Lustforlife

When you start thinking about places to which you might go, don't forget about Taiwan. I know at least one person who had their MA funded by the Taiwanese government. I am not sure what level of language proficiency would be required for the program, but it is at least another option that you might explore.

I can't chime in on the issue about Canadian Universities. All I know is that U of T has probably the best collection of faculty for my field at the moment. In the humanities at the moment, isn't 50% placement above average? I was too lazy to do much of a search, but this article indicates that there are fewer advertised jobs than there are newly minted PhD recipients. http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2010/1001/1001new1.cfm

Regarding the issue about your topic: one of the reasons that I like history is that it is potentially the most inclusive discipline there is (although I'm sure we've all experienced moments where we've felt hemmed in by various institutional requirements). You can work on just about any topic and in almost any time period (historians are apparently even working on the 1990s). If you continue with the airline's topic, you'll need to be cognizant about how you spin it. As other posters have noted, business/industrial history isn't very popular at the moment. My sense is similar. But you don't have to present yourself as a business/industry historian if you don't want to. Your topic could be an interesting project in the history of science. It could relate to a really interesting project on mobility/movement (you might want to read Marc Auge's essay on the passport if this interests you) if you want to take it in an intellectual history direction. The project could relate to the history of tourism (there are a number of projects that I am aware of that have focused on colonial tourism). The politics of building an airport also come to mind (I remember a friend talking about the displacement of people in East St. Louis when they were building an airport there). It sounds like the last topic is similar to the direction you've taken it so far. If you describe the project as one dealing with state/society relations or the history of urban development (maybe relate it to some David Harvey's writings), I think people could get interested in your topic. I am sure that there are many other avenues where you could take this topic.

Finally, you mention language as a limiting factor. However, you can also think of it as something in your favor. You will (presumably) be doing research in your native language. This will give you a leg up on the majority of your peers, who will be conducting research in their second/third language. While you first year or so of grad school will undoubtedly be difficult, you will hopefully become more confident and comfortable in English over time. In my program at least, most of our foreign grad students seem to need a year or so before they feel really confident in English. By the time they complete the PhD, all seem pretty comfortable with English.

I can't chime in on the issue about Canadian Universities. All I know is that U of T has probably the best collection of faculty for my field at the moment. In the humanities at the moment, isn't 50% placement above average? I was too lazy to do much of a search, but this article indicates that there are fewer advertised jobs than there are newly minted PhD recipients. http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2010/1001/1001new1.cfm

Regarding the issue about your topic: one of the reasons that I like history is that it is potentially the most inclusive discipline there is (although I'm sure we've all experienced moments where we've felt hemmed in by various institutional requirements). You can work on just about any topic and in almost any time period (historians are apparently even working on the 1990s). If you continue with the airline's topic, you'll need to be cognizant about how you spin it. As other posters have noted, business/industrial history isn't very popular at the moment. My sense is similar. But you don't have to present yourself as a business/industry historian if you don't want to. Your topic could be an interesting project in the history of science. It could relate to a really interesting project on mobility/movement (you might want to read Marc Auge's essay on the passport if this interests you) if you want to take it in an intellectual history direction. The project could relate to the history of tourism (there are a number of projects that I am aware of that have focused on colonial tourism). The politics of building an airport also come to mind (I remember a friend talking about the displacement of people in East St. Louis when they were building an airport there). It sounds like the last topic is similar to the direction you've taken it so far. If you describe the project as one dealing with state/society relations or the history of urban development (maybe relate it to some David Harvey's writings), I think people could get interested in your topic. I am sure that there are many other avenues where you could take this topic.

Finally, you mention language as a limiting factor. However, you can also think of it as something in your favor. You will (presumably) be doing research in your native language. This will give you a leg up on the majority of your peers, who will be conducting research in their second/third language. While you first year or so of grad school will undoubtedly be difficult, you will hopefully become more confident and comfortable in English over time. In my program at least, most of our foreign grad students seem to need a year or so before they feel really confident in English. By the time they complete the PhD, all seem pretty comfortable with English.

I think that calling would be a bad idea. A potential student appearing to be too needy/anxious can be a big red flag. I mean, we all really are needy and anxious and good advisers are willing and able to help you through the worst of these episodes. Nevertheless, they want to be reasonably confident that you are not going to overburden them. I would suggest that you take a breath, wait for these people to reply to you (remember also that younger people, who have spent most of their lives in the digital age, have different expectations about what constitutes a reasonably response time) and apply anyways even if you don't hear back from them.

I think that calling would be a bad idea. A potential student appearing to be too needy/anxious can be a big red flag. I mean, we all really are needy and anxious and good advisers are willing and able to help you through the worst of these episodes. Nevertheless, they want to be reasonably confident that you are not going to overburden them. I would suggest that you take a breath, wait for these people to reply to you (remember also that younger people, who have spent most of their lives in the digital age, have different expectations about what constitutes a reasonably response time) and apply anyways even if you don't hear back from them.

This is an excellent post.
Another thing to consider would be spending a few years abroad. Try working in France for a few years. Perhaps this is easier in Asia, where English teaching jobs abound, but it is another thing you can do to at least look into. If you are interested in French colonialism, you could probably go to Vietnam or Morocco without too much trouble.

This is an excellent post.
Another thing to consider would be spending a few years abroad. Try working in France for a few years. Perhaps this is easier in Asia, where English teaching jobs abound, but it is another thing you can do to at least look into. If you are interested in French colonialism, you could probably go to Vietnam or Morocco without too much trouble.

People drop out of graduate programs all the time. The university will not hold you liable. Your advisers might be disappointed, but shouldn't hold it against as long as you have a valid reason for withdrawing from your program.

Be careful. The availability of RAships and opportunities to work with Professors can vary greatly by campus and department. I am in the humanities (I would imagine that the funding opportunities are somewhat similar to what you will find in the social sciences) at a large state school and I can't imagine how someone would just pick up the amount of money that you have described. At my institution, you would probably have to take out loans to cover the costs of the out of state tuition. Further, most people take classes for their first three years, which would make it extra difficult to pick up that kind of money in your third year.

This does not mean that your situation will be impossible. Every institution is different and it might be feasible to pick up $35,000 at your institution. However, I would strongly suggest that you make every effort to investigate the funding environment on your campus. Hopefully, there will be someone at your potential institution who can explain the financial implications of getting a PhD.

Be careful. The availability of RAships and opportunities to work with Professors can vary greatly by campus and department. I am in the humanities (I would imagine that the funding opportunities are somewhat similar to what you will find in the social sciences) at a large state school and I can't imagine how someone would just pick up the amount of money that you have described. At my institution, you would probably have to take out loans to cover the costs of the out of state tuition. Further, most people take classes for their first three years, which would make it extra difficult to pick up that kind of money in your third year.

This does not mean that your situation will be impossible. Every institution is different and it might be feasible to pick up $35,000 at your institution. However, I would strongly suggest that you make every effort to investigate the funding environment on your campus. Hopefully, there will be someone at your potential institution who can explain the financial implications of getting a PhD.

Laska's post makes a lot of sense to me. This is also how a lot of schools conduct job searches (ie they won't close the file on potential candidates until someone has been hired). While I suppose that anything is possible, I am assuming that no transcript request means that you (by which I mean we) are no longer being considered. I would of course be happy to be proven wrong.

Best of luck to all.