MtrlHstryGrl

I actually have been in contact with someone at Yale, albeit in Religious Studies, and will be applying to that program as well!

Thank you-- this is very helpful! I am looking at higher ranked programs as well-- Notre Dame and Columbia specifically.

Hello, everyone. I hope you are all well and staying healthy! This very well be my end-of-semester fatigue, but I am heavily considering only applying to two programs for the next PhD cycle. I have sent out quite a few emails, have had a few phone calls, etc., and found two programs where I feel very confident about the fit. Faculty from these two programs have also told me that I would be a great fit and I have had conversations with faculty there in which they strongly encouraged me to apply. This could very much be me being tired at the end of the semester, but I am considering putting all of my eggs in two baskets, so to speak. Is this a terrible idea? Should I keep looking?

Thank you so much! I really value your input as a general rule, and this is no exception. I will definitely use this in the refinement of my interest statement! Funny you should mention the classes that I would teach-- in the Penn program, the qualifying exam is designing and defending two courses. Your suggestion will be helpful in that and refining my interests!

Villanova University offers a funded terminal Master's program.

Hello, everyone! I am a current Master's student in European History, and will be applying to Religious Studies and History programs next year. My broad area of interest is the devotional lives of women in late antique to central medieval Europe. I am interested in how women participated in religion, particularly the cult of saints, and how they formed identities around their religious lives. In this, I am interested in an anthropological study and using an examination of the uses of religious art, object, and space. I will likely focus on the nobility and questions of religious access and performity (i.e., questions of true belief versus performing religion for social/political reasons). To a lesser extent, I am interested in the idea of continuity from the classical world that Peter Brown puts forth, thinking about (1) continuity in religious practice from paganism to Christianity and (2) issues of classical reception. I also hope to address issues of cultural exchange in religious practice. Much of the current historical discourse about the cult of saints is not specifically focused on women, so I hope to contribute to the historiography by placing this devotion specifically in a feminist history framework. I took the GRE and got a 160V/5.5AW. My undergrad GPA was a 3.5 and my grad GPA is, currently, 3.3 (which I hope to raise after this semester). In terms of languages, I have Italian (fluent), Latin (reading), French (reading), and will be taking an intensive German for research course this summer. I am also working on Ancient Greek and hope to take an Ancient Greek course in Spring 2021. My writing sample will be an article I recently published about gender, domestic service, and power in Renaissance Tuscany. I have published two articles total and two book reviews as blog posts for my program's blog. I am also in talks to publish a journalistic history article on a local site, though it does not relate to what I want to study. So far, I have gotten positive responses from: Penn, Religious Studies (Durmaz, Schaefer) -- (talked on the phone, encouraged to apply) Fordham, History (Bruce, Paul) -- (will talk on the phone next week, encouraged to apply) And, unfortunately, negative responses from: Loyola, History (Stabler Miller) Michigan, History (French) Northwestern (Elliott) I am still searching for places to apply, but the end of the semester has completely taken up my time!

Ahh, that is a bit scary! Thankfully, I will be taking a Latin language exam at my current Master's program, so I will have that (along with a language exam in French, a German for research summer course, and extensive training in Italian), so I will definitely try to find some sort of intensive Greek course to supplement my (admittedly quite intense) self-study of Greek. I talked with a POI in the Religious Studies Dept. and she told me, specifically, to mention language and the linguistic aspect of my research, so perhaps that is why.

Hello, hello! I came across the AAMW program at Penn and realized that it fit my interests in both theme and methodology, and that there was a professor with whom I think I would be a great fit. I heard back from that professor, who was interested in talking to me about the program and referred me to two other professors (I am speaking with one of these professors via Skype tomorrow). I come from a primarily History background (not art history or classics), so I am a bit worried, even though I feel as though the fit is good and I have previous archaeology experience that is relevant to my project. Does anyone happen to know the admissions statistics for the AAMW program?

Hello, everyone. I am applying to doctoral programs this coming cycle and was feeling fairly confident until an email from a potential advisor about the amount of applicants that will be applying to programs this fall. I crossed the program off of my list, as the potential advisor also let me know that she would likely not accept a graduate student (especially not an early medievalist), but my confidence has been somewhat shot. How do/did you deal with anxiety and imposter syndrome in PhD applications? I should add that I am only applying to schools with which I have a good fit and professors interested in working with me, but I am still quite nervous.

