Hi all,
I've been lurking the past few days while really digging into grad school research, and I decided to join in hopes of getting some advice.
I will be an undergraduate senior this fall, and am looking to apply to dual library science and history master's programs for fall 2013. My concern is this: I currently go to an accredited, but very non-traditional public liberal arts college that offers most courses in the form of integrated 16 credit programs and has no majors or prescribed curriculum. I did transfer here as a junior, having earned my AA at a community college, so my foundation resembles the more traditional general requirements. While I've really thrived in this unconventional setting, history tends to be integrated into programs rather than presented as its own thing, and last year I took programs focusing on political science, public policy, and education; this leaves me feeling under prepared for graduate level history study. (For what it's worth, I did take three courses of world history in CC and have studied ancient history and methodology on my own, so I'm not grabbing at history in the dark.)
One of the flexibilities my college offers is support for designing my own coursework, and I want to take advantage of it this next year to prepare myself as well as possible for my graduate school ambitions. I know that I need to produce something I can use as a writing sample that demonstrates my grasp on historical research and writing, but I am less sure about what specific skills and knowledge sets I should aim to develop. Particularly for those in history MA (or PhD) programs now, what skills and knowledge sets do you find are essential? What specifically should I make sure I learn and do to be prepared for graduate history work? What would you do if given the freedom to design your coursework in undergrad to prepare for graduate study?
I also spoke with my college library's archivist, and he offered to sponsor an internship for me in the library, particularly to work on an archival project for him, something that would ultimately go out into the world bearing my name. This sounds like an incredible opportunity, not only to become more familiar with positions in the library and where I might see myself working, but to have published work I can point to. If I were to do this in the fall, then it's something I can include in my applications. Would it be worth pursuing the library internship, leaving only winter and spring to study history? Is there anything in particular here I should make sure to learn or experience?
I also have to consider language study; I do not yet have a language I can claim any proficiency in. My college is offering French, German, and Japanese this year, all of which I am interested in learning. My partner thinks German would be the most useful to history generally, but I'm leaning toward French. (I took Japanese in HS and really enjoyed it, so it'd be easy to pick back up.) Would it be better to begin a language this year instead of waiting for grad school? If so, which language should I consider taking? I'm more interest in global/ transnational/ comparative perspectives in history, and I don't know exactly what I'd choose if forced to specialize, so it's more difficult to choose a language based on regional interest.
My final concern is in regards to being forced to specialize. At least one school I'm looking at, UMD, supports global/transnational study, but others do not. At what point would I need to make a decision about what to specialize in, if forced to narrow in geographically, temporally, and/or thematically?
My interest in this dual degree is to work either in archives/ rare books/ special collections or academic librarianship. I would also consider getting a PhD in history later on to become a professor and do research. I like the idea of doing an MA first not only to feel better prepared because my undergraduate study will be less than if I had a prescribed curriculum, but also in case I don't go on to a PhD program.
Finally, anyone who has done/ is in/ is also looking at dual MLIS and history MA, I would love to hear about your experiences and considerations in your own process, and what you are planning to do with it!
Thank you for taking the time to consider my questions!
