on TGC that encouraged me to apply to OSU, I’d be at Wisconsin.

It is time for me to say farewell and move on (after all, I will need to study!). I will check every now and then for any specific issues and questions that I may be able to answer. It’s truly been a lovely ride. As always, feel free to PM me as I get e-mail alerts.

-tciklemeink

Dear god, it has started already!
Twist of Fate is spot on and I would just add one thing: Wait!! If you email them now, or any time before, say September/October, chances are they won't remember you at all when they see your app. Emailing in early Fall increases the chances that you will be fresh in their mind when a giant pile of applications falls on their desks and they have to sort through them.

I'm headed to Stony Brook. I'm quite happy about it - their program is really, really funky in the good sense of the word.
I'm just worried about jobs. But that's not my problem until friggin 6 years from now. I'm going to learn the two languages that I like to pretend I know - French and Portuguese - and write the killer dissertation that has been fermenting in my mind for the last year, and it will have 5, yes 5, funded years to beautifully age. What am I talking about? Agh, whatever. Back to my monstrous reading list.

I'm headed to Stony Brook. I'm quite happy about it - their program is really, really funky in the good sense of the word.
I'm just worried about jobs. But that's not my problem until friggin 6 years from now. I'm going to learn the two languages that I like to pretend I know - French and Portuguese - and write the killer dissertation that has been fermenting in my mind for the last year, and it will have 5, yes 5, funded years to beautifully age. What am I talking about? Agh, whatever. Back to my monstrous reading list.