Herbie

Yikes! And totally appropriate emoji.

I was a first-time applicant for the 2017-2018 application season and began writing my statement in February 2016. Prior to that, I had already established contacts for institutional affiliation. So by the time May arrived, I was on my second draft already. I think the best process is to know what you can do to kick yourself in the ass to produce a solid, clear and convincing statement. My writing generally has lots of inactivity, so starting early was my best decision. I also attended my Uni's Fulbright info session and met with the Fulbright advisor with my second draft once. That helped build a familiar rapport where I took critiques less personally during the internal submission process. That said, I am a PhD candidate already, and I'll honestly say I don't know the competition statistics and whether x, y or z person's given more weight for research scholarships. We may be more competitve, but I'd assume we're competing with each other more than a recent BA or MA. I'd love to see the figures, though - it could be different. The application process most certainly contributed to clearer proposal writing and I found it invaluable, personally rewarding and it probably helped my other successful applications. Good luck to everyone this 2018-2019 season. Don't let things hold you back unless you must - I'm definitely going to stand out in my host country for lots of identity reasons but this is an experience worth having!

Maybe leverage the Fulbright as a way to ensure future employment if it's a career job? If it's just for wages, take the job and then give them a 2-month notice before you leave. Life happens, make sure you take care of yourself. I don't know if every letter is different, but I had to verbalize to my contact through email that I am accepting the award. I was also given a deadline to do that. The portal's additional information to turn the wheels faster.

May I gently request if we could slow down about the "what to do next" phases, so as to patiently allow the season to roll out for everyone? Those notified far earlier would have made my heart skip too many beats. It's 9AM on my side, daumen gedruckt on my side, and doubling everyone's message to persist through the pain if it occurs!

Gerne, ya'll! Leider nicht Berlin, sondern ich in Frankfurt wohnen wird. Aber wir haben viele Zeit, um in Berlin zu treffen!

Uh, don't die Horb! I mean, that defeats the entire purpose...... Congrats! I also received a happy award letter for independent research in Germany. Germany Fulbrights: after everything calms down and we support the good and bad that comes with application seasons, let's plan in PM for a meetup sometime.

Soooooo.... you want to meet up for a bite or alcohol or something if we're within 1hr of each other? I'll PM you if you're interested! I'm here, too!

I hadn't thought to post until I read the state department news. Given our personal and professional interests, we should be joining others in fighting for the reality we want. Our elders did, our parents did, and our generations can. I'm humbled that life will be a neverending battle for humanity, ethics and morality. I'm attending one of the marches for detainees in the airport. Time to get even more energized and social since walking in the women's march! Hell yeah to those who marched or wanted to, as well! I'll be at my location for others who cannot make it and for others who say it isn't worth it, because it is. I also urge you to call your representatives. It literally takes seconds. I've never practiced bureaucratic protest before, so it will be interesting developing this shrunken muscle of political engagement. I've been able to not focus on the fellowship season by redirecting my energy this way (and other things, like baking ❤).

Congratulations to you too! And your post made me cackle so hard. I'm in the same boat.

I'm not sure! I'm leaning on you @Dilemma1 (edit: & @McGhee, and everyone else) for comfort because I want to be hopeful!

I'm concerned about how Trump's presidency impacts everyone this application season. Senior staff just quit from the Department of State; Trump currently has a hiring freeze for everything but natl security, military and public safety; isolationism stands in stark contrast to the internationalism upon which the program was founded. The good news is Fulbright entities are still congratulating semi-finalists, but that's not warming me at night. Oh, by the way: semi-finalist, research in Germany.

If it's February 1st, count your blessings. I was notified in March as an applicant a couple years ago.

