JDtoPhDmaybe

Thanks, I’m not expecting to come out of the gate teaching a specialized course in whatever my little heart desires. Thankfully, I’ve worked under high level college administrators so I know that there are dues to be paid and red tape to be cut through. Luckily, I’ll be able to practice law on the side to keep me busy when things get tough or boring. I know the job market isn’t great but I’m an optimist and willing to work my way through difficulties.

Yes, I agree with you. As I said in a previous post I'm aware that for a proper PhD application I need to be pretty specific about a more narrow topic that I would like to study. I'm just not there yet so I can only speak in generalities and with the context I understand at this point. As I get more familiar with PhD programs and Academic History I can speak more eloquently about these topics. And when I said "my take on the subject" I just meant that we all bring something unique to ourselves when we present information so even if I'm explaining a widely agreed upon theory I'm filtering it through my brain and my connection to it. I'm not sounding super knowledgable here - because I'm not super knowledgable - but I understand more than I can explain well at this point.

I'm honestly not sure what this means. I'm just starting to delve into graduate school/academia so I'm not super familiar with the various distinctions, terms, phrases, and the like.

Oh yes, I'm well aware that I need to get more specific. I'm just not there yet so I gave the best answer that I could. I'm still exploring these areas to figure out where I would really like to concentrate. Can I ask how you discovered your specific focus area? Did you just know or did it take you a while to figure out?

Thanks for responding! And this is a great idea. I'm in Houston so I'm optimistic that I could find a class somewhere around here.

Thanks for responding! I'm a good problem solver but I seem to be a much better lawyer than engineer. And I enjoy research and writing way more than designing circuits.

Thank you for responding! I would like to teach history on a collegiate level because I feel that the ability to teach more specialized areas of history would help provide a perspective of history that most folks don't see and to me that is one of the reasons why most folks disregard the study of history. And even if I was to teach a general history course I wouldn't mind. Most Americans are so undereducated about history that I would really like to do my little part to help change that. On a scholarly note I would like to connect the dots on historical points and present well researched historical theories or just my take on the subject. I'm not hyped up to be the scholar who discovers that Alexander the Great was really a woman or anything like that. I just like history. I like to share history with others. I think I would like to write about history. Does that sound stupid or misguided?

Thank you for responding to my post! So the paper I wrote for law review was history of medicine/medical technology and the law (inspired by the Henrietta Lacks story). I enjoyed it but I'm not sure that I want to focus on medicine in a PhD program. I've been thinking that a history of the law focusing on oppressed people in some regard (food justice, housing discrimination, environmental discrimination) is really where my heart lies. The laws regarding helots in Sparta all the way to the current laws that negatively impact access to grocery stores on Native American lands have run through my mind.

First, thank you for reading and providing whatever information you can. My conundrum: Undergrad is in Engineering (mediocre GPA) but I realized that wasn't for me so I went to law school to get into Patent Law. Graduated from a low ranked law school Magna Cum Laude and on Law Review and all that. History has been a passion of mine for most of my life. In fact, when applying for law review I chose a topic that combined history and the law. I would like to become a History/Law professor and academic. I have about 3-5 years (I will be working in the legal field and attempting to get some Instructor work at local community colleges) before I start applying to programs and I want to take advantage of the next few years to prepare as much as I can so that I can submit the most solid application package possible. I'm totally unfamiliar with the grad school application process. I've tried to go through this forum to get a better idea of the process but I'm concerned about my lack of experience in history. I would like to go to the best school possible (hopefully) and I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to bridge the gap between law and history for my future applications. I have great relationships with a few of my professors who would be happy to mentor me through getting legal articles published. Would an application with published articles connecting law and history be better than some sort of work experience teaching history? Should I attempt a Master's program prior to the PhD? Do admissions committees care about this stuff? I'm trying to get my bearings here and I appreciate any help ya'll can provide.