sentinell

I’m about to enter an ethnic studies PhD program. The placement rate is good to very good, and I’ve seen a few alumni who have placed into history and English programs. I’m wondering how people do this? Say for history, I’m guessing having historians as advisors, presenting at history conferences, and taking history coursework? Do job search committees look at things like that? For those of you who’ve been on a search committee for a traditional dept , would you give an interdiscplinarity phd the time of day if they had these credentials or only on very rare occasions?

Assuming you get into two programs that are relatively equal and you have a support network where you live - is it always better to go to the program close by? I want to get out of my home city, but at the same time , Everyone says graduate school is isolating and stressful and doubly so without close and deep bonds and so I’m afraid to move away.

How is Purdue, NYU, and Harvard ranked?

Is there any consensus on the rankings of American Studies programs? Which are considered top? Does ranking matter much since there are only a handful of these programs?

I was one of the NYU American Studies interviews. I got really anxious and blanked out so hard. Have been kicking myself since then. If what the person above said is true (5-6 for this years cohort), and its looks like there were two rounds of interviews, I think that means there are maybe 8-12 gunning for the current spots.