RevolutionBlues

Ack, Washington, but you were such a good fit! Congrats to everyone who got good news last week and good luck to everyone hoping for good news this week.

Perhaps, but I'd prefer not to tell myself that emailing POIs can bring results faster. That is a dangerous path I'd rather not tread.

UW (or an errant poster) just ruined my plans for a relaxing evening.

Hang in there, Sandy!

I was wondering this exact same thing. Given the size of the program and GC participation rates it might be possible that they have already sent out all of their acceptances and only two posted, but I'm still guarding a flickering hope.

Good luck today everyone!

I wanted to post a note saying that we need to quit breaking GC, but the screen kept telling me the server was too busy.

American History R_Escobar (20th century, American Indian), crazedandinfused (antebellum, intellectual), hopin'-n-prayin' (southern, religious), stevemcn (transnational), Simple Twist of Fate (early American) European History Kelkel (Modern Germany, political), goldielocks (Britain), SapperDaddy (Eastern and Central Europe), kotov (Modern Romania, Holocaust, labor), RevolutionBlues (Modern Western Europe/France labor and leftist politics) African History Oseirus, Singwaya18, Safferz Latin American History teachgrad (20th century, Southern Cone), BH-history East Asian History alleykat Near/Middle Eastern History uhohlemonster Atlantic World sandyvanb Jewish History uhohlemonster, hopin'-n-'prayin, kotov (Holocaust) Others???

Any of you Africanists care to claim the Emory admit? Congratulations to whoever it is!

Some schools keep previous theses on file in the library, though you may need permission to view them.

Did other Emory applicants receive the FinAid email? I wish schools would coordinate between admissions and FinAid better so their applicants wouldn't have heart attacks finding that school's email address in their inboxes.

Rejected from Berkeley. Pretty devastating since my partner is in graduate school there. This weekend is going to suck.

Last year a new thread was started for people with multiple acceptances to struggle their way through the difficult decision process in a more esoteric setting.

Congratulations GloFish! That sounds like an awesome program I'm sure you'll love.

My guess is that there will be a Cal massacre.

Russian and Eastern European History. The annoying part is that the FLAS office just contacted me last week to say that they had been in touch with the department and wanted another LOR addressing language abilities.

I also applied to a MA at Indiana and just received a rejection, so I am assuming they're doing both at the same time.

Being in a vastly different time zone for this process sucks. Just as I'm going to sleep the results board starts ticking but I can't check my email all night. Then I wake up to all these new pages to read trough on the forum. Finally, I keep irrationally checking my inbox all day here, even though I know no self respecting POI is going to email me at 3AM their time. Grrrr.

Congrats to the Cal admits. Does anyone want to claim it and, if so, could you clarify whether the email was from the department or a POI? Thanks!

Just checked Wisconsin and it says: "Your program has recommended you for admission. The graduate school will be reviewing your file. Please refer to this page for updates." this is my third cycle applying to graduate programs and after 9 rejections over the last 2 years I now have a tentative acceptance at one of my top choices! Even if it doesn't come with funding just making it this far has me ecstatic. Best of luck to everyone and check that page!

Albert Parsons, who entered history as one of the Haymarket Martyrs in the fight for the 8-hour day, also fought in the very last battle of the American Civil War after joining the Confederate cavalry at 15. He was also very successful at getting black candidates elected to office in Texas immediately after the war until death threats forced him out of the state and into several years of journalism steaming up and down the Mississippi before finally landing in Chicago and fully embracing anarchism, this time undeterred by the reaulting death threats that were eventually carried out by the state executioner.

I agree with SapperDaddy that it is difficult for somebody who hasn't experienced war to be able to fully sympathize with its participants. I chose to briefly include my military service, partially because I accept the saying that the best training for a historian is a trip around the world so they can better empathize with historical actors, and partially because it was my military experience that shaped my interest in and within the field of history as Ticklemepink said. I also worried that some academics may harbor anti-military sentiments, or rather make assumptions about the type of people who serve, and so balanced it out by also briefly mentioning involvement in social justice activity that would more directly aid my understanding within my particular interests.

