kotov

One of my professors at Auburn, Dr. Guy Beckwith, is interested in Ancient Greek technology. I know Auburn isn't a very prestigious program, but it is decent for HTS. There are also two VA hospitals within 50 miles; one in Tuskegee (18 mi.) and one in Montgomery (47 mi.).

I found an interesting book on the Romani Holocaust (aka the Porajmos) at Books-a-Million the other day. I can't remember exactly what it was called and didn't have the money to buy it, but if you're interested in the Romani, it would probably be a good thing to check out. If anyone is curious, I could try to find the title.

Let's see, I get my Facebook, God help me...a lot of crap to show them that I was awesome in high school...Sporcle...and me bitching about the quality of NBA officials -- if they're basketball fans that will probably be readily approved of.

I have a horrible fear of papercuts.

I speak Romanian.

I speak Romanian.

Even Russia today isn't a nation-state. There are over 100 different languages and ethnicities in the Russian Federation. In the USSR, there were closer to 200; some of the states that formed from the former USSR are nation-states, like Estonia and Armenia, however, some, like Kazakhstan and Ukraine aren't.

I already told my friends that I was doing that, lol.

I would think the fact that historians of the post-WWII era would HAVE to get away from the nation-state paradigm, since neither of the dominant players for most of that era, the US and USSR, were true nation-states. Also, since most places want you to have a thematic field outside of your geographic/temporal focus, you're almost forced to use a comparative (and at least somewhat transnational) approach. That said, revolutionizing what has become the conventional method of history, on the whole, is going to take a while. I've certainly been guilty of it in my work on the Ukraine, though that's a unique situation, as the more nationalist elements are trying to create a nation-state, while others realize that the sizable ethnic Russian population make that impossible. It may be an okay in a specific situation like that where it really is an important way to frame a discussion and is a paradigm that the people themselves want to apply. Does that make a lick of sense to anyone or am I rambling?

I got a pleasantly surprising email from CMU earlier about how they didn't have my GRE scores, even though they were one of the schools I selected when I took the exam in September. Wonderful! Now I get to shell out $23 to fix a problem that shouldn't have happened. If it weren't for the fact that the deadline was Monday, I'd have called the GRE people and said some rather rude things. I could call CMU to check it out, I guess, but it's too late to today and I already sent the scores lest they be any more late. :/

Yeah, I just don't think mom understands that there aren't that many good schools in the south for what I want to do. And yeah, Central Michigan is pretty sweet for the level of program it is, I guess. It's even centered around transnational history. Sadly, the deadline was the 3rd. I'll be really depressed if I don't at least get in there. My real hope is to get to go to Ukraine to look through the thousands of pages of archives they just declassified on the Holodomor. Tons of opportunity for new and original research/perspective. It's an exciting prospect to me.

I study history. The most frequent response I get is: Oh, I hate history! It's so boring! [Thanks. I don't care.] When I explain my interest in Eastern Europe: Oh, so you're a Communist? [The Cold War ended 20 years ago and no one in the US noticed.] When I talk about my interests in genocide, I usually get horrified looks, or the question: WTF is the Holodomor? [i guess this is a fair question, as only some people call it that and most probably aren't familiar with it.] And of course the classic: So do you want to teach high school? [No, OMG, no. I'd gouge my eyes out first. This is why I want to get a Ph.D.]

For what it's worth, I'm interested in the Holocaust and some other Jewish topics and I'm not Jewish. Also interested in Romania and Eastern Europe (and to a lesser extent Turkey) even though I'm of German descent. I guess they're still white ethnic groups and I'm not branching out across the globe, but it's a little variety I guess.

I did look at UCLA and American. Honestly, I wish I had applied to American already. It just got kind of lost somewhere along the line of my list of things to do. I may still try to sneak that in before the deadline. UCLA wasn't realistic for me because of financial considerations, really -- even if I had gotten funding, I couldn't afford to live there. I had looked into the Holocaust Museum too. My main problem would be finding somewhere to live in the area and the fact that it's way up the East Coast from me; don't get me wrong, I'd love to work there, and since Romania was responsible for more deaths than anyone other than Germany in the Holocaust, I'd imagine its a useful language skill. I'm still going to apply and see what happens. Romanian and the chance to study it more in-depth was the main thing that attracted me to Indiana, as they have a couple of faculty in history who are from Romania (and the fact that it's my most well-known and most effusive letter writer's alma mater wasn't bad either). My German is alright I guess? As good as it can get for one year? If I had the money I would stay over the summer and work on more of it, though I'm pretty good at teaching myself and can pick languages up quickly (I minored in English and focused on linguistics). I'm aware I picked schools erratically. I mentioned my reasons for Indiana, and I'd think Clark is pretty obvious (the Strassler Center is like the Mecca of Holocaust Studies in the US). Central Michigan may not be highly ranked, but funding is at least guaranteed, and you get to spend a year in Germany. Also, a professor there wrote one of my favorite books on the Holocaust and would be an eager advisor for some of the ideas I have floating around that relate more to Germany. South Carolina was a choice both for geography and more geared toward my interest in Eastern Europe, though I'd still focus on genocide (the Holodomor). Auburn and Georgia Tech were to appease my mother by picking something close to home. Overbearing bitch didn't even go to college and wants to tell me how to run my grad school application process even though she clearly doesn't understand how it works and can't grasp the concept of funding. A couple of the MA programs are good fits, but I hope to God it doesn't come down to that point.