I got an email from a potential advisor at UMich, and she said that there will be more applicants than usual this year.

Hello, hello. I found a program that has literally everything I want in a program, with a potential advisor with an incredible fit and other faculty members I would like to work with, and I believe that it is a perfect fit for my interests and methodology. Basically, it is my absolute dream program. Would it be unprofessional or looked down upon if I explicitly said that in my statement of purpose?

Hello, hello. I had applied for a summer research fellowship through my Master's institution to do a major independent research project using archives, art, and sites in Italy. I was denied funding based on the fact that my university has decided to suspend all research projects abroad. I knew I would get rejected because of it, but it has made me incredibly upset and anxious, as I will probably not have a large, independent research project when I apply to a PhD program. My school does not do Master's theses -- I am submitting a writing sample that was a seminar paper (and has been selected for publication). Will I be completely disqualifying myself by not having a big research project at the Master's level? I am fairly confident about literally every other part of my application (two article publications, have been a graduate research assistant, will be a graduate teaching assistant, multiple languages, strong LOR, fit, etc.), but I am irrationally afraid of not having that project.

Hello, hello. I had applied for a summer research fellowship through my Master's institution to do a major independent research project using archives, art, and sites in Italy. I was denied funding based on the fact that my university has decided to suspend all research projects abroad. I knew I would get rejected because of it, but it has made me incredibly upset and anxious, as I will probably not have a large, independent research project when I apply to a PhD program. My school does not do Master's theses -- I am submitting a writing sample that was a seminar paper (and has been selected for publication). Will I be completely disqualifying myself by not having a big research project at the Master's level? I am fairly confident about literally every other part of my application (two article publications, have been a graduate research assistant, will be a graduate teaching assistant, multiple languages, strong LOR, fit, etc.), but I am irrationally afraid of not having that project.

I really enjoy Terry Jones's Medieval Lives. It is great for binging and it is in its entirety on YouTube.

This is fair! I mostly thought it would be a good idea as I do not have any French (or Latin) officially on my transcripts, though I do cite French articles and Latin primary sources (with translations in footnotes) in the piece I would like to use for my writing sample.

Wow, this is also a very helpful response! Looking at mentors specifically, especially in terms of methodology was what I was originally leaning towards, so I feel a bit validated in that! To address your points, preliminarily: 1) As an undergraduate, I was able to take on-site courses in theology and art history that ignited an affinity for church architecture and religious art, as well as interests in patronage, continuity from the ancient to medieval worlds, and the anthropological use of art and architecture. Concurrently, I held an archeological internship that allowed me to handle artifacts and get a better sense of what objects were used in devotion and how, and went on a dig excavating architecture. In my original research piece for my writing sample, I do some art historical analysis of Florentine birth trays to illustrate a point about class stratification and how nobility represented themselves through art. I will also be taking two art history courses this summer and a Visual Culture course in the Fall, so I am hopeful that I can use all of that as a booster. The question about why art history would be the right lens is really helpful, and something I will think about and be sure to include in a SOP! 2) My dream career is medieval curation at the British Museum. This is not very helpful, but I want to do both academia and museum work. I am very much in love with medieval historical research, but curation is very appealing to me. 3) I am mostly interested in relics and reliquaries, architecture, jewelry, and iconography. However, I do want to rely on archaeological records, hagiographies, and documents relating to charters, but I would prefer to use those as supplementary to art and artifacts. This does help me asking questions of my methodology and materials specifically, which I admittedly struggled with. I think that thinking through answering number 3 in particular has led to a bit of an epiphany! Also, thank you for the language exam prep! Perhaps we could set up some sort of study/accountability group.

Thank you for the response-- it was very helpful! I have been looking more into the debate of my intended field, and will thankfully have more time to do so because of the crisis. I have also taken a look at the publications and especially approaches of scholars I may be interested in, and will be using my reading as a guide. I have had these interests for a long while, but (erroneously) assumed that my public history interests may be more profitable. Ultimately, this is what I am passionate about and I am in love with the reading and research. Speaking with my advisor and two professors has really helped me to discern my passions and goals. One common thread I have noticed in my interests is the ways in which people have used the objects and place to identify, especially with the past. Yes, I agree that there are a lot of moving parts in my current research description. Do you have any methodological tips for helping take them apart? Not specific to my interests necessarily, but generally? Thank you again for your response. You continue to be a very helpful person on this site.

