jocorac

Dropping this here in case anyone is interested. NCSU Department of History is calling for abstracts for our annual graduate conference happening in March 2019. If you are interested, let me know! https://history.ncsu.edu/grad/conference.php

I don't know if this will help, but this was my experience when I started writing my SOP. I started first by asking a simple question, "What does it mean to be a historian?". I talked about how in high school, we never really focused on history as more than just dates. But when I entered college and attend my first conference where I saw so many well-known historians in my field, I realized that history was my passion. I even discussed the hardships of almost quitting while writing my thesis but that being a testament to my strength as a student and to the professors who were pushing me to succeed. I talked about what I want to research and why I felt that it was so important to the contribution of history. Talking about your accomplishments are very important, but that committee is wanting to know more about you than just research. Here are some questions that were given to me and helped me write my SOP: Why do you want to study history? What experiences, whether events or not, made you want to become a historian? Does learning history have an impact on the way you see the world? Does becoming a historian allow you to change the perception of how history is taught? How does your research add to what is already there? This may or may not help you. But those comments in the other post are the total opposite of what I was taught.

For both pleasure and research, I'm reading Sweet Land of Liberty by Thomas Sugrue. The book has been great and I think I have found a possible dissertation topic because of it. Next on the list is to finish The Blood of Emmett Till, and probably start on a book that I got for my birthday. Haven't decided on which yet. Since school is starting soon, I'm also "reading" on the books needed to for two of my classes. Hopefully, I will have most of them read by the time school starts.

I've read both McGuire and Tyson and love them both. I'll be looking at McGuire again for my class in the fall. Haven't looked at Hale though so I will check that one out! Thank you for the suggestions! Will for sure look into these two!

Wilmington has been done mostly. I’m learning that Raleigh and Durham do not have anything written on them about ther movements. I think the reason I am hesitant about doing Durham is because I felt like many people had already wrote on it but by my attending school, that’s how I knew the information. It is a possibility that I will consider though. Thank you!

Currently, I am in the process of looking for some topic ideas that I could possibly do for my dissertation. I don't need to have a concrete answer right now, but I will need something by my second semester due to a research class that is required (we have to have a small idea of what we want to research in order to complete assignments for the class). My topic has to be somewhat public history based due to the program that I attend. I am looking into Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, or Black Power eras as places to research. I did my master's thesis on my hometown's Civil Rights Movement and although I loved that topic, there is not enough information available to expand that into a dissertation. If you know of any articles and/or books that could be helpful in creating a list, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm also open to anything related in the 20th Century US and/or African American History that you may have heard of.

I'm currently working two part-time jobs before school starts, and it is DRIVING ME CRAZY. Covering shifts nonstop and its really making me want to start school now. All I can think is about my last day in August and not having to work again till the summer. Earlier this week I also received the first syllabus for my one of my classes. Books have been ordered and are coming in which makes me excited yet nervous. I have to urge to try and plan/organize my life now so that by August, I can have a full week of resting( which probably won't happen). I'm so anxious for this to start but nervous. I really am trying to enjoy my summer but honestly, I don't want to be too far behind when school starts, even though I know that is probably gonna be difficult especially dealing with a new school and professors. Hopefully, things will get better and time goes on. The countdown is now at 3months and 3 days till my first day of school.

I rarely talk about my accomplishments. I waited almost 2 months before announcing that I was accepted into my Ph.D. program and I only announced it after my department placed it on social media( I had intended to wait till August when I officially started my program). Even at my part-time job, my coworkers boast in the fact that I'm going to school in the fall but honestly, I try not to talk about it as much because I don't want to come off as arrogant. One thing I've learned and still learning is that there will always someone who will not understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. If my talking about my achievements hurts others, then I apologize but diming my light with respect to someone's else feelings is something I now refuse to worry about. I still keep what I do in my life to a minimum only because I want privacy. But if it is a big achievement, I feel that I have every right to share my good news. If a person doesn't like me, they can unfriend me. If you feel that posting on social media may cause more issues, create a blog to do it. A lot of it is just jealousy, especially within the black community. I've been told to be careful about sharing the good things in my life because it may deter others. But I shouldn't have to be quiet on my accomplishments in order to please everyone else and make them happy. It is not my responsibility and it should not be your responsibility either. If they don't like it, let them scroll down like everyone else.

For my MA degree, I had to do a book review as a writing sample so it wasn't that much pressure. But for my PhD program, I ended up using two chapters from my MA thesis due to limit being 25 pages. Although I wrote a couple of historiographies in school which were strong, I wrote mostly on the chapters for my thesis because it pushed me ahead. My advisor pushed me to use my thesis as well. My thesis really was a clear example of my research that I plan to somewhat continue in my program. If you use a paper from your class, make sure it was a good paper and check with the professor again to see if they can give you any advice on how to make it better.

I think a lot of this comes from the idea of you have experience in being a woman of color, so why not talk about women of color. I feel that people expect you to talk about the issues you face because you can give better background and knowledge than what they can. It's the same thing with a lot of people and the subject of HBCU histories, which I'm currently studying. With the recent documentary that came out, there was no one from an HBCU that spoke on the history of the schools. This, of course, caused a lot of people from the HBCU community to be upset, even though the information presented was 100% correct. In their minds, who better to know than that person who attended and/or taught at the school. People fail to realize that there are many other things that can be discussed and shouldn't have to be a specific race to tell the story. As for the article, I went through the same thing. Although my experience wasn't a traumatizing one, my friend, who is already in her Ph.D. told me to write about my struggles and not to focus so much on my successes. To my surprise, that essay got accepted. But I felt like they played on what my struggles as grad student instead of looking at me through a bigger lens. Even though I am a black woman, I still get the same questions of why are studying people who look like you? And my answer is still the same because I choose too.

I'm late to this convo, but I understand where you are coming from completely. I'm 25 and a black woman getting a PhD in the fall. When talking to guys, I've become very cautious about saying what I'm doing with my life because many of them would look at me completely different. I feel behind because most of my high school classmates are married, with kids, and jobs, but here I am, wanting more degrees.. and honestly, there shouldn't be anything wrong with that but because of the society we live in, especially within the black community, its look down upon. Although its tough for me right now, I know that I'm doing what's best for my future. Don't think you are alone in this. My friend and I were talking about this the other day and it's really scary. I'm learning that what is for me, is waiting for me personally. And whether he comes in the next month or the next 2-3 years, (God I hope not lol), I know that someone is out there who will love my ambition. Don't give up hope. I know I won't.

Hey everyone! Even though I am not in this field, I did attend NCCU for both my undergrad degree and master's . If you guys have any questions about the school in general, send me a message. I'll be happy to help as much as i can.

about two semesters ago, my European professor discussed blacks in European art, ranging from literature to artwork and dance. I was so drawn to it, even though European is my least favorite to study. one of my friends is doing her thesis on black bodies in dance throughout Europe and the US and the information she has gathered is really good stuff. Can't wait to read it. Something I planned to take on after my studies.

Roller skating