Full disclosure & I'll be frank: learning the language will only reflect positively on you as a scholar and student. Perhaps there are scholarships, but your question is far too general: what field are you, where are you academically, is your pursuit of the degree for working in the country or returning to the US, etc.? Keep re-applying to the DAAD. Apply for a Fulbright. Don't attend graduate study on your own dime if possible, and if you do hopefully you're informed about the returns. Assuming that your 2017-2018 academic season is unfavorable, attend a summer language program, Goethe Institut course. I don't mean to understate the difficulty in learning a language, but you can B1 level in German after Middlebury's intensive language program or good home practice+course-taking. Middlebury provides language study scholarships, too. The time spent looking for English-funded graduate study in Germany could be best spent learning the language. And to try to answer your question, instead of resisting it, perhaps you should re-enroll at your existing college for some complimentary or postgraduate study and attend a study abroad program in Germany. That way you can receive funding from your own school and establish better leads.

Programs that fund their MA students aren't cash cow schools. University of Del treats the financial situation of MA students well. Also look into Tufts University. I attended Boston University for my MA, so if you'd like to chat with me, just let me know. The others I don't know about! If they have a directory, you could e-mail someone at the program. Yep.

Many of the schools at the forefront of program formations of the mid20thc in the Humanities, like sociology, archaeology, African/Asian/Islamic/etc studies programs, have -great- programs for those focusing in what we blanket as "Non-Western" art history programs. Many of thess are, in fact, state schools: UCSB, UTA (Latin/Chicano/a, etc.), University of Michigan, Indiana University, UCB, University of Wisc-Mad, Washington University (German Studies), and the list can actually keep going on. And there are plenty of great private unis like this as well, like Columbia. Many faculty members at well funded universities like Higginbotham @ UV seem to come from such institutions that are accepting more future researchers concerned with identity formation, exclusion, "minority and foreign artists," religious studies, etc. And I would only expect for individuals who have attended a university with a great history of art and target studies program to really put individuals at a better advantage not only for employment, but also networking. "Interdisciplinary," @ its best with complimentary programs and faculty! Anyway, I agree with everyone. If it's a "safety," you really don't want to waste your time or money just going to school because you think you should be in it. Heck, I've heard of some museum interviews where grads who've been cooped up researching and not stepping out into this thing called "world" (... I should start crying) get the can. Grad school is perhaps, a time of divine narcissism (sprinkled with a pleasant personality), and you want to work with who wants to work with you. And being accepted doesn't.. specifically mean that, hence touring the campus and meeting individuals. Best of luck to you.

Hi all! I am attending UT Austin as well. I moved to Austin the 30th of July and am staying in the Hyde Park area, near Black Swan Lagoon (Yoga!!). Joined a few meetup groups, but if anyone wants to walk around UT's campus without taking the official campus tour (OR, if you want to take the official campus tour!!!) please let me know. Also, safety of Hyde Park: I wouldn't walk around after 11PM anywhere, in Boston, Atlanta, or here. Everything's easier with a dog, but we don't want to put their lives in jeopardy for sake of nightwalking, yes? People are nice, but I'm not used to traditional residential areas, so I'd say it doesn't have as much light as I'd want. Where I'm staying, I'm about 8 minutes biking from campus. It's great. Maybe bump into you guys randomly or never. Edit* I am in Hyde Park, fyi.

I went to Valdosta for my first year as a freshman. Are you from the Georgia state area? It's just like Georgia, except smaller, more liberal, few places, one mall so small it's still carpeted, and tons of swamp area. Next to the border of Florida, so you have great advantages in terms of what to do during a break. Cost of living is very cheap, and the area is increasingly young. I'm not sure how many Masters students the programs have, but I wouldn't suggest living on campus if you didn't have to!

The limit for accepting your offer sounds really off. Was this in an official offer letter? Wow.

PM me.

The program I know most about is IFA. That's not saying much either. You need about four courses in bio/chem total, definitely having at least OCHEM 1. Since you'll be identifying material compositions, it makes sense. I would contact the programs too (obvious information). But I would contact them because they may have workshops that cater to a similar group, albeit they certainly will not serve as surrogates for science courses. And honestly? You may be able to knock those out in a summer term! I wish you the best of luck!

