NoirFemme

I feel you're looking at this backwards. Other than ALA accreditation and curriculum, you should be looking for a program located in a region with plenty of opportunities you can seek yourself. A program is only as strong as you make it--and as competitive as the archival field is, it's wiser to be interning or getting an entry level position simultaneously with the obtaining the degree, rather than feeling you're only qualified after getting the degree and expecting the program to place you somewhere. Even though you're not pursuing a PhD, you should still view yourself as a professional (archivist) not as a student.

I have extensive experience in archives w/o an MLIS. Though the jobs I've had said a history degree was preferred, I found that unless you're going for a specific type of archiving (say, African-American collections, or costumes/fashion), the non-professional degree meant little. The archiving training/experience were the #1 asset. And if you look at the job board for the SAA, a lot of positions are very Information Science heavy--DublinCore, DACs, and all that good stuff. Hack Library School has an ongoing series where people give the lowdown on various programs: https://hacklibraryschool.com/category/education-curriculum/hack-your-program/

https://careers.insidehighered.com

Or, it could be that the program doesn't do the POI thing until you're admitted. A few of the programs I researched stated that was their procedure in the grad student handbook.

Ha, it was! I started with about fifteen programs, ranked them by how much I liked the idea of them (e.g. shiny heart eyes at Ivies, lol), and then went at them with a scalpel.

After pinpointing my exact interests and writing down my dealbreakers (e.g. location, faculty diversity, area demographics) I carefully combed through graduate programs to whittle the list down to a lean six schools. I'm super excited and very confident about applying for this cycle.

The easiest way to figure out which professors are working in your field is to read academic journals and books. Do you have access to JSTOR? Search for your topics of interest and pay attention to where the authors teach or were taught.

My thesis. But there's a chance I might write something new for a reading course and use that for some of my targeted programs.

I'm fortunate in that my fees are covered by a fellowship; I have about twelve on my list so far. But I'm also not just applying to history programs, so my applications will be spread out across three disciplines.

OP did ask for a historiography. Tuchman's book is a must for not only the assumed causes of WWI up to the 1960s, but how Americans thought about WWI--which is practically a forgotten war in our society. If historians get touchy about the book, they are looking at it from a narrow perspective. I'm a cultural historian, so my points of emphasis would be nationalism, imperialism, and race both before, during, and after the war. And I'm siding with Du Bois's thesis that WWI began in and because of Africa. ^^

No one mentioned the grand dame of WWI, Barbara Tuchman? Margaret Macmillan released an excellent book on the build-up to WWI in 2014. My WWI seminar was taught from an intellectual history perspective, and Perry's Sources of European History: Since 1900, offers a plethora of meaty readings.

They mean reading proficiency--you understand the text and can translate it into equally understandable English, without altering the original message. Check the graduate handbook for more clarification. Some of the programs I'm looking at stress the need to complete the language exam by the end of the first year, and one or two expect you to be able to take it within the first semester/quarter. Still others will give you the opportunity to fulfill language requirements through taking the classes in the summer or during the regular sessions. But with two or three required, I hope you have reading proficiency in at least one right now!

Ha! Must be something in the water. But cool that more people are researching public history. But here's the thing: a public history degree doesn't give you experience--practicing it does. You're already a public historian, based on what you've done with the walking tour. What you need is more experience, not more education, esp if you can't afford it (unless you want to move into archives--an MLIS/MLS is necessary for that). If you're just interested in getting a firmer grip on the various types of public history out there, I suggest keeping your day job and pursuing more volunteer opportunities. Most positions I've seen want at least six months to two years of experience. Going back to school is going to interfere with your ability to earn those 2+ years, seeing as how an MA usually takes 2 years to complete. You're in DC--so many museums, historic preservation committees, heritage sites, and so on! I would love to be there right now because of that. Start reaching out now. ETA: I just re-read that you teach at a private high school. Omg, perfect opportunity to bring public history into your day job! An alumnus from my college did a panel session last year about what he's done since graduating (albeit in the mid 90s). He's a public high school history teacher, and he trained his students to conduct oral histories with the WW2 vets in the senior homes in his area. His research and activities eventually took him into the heart of the WW2 historian and WW2 museum community. You can start right where you are. Reach out to the local PH community to forge partnerships.

I'm a public history student with a fair amount of (paid!!) museum experience. Since your focus seems interdisciplinary, I would suggest you go for public history, or even American Studies. Visitor engagement, exhibit design, and oral history are what you seem to be interested in. If the Smithsonian is part of your dream, you need to only look at schools in the DC area so you can take advantage of the internships (and networking opportunities). Studying abroad is great, but you really need to be present and consistently working/volunteering--and attending conferences!--the US to keep your resume fresh. As for funding, it's rare at the MA level--especially for this field. In closing, lol, stay in the US. Get experience with what you specifically want to do. Attend school in the cities where you would like to work.

I know the deal! :-) Have you looked at UT Austin's American Studies program? There's lots of cross-pollination in different fields, including Education. http://liberalarts.utexas.edu//ams/graduate/overview.php

USC has a heavy focus on ethnic/critical race/gender/queer studies. And the program is more social science based as opposed to humanities. The anthro background would probably serve you well in this program.

Good for you and good luck. I'm doing AA Studies (among other things), so hopefully you'll get into a program that fits your needs.

Ok. What do you hope to accomplish with a doctorate? That might help you decide whether to pursue an Ed.D or a PhD. Are you hoping to move into education administration? Are you just wanting to study your topics of interest? Who's in the field that you would love to study with (or, who has your dream job)?

Surprised no one started one yet! I'm targeting a diverse range of doctorate programs, with two or three funded MAs, since I technically have four disciplines. Where's my '17 cohort at?

San Francisco State appears to have an Ed.D program with a reputation in Ethnic Studies: http://edd.sfsu.edu/content/program-description Harvard Graduate School of Education: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/course/fall-2015/t004-ethnic-studies-and-education-fall-2015 UCLA Department of Education: https://gseis.ucla.edu/education/academic-programs/social-sciences-comparative-education/ssce-sub-specializations/

Have you looked into Rutgers' Cultural and Heritage Preservation Studies phd? It's under their Art History program. U of Delaware's Material Culture program might also be a good fit. U of D also has a Preservation Studies PhD program. Look at Heritage and Historic Preservation programs.

UC San Diego's program is excellent. One of my favorite professors attended (graduated in 2012, so quite recent feedback): http://literature.ucsd.edu/grad/phd-admissions/sections/culturalstudies.html ETA: she teaches literature courses and literary theory within the context of race and gender.

Why not do historic/heritage preservation?

Ah, see, I have a public history degree at the undergraduate level. The program gave me extensive experience with traditional history methods as well as (paid!) heritage work--not to mention my publishing credits and conference sessions--so I am trying to replicate this at the graduate level, heh! I do have a list of schools and POI that contain a public history/humanities component+my interests; however, I might be overthinking the search for the "perfect" program and how to be the "perfect" candidate.

Yes! Thanks for pointing me to Roman. And I'm even more pleased, because I see that SUNY Brockport has a public history track (It's been a pill trying to combine my academic interests since PH is such a specific field in itself).