killer queen

Eh. Russian is harder. Lots of unfamiliar roots and the grammar is way more complex, as well as the alphabet difference. However, if you learn Russian, it's easy to pick up Ukrainian and Belarusian and be a polyglot. [i should note that I'm not being a smart-ass; I worked with Ukrainian (though I wouldn't claim to be even close to fluent) for my UG thesis. Sorry if that sounded douchy.] And I'd contend, as a Romanian speaker, that Romanian is more difficult to learn than the other Romance languages because the grammar is more complex and there are more unfamiliar roots (to an English speaker).

Eh. I was aware of it but it was never a realistic option for me. I don't have the financial footing for it. :/

Field: Modern Europe -> Eastern Europe -> Holocaust/Genocide Studies I applied to: Ph.D. Clark (Holocaust/Genocide Studies) Indiana-Bloomington (Eastern Europe/Romania) Central Michigan (Modern Europe, Germany/Holocaust or Russia) South Carolina (Modern Europe, Russia/USSR) Auburn (Europe after 1789, Russia) Georgia Tech (History of Science and Technology) - Mom, who didn't go to college, insisted. M.A. Northwest Missouri State (Accepted) Eastern Michigan North Texas Youngstown State (Holocaust Studies) Ball State Louisiana Tech UG at Auburn (I know, blech, I was originally an Actuarial Science major) UG Thesis: "Liars, Lamenters, Leaders: The Holodomor in American Media" (uber-corny, I know) GPA: 3.50, Major GPA: 3.88, Minor GPA (English): 4.0 GRE: V: 650 Q: 700 AW: 5.5 Qualifications: Finished UG in 3 years (as if anyone cares) Honors program Had a paper published/ used by my professor while she was teaching a course (Holocaust denial law in Romania) Recommendation from a pretty well-respected professor in Russian history Hopefully going to intern this summer at the Holocaust museum in Atlanta Phi Alpha Theta I speak Romanian, I guess that's unique? Involved with genocide-related social activism (to a limited extent) aka I'm not getting in even to a low-tier Ph.D. program.

Modern Europe, esp. Eastern Europe. My main interest is the Holocaust and the Holodomor, and genocide more generally, though post-war Eastern Europe interests me too (especially Romania, since I already speak Romanian pretty well). Considering a minor field in Turkish history, if I can, or maybe modern Central Asia. If I get into Indiana I'll probably do a minor in Romanian Studies. I'm currently doing work relating to the American media's treatment of the Holodomor (denials/misrepresentations, Ukrainian-American responses, etc.). I just finished a paper on the Holodomor in contemporary Ukrainian politics (my writing sample). My main interests for grad school, tailored a bit to where I end up, are either: - The [Nazi] German response (political/humanitarian) to the Holodomor, esp. the plight of the "Volga Germans" - Cannibalism during the Holodomor - Official denial of the Holocaust in Communist Romania

Alexander Kotov was a Soviet chess player. He came up with the idea of "Kotov Syndrome": in a crucial situation, one spends a long time trying to come up with the best solution, then, crunched for time, rushes into a decision and frequently does something stupid. My avatar is Cam Newton. I went to Auburn for undergrad. War Eagle.

I got a letter from the department at Indiana saying they were missing my transcript (thanks Auburn, great job) and two of my letters, one of which I know they have now.

Anybody else studying/planning to study in this area? If so, where did you apply/where do you go? I applied to Clark, which is like the Holy Grail for this field, I gather, as well as a few others...I realize I may be the only one in this area, as it's kind of unpleasant.

I did the exact same thing.

I remember a story from a friend of mine who didn't get a letter there until almost April (I think at UNC, and he was promptly deferred). Most of my applications are to places that still insist on hard copies by snail-mail, for whatever reason, so I get all the fun and nervousness that that entails. The nebulous address line on my school's transcript-sending site is unnerving, as is a school not having posted that it's received your GRE scores and transcripts when you sent them a month ago and the deadline is tomorrow. Oh well. I'm just kind of assuming that everything is working out as it's supposed to and trying not to think about it, because it's out of my hands at this point.