How can I make this a productive conversation? TL;DR version at the bottom! Why are more whites applying to programs? I'd say the best response to this is the simple fact that white people are generally still the 'majority' by ~70 percent. Should this matter? Well, that brings up a lot more issues regarding educational opportunity, funding, familial support, no more subsidized loans, school acceptance rates, etc. But should this matter for art history? Regardless of their class, I'm almost certain that there have been major moves towards being a more integrative field; pointing out the "problem" is so easy, figuring out a "solution" is not. And if museums are considered businesses, should we immediately assume that they have to cater to everyone? Well! Their educational programming certainly implies this, but how tenuous is it? RE: Northwestern: the critical race/gender backbone of Northwestern's HAA department never once stood out to me as a "damn the white bourgeois at museums." In fact, I think they're asking the targeted questions about simply what demographics support the art world: there are plenty of non-"white" (quotes, because I'm tired of blanket statements) collectors who don't ever publicize their collection --- and when they do, you get a more democratic sense about art collecting and museum interests -- here's looking at all the work Driskell's done with the Cosby collection! Huey Copeland's discussion with Kobena and Eddie Chambers on Muse's database (Kobena's response is Art History and the Dialogics of Diaspora) rarely bring up this almost stodgy accusation of a "white world" and simply focus more on the terminology used to qualify good things in the art field. Atlanta's done several grassroots "fairs/biennals" that've been tremendously attended by "non-whites." If you're looking for institutional fairs, well, the answer is self-evident -- and we know they don't do anything more than shift and show us the future current of art collecting tastes. Museum of Houston's doing amazing things -- so much money in Texas ya'll. This is why I love the history of art so much. It's the "history" thing that really matters. No one is talking publicly about non-mainstream artists/collectives/symposia/conventions? Do you want specific people to, and who? Why? Why have AFAM colleges severed their colloquia previously offered on targeted art history talks? Is it because they now realize that targeted events don't reach the areas they want to argue against? Is it because of funding? A solid, archival and balanced interpretation of art as art at the time of speaking of art as art is such a wondrous task..... cue Winklemann background romance music. Working at a museum, I have to say that institutional critique only gets so far sometimes (there's even an AH book about it! Alberro and Smithson!) because the curators have similar interests about the art history field. They have to deal with more bureaucracy since they work on the inside. It's unfortunate. Even x-targeted museums like the SMH or AFAM in Cali, or the Jewish Museum (the Jewish museum is AMAZING) deal with the tastemakers, the taste-wanters and the cynics. Actually, I am going to cut myself off now. Too long of a response. TL;DR version: You can question everything, but accusations will CERTAINLY only give you so many bridges to cross! I mean, you could be poor and angry and old, then die and people will find your posthumous work interesting pieces in a seminar.. here's looking at a good 60% of foundational critical theorists! The end.

Before I give a very simple & general example, I do want to say that when you write your statement of purpose and want responses or something, really rely on one person. Too many hands in the pot ruins the dish, because everyone wants their own flavor. Mmm, so, I mean generally people approach SOPs as just statements. The purpose is important. So, when someone says something along the lines of: "I am interested in race and identity," that doesn't say anything. I mean, it alerts readers, but it doesn't answer that question of "why." 1) I am interested in race and identity in the field of the history of art. Boo! Bad sentence. It's fairly simple, but doesn't say why you are interested, what about race and identity interests you, and why the history of art. 2) I am interested in how race and identity affects the creative process of an artist because of -x-. Very simple sentence, not jargony, is declarative and substantial. So what I suppose is best is to avoid declarative sentences, vary your vocabulary, show your understanding about whatever major issues you expect to explore in your graduate studies... for the methodology, I mean you can indicate the interpretive tools you normally use: formalism, semiotics, critical theory, etc. You don't have to explain them, but relate how they have been advantageous to your studies. I'm sorry I'm not providing sentences from my SOP. I remember buddying up with someone in person and finding it hard to alter my language after reading someone else's. Also, I have no clue what has happened to this Art History forum since 2011, but the quips, side-talking and accusations are so underhanded. I'm sorry that people who sincerely just want a support group have to scroll through petty arguments. (from other threads I've visited today in the forum).