Hello, folks. I hope that you are all doing well in light of the circumstances. I am starting to think increasingly about PhD applications and would like to start my search for possible mentors after Easter break. So far, I have done a little bit of casual searching for programs and have found some professors that I believe I would fit well with. I am just not sure if I am on the right track and if I should center my search more on history or art history programs. I have found professors in both, though admittedly more in art history. In a very broad sense, I am interested in women's participation in religious ritual and how this factored into the ways in which this shaped how women imagined and performed their devotional lives and, in turn, how they formed their identity. I am specifically interested in how religious art, architecture, and objects were used in facilitating devotional lives, particularly in the context of the cult of saints. This will also explore the relationship between devotion and power/access, specifically queenship and patronage. My research will ideally be an anthropological, aesthetic, and archeological approach to the cult of saints, and place worship in a more female context, therefore filling gaps left by Peter Brown and Robert Bartlett. This may be a stupid question, but am I on the wrong track for looking at art history programs? Is it even necessary to apply to just one type of program or the other, or should I go with fit? For reference, I am a current History Master's student and got my BA in History.

I was in a similar boat last application season and was offered Master's admission to Columbia and NYU. I was offered a partial scholarship to Columbia. I was also admitted to my current program with a full tuition scholarship. I told one of my favorite professors about this dilemma, and he immediately told me to take the scholarship. Funded Master's are, as I understand it, few and far between.

Hello, folks! I hope you are all doing well in light of the circumstances. In preparation for my PhD applications this fall, I will be taking language exams in Latin and French. I have been studying these languages and feel competent in my ability to do well. My MA program offers translation-based exams that seem to be the same set-up as other exams that I have seen in PhD program handbooks-- four hours per exam, translating work, dictionary allowed. I have been focusing much of my language study on grammar because of this, and have been looking at previous language exams from several different universities. Does anyone here have any suggestions about how to prepare for these sorts of language exams? Any help would be very much appreciated. (I should also mention that I am fluent in Italian and have done some self-study in German, and I will also be taking an intensive German for research course over the summer. The original research project that I am submitting as a writing sample (and I recently got published!) used Latin, French, and Italian sources, both primary and secondary.)

I do want to add that I have applied to take art history courses at a local community college in order to better my chances!

This is very relieving to hear! I have emailed the art history professor that I am working with this semester to see if I could sit in on some of the art history courses that he teaches, as he does Renaissance art. I feel quite good about language; I am fluent in Italian, pretty good in French and Latin, and working in German-- I also have some knowledge of Czech for familial reasons. I took a course in Medieval Europe and worked well with the professor, so I am hoping that they would be willing to write me a letter of recommendation! I have been taking cursory looks at professors and have identified a few that I am interested in working with, so I plan to read some of their work prior to reaching out toward the end of the semester. Your post was very helpful and I really appreciate you taking the time to give advice!

I should add that I am currently planning independent research on classical aesthetics and memory in the articulation of masculinity in Mussolini's Italy, for which I have applied for a research fellowship award through my institution. I would like to do similar work in graduate school, though I would like to focus on the Middle Ages in future graduate study.

Hello, everyone. I am currently a Master's student in history at a university without an official art history program, though with art history faculty. As an undergraduate, I took an art history course while studying abroad, sparking an interest in the subject. I will be taking a Visual Culture course in the fall and am applying to be a teaching intern for an undergraduate art history course in the same semester. Currently, I am a research assistant for my university's art historian, who is currently researching the aesthetics of textile gift-giving, as well as for a history professor who is doing work in dress theory in Ancient Egypt. I have fallen in love with art history research and am incredibly interested in a doctoral program in art history. Is it possible to go from a history MA to an art history PhD, given that I find a great fit mentor-wise, get great recommendations, etc.?

Out of curiosity, would anyone happen to have any suggestions for programs or potential advisors? I know my description is a bit vague.