Heart of Darkness and The Age of Capital for me.

I figured it was about time I contributed my fair share to this thread since I've been following it so much. Undergrad Institution: A small, regional state school with about 6000 students, primarily first generation and nontraditional. Strong science and fine arts programs, but not noted for history. Major(s): History Minor(s): Economics GPA in Major: 3.97 Overall GPA: 3.85 (3.98 in last half) Position in Class: No ranking, but within the top 5-10 percent Type of Student: Straight, white, middle-class male OEF veteran GRE Scores (revised/old version): V: 630 (91%) Q: 710 (72%) W: 5.0 (87%) Languages: French-reading proficient and decent verbal communication skills; Spanish-reading proficient but limited verbal skills Research Experience: Conducted a yearlong honors thesis researching pre-WWI socialist economic theory Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Still only recipient of University Honors and Honors in History, merit award, PAT, PKP, ODK Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 1 year as an AmeriCorps working in university administration to bridge the gap between town and gown by getting students more involved in local governmental and anti-poverty efforts, including designing service based learning opportunities for some professors Special Bonus Points: Maybe as a veteran who also has experience working with labor organizations, nonprofits, political groups, and municipal government? Research Interests: European labor and leftist movements from 1870-1940. Applying to Where: Modern European programs at U of Washington, Portland State, U of Oregon, UC Berkeley, U of Southern California, U of Wisconsin, Indiana U, U of Maryland, and Emory. Letters of Recommendation: One prolific and well regarded economist, two historians who are somewhat important in their very limited subfields, though probably not know more generally. All very positive, though. Statement of Purpose: I used my statement of purpose to explain how I became dedicated to history, what exactly I want to study, how my academic and extracurricular experience has prepared me for this path, and why the particular program would be a good fit in terms of its organization and faculty. Writing Sample: The first couple of chapters from my senior thesis, beefed up to have a stronger claim and non-English language sources. Communication with POIs: Emailed every professor I was interested in working with after reading at least one book and several articles by them. About half wrote back extensive responses and opened dialogue, including one meeting, with a few even offering to read over my SOP. Of the other half, a few were encouraging but terse, a few very discouraging, and a few didn't respond at all. Lessons Learned from Application Process: I think the biggest thing I've learned, this being my third time applying, is to take the time to figure out exactly what it is you want to study, why it is important, what is being done in that area and who is doing it, and how you want to contribute. Explain it to as many people as you can make sit still until you have whittled it down to a concise and crystal clear explanation. And then cross your fingers.

As someone looking to study the history of working class movements, I am very interested in this thread and would like to throw in my two cents. First, I agree with some of the other posters that historians can never achieve complete objectivity, nor do I think it would be desirable to do so. Our own beliefs can lend us passion in pursuing history and our own experiences can give us deeper insight, empathy, and understanding with our subjects. I am proud to have participated in the Occupation and hope I will become a better and wiser historian for it. Second, this beneficial subjectivity must be recognized by historians and continuously presented as a disclaimer to themselves and others. History conducted with specifically ideological ends in mind is little more than vulgar propaganda. Third, it is too early to either lionize or dismiss the movement as an item of historical interest. Historians (unlike many social sciences) have the luxury of time; the Chartists started small and took a decade to achieve their aims, while the Bolsheviks were a joke at the turn of the century but by the end of 1917 nobody was laughing. There is simply no way to tell right now whether this will be an insignificant blip on the historical radar or the beginning of global revolution. In short, hindsight may be 20/20, but foresight is legally blind. Finally, I fully believe that historians have a role to play in the Occupation. That is not to say that we should, as others have expressed fears of, conduct historical studies for the purpose of justifying our present political positions. However, we should use our knowledge of what has (or more importantly has not) worked for social and political movements in the past to help inform and guide OWS. We must use our expertise to help explain how the present system came to be and why. We have a duty to give back to the society that has trained us as historians by taking our scholarship out of academia and to the people who fund our studies in a relevant way.