Hello,
I have lately considered applying for a PhD in Medieval History. I am particularly interested in drawing from notarial household inventories in order to trace evolving patterns of consumption in the late Medieval Mediterranean as well as to explore the experience of domesticity (in the manner of A History of Private Life), focusing on the rich archives of Catalonia (relatively unexplored) and Southern France (better known). A bit about myself: I came here following a strange detour, pulled into the fascinating world of medieval households from a previous focus on the urban environment in colonial and modern Latin American history. This makes me a somewhat atypical applicant, and I wanted honest opinions about my chances, taking into account the following factors:
1) I am currently learning Latin and German at the University of Cambridge under a language learning scholarship, however both of them are at the moment quite basic (although I learnt Latin before, in high school, which means that I am not starting from scratch either). I would expect to be competent in Latin by the time I start the PhD program, especially if I do the Paideia course in Rome over the summer, but certainly not by the time I apply for it. Would this be an issue?
2) I have never worked on medieval archives, although I have done research on the colonial archives of the JCB library at Brown University. How much research work are we expected to have completed before applying for a PhD?
3) I have solid academic credentials: Phi Beta Kappa membership, award for the best thesis on comparative literature (on a radically different topic and area, though) and near 4.0 GPA from a good school (Brown). Additionally, I am likely to have one strong recommendation letter from a top medievalist in the field, with whom I took a fascinating course on gender in the medieval period.
Chances? Am I crazy for plunging into the Middle Ages? Should I retreat to the shady comfort of colonial Latin American architecture? What do you all think?