It's not silly. You -could- order this: http://www.collegeart.org/directories/ It's a very convenient and very valuable directory. It breaks down information if the school provides it as well: admission statistics, funding, etc. The reason I suggest CAA directories is because it is in print, and you don't have to fuddle with different websites with different information in different areas with different tabs and different colors and di---you get my idea. (Website changes/layouts have driven me CRAZY this school year) You could also see, if the school lists, the amount of students in either MA/PhD programs that are graduating. They'll list thesis (MA theses are becoming less common) titles, dissertation projects. Also look at the type of funding they provide - if they seem to have area-specific funding, that is a good indication as well.

There are very good places in Dorchester, Seatbelt Blue. In fact, there are houses that work more like duplexes in the event that your wife and you don't want to share a space with others. I live in Jamaica Plain as well, but I know several PhD students living in Dorchester who don't experience the general "crime" ethos that people apply to it. I'm not sure where you're headed either, but Jamaica Plain is increasing pretty fast in housing costs. And if you're from NY, you know the whole issue with people talking about safety. I mean, for example, I've tended to the jamaicaplain.patch.com and there's been several killings, house raided for weaponry, it's the home of the drug lab fiasco, there was a dead body floating in the Jamaica Pond... [shrug] Brookline is a good area, but street parking (if you have a car) could be frustrating. A lot of people in my social circle live on the border of Mission Hill and Brookline: Mission Hill is also given the "slum image," so there will be a lot of cheaper spaces with adequate footage, but you're also next to one of the more flush areas in the city. Boston places charge crazy amounts of rent because students make up the majority of the population, and pay rent with loans. It's pretty annoying, actually. It's why everyone is going "across the river" to affordable Cambridge, but in due time, rent will fluctuate again and people will be "returning from that side." If you're going to be at Boston College, I honestly ... would not suggest living in the city for the sake of being in the city. Chestnut Hill has conveniences. The Green line is the worst transit line that Boston has, because it makes so many stops and is the college-student line: undergrads who insist they have money on their cards, etc. Newton is a good option. Also, if you have a dog, your options have now depleted by 60%ish, or you're either going to pay way too much for a shoebox if you want a place in the city. Jamaica Plain is a dog friendly place, Porter/Davis Square in Cambridge/Somerville are as well. Etc.

"There is no formula." After applying to MAs (if I recall, I was admitted to 5/7) and having a chat with my wonderful advisor, I would say that an "exceptional application" is primarily a strong statement of purpose, supportive letters of recommendation, and a solid academic record. So far, I've gone from a state college to a private university. I now how 2/4 admits with full funding in PhD programs. Since I chat with my advisor often, the general interest is a statement of purpose that compellingly frames your interests, methodologies and research experience and thematic resonances your work shares with POIs. I would also suggest prior contact, e-mail (or whatever) with a professor to toss out your general interests. If they have enough time, they'll briefly comment and give a degree of indication as to whether your interests can feasibly fit with the department. There are so many cases: people who get in with perfect GREs, great GPA, great statement & there are individuals who get in with decent undergraduate grades, suitable GREs, but a damn awesome SOP and letters of rec. It's like applying for fellowships--- when someone is reading the only piece that makes you stand out as a human -- you want to grab their attention! But don't be too fluffy (re: embellishing). I do have to say that I approached SOPs differently for my PhD. You want to give them an indication of your dissertation direction, but not enough information where it seems you're determined to do one thing and maybe they cannot foresee wanting to work on that project.