rassdam

Duly noted - thanks. And that's quite an interesting career trajectory. They must have done something well to make themselves legible. Were they interested in TT jobs?

True. I'd feel silly turning down either of these offers to reapply next cycle in History again. But maybe for the legibility its worth it.

True. I'd want to be American Studies if it was a cutting edge department like USC or NYU or Berkeley. That's highly unlikely so I'd rather just have more options (have a child & partner). I suspect Harvard's degree would translate better across disciplines and into alt-ac than a name that might only have top pedigree within the few American Studies and Ethnic Studies across the country would. It'd be very difficult for me to up and move across the country. That seems to be the name of the game in academia so I figure the one that opens more doors is better?

Harvard AmStud does. 60-70% place in History departments. The other place in English or AmStud/Ethnic Studies.

anyone?

This cycle I didn't get great offers from any History programs but I did get two great offers from American Studies program. I'd love some feedback on how to analyze ranking/reputation/program strength as for interdisciplinary programs. The first program is at Harvard. It's top ranked on NRC rankings - but according to most of the American Studies people I've spoken to, they don't have the greatest reputation within American Studies in terms of producing important or cutting edge scholarship. However, the programs requirements are loose and it offers an en route Masters in History. And most students end up in traditional history departments. (places like U Mississippi, U Minnesota, Cornell, U Idaho, North Carolina State, UC Berkeley) The program would give me a great pipeline to work with some great historians like Walter Johnson, Phil Deloria, Vincent Brown, Robin Bernstein, etc. The other edge to this is that if I decide to go alt-ac or out of academia completely, a Harvard pedigree is helpful. The second is at a well respected private institution. This program is very well defined in its approach to the discipline of American Studies, its intellectual community, etc. They apparently have built a top reputation within American Studies. And most of its students place into American or Ethnic studies departments (UPenn, Maryland, Brown, UCR, UCD, Wisconsin-Madison, etc) The students here also seem a bit more supported. While a few students in the past decades have gotten into traditional disciplines, I think its an anomaly since unlike the first program, you have to take American Studies courses rather than situating yourself in a traditional discipline. Pragmatic advice in this situation? The scholarship at the second school is pretty cool and they have a great reputation, but am I shooting myself in the foot by going to a program that only places its students into interdisciplinary programs? Aren't those the first to go during budget cuts? What if their reputation declines? I honestly dont know much about American Studies and applied to these programs on a whim. The Harvard program isint as strong or thriving, but at least I can build a portfolio in the history department by getting a History MA, working with Harvard historians, and having them on my committee. And it seems that the alt-ac students do well for themselves.