Are there any summer research opportunities/internships for undergraduates that will boost their graduate school application?

[ranttila1]

Hello everyone,

 

I am currently a dual enrollment freshmen (HS Junior & College Freshman) who is interested in pursuing a Ph.D in History and going to to become a professor. I would like to first understand what I am getting into so I would like to participate in a summer program or internship at a History Center or similar place. Because I am both a college freshman and a high school student, I could apply to programs that are eligible for both. I don’t have a GPA yet, but I am at an A in all of classes and have a record of being a high achieving academic student. I am also starting independent research with a history professor who is an awesome guy come spring semester, which I hope will help prepare me to write better papers in the future (senior thesis) and provide me experience researching topics.

 

Does anyone know of any programs or internships offered to freshmen in college or high school students? There are so many summer research programs for STEM for both high school and college students, but I’m having a real tough time finding any for History majors. Even if it is not History exactly, any program/internship in the humanities that you know of would be of great help to me.

[Sigaba]

Try expanding your search to include "humanities."

• https://www.pacificu.edu/academics/research/undergraduate-research/get-involved-students/campus-summer-research-experiences/arts-humanities
• https://humsci.stanford.edu/prospective-students/preparing-graduate-school/conducting-research-graduate-school/hs-summer
• https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/323/2013/11/External-Research-Opportunities-Arts-Humanities-SS-Updated-11_2015.pdf

As soon as possible, define your areas/regions/time periods of interest.

• When you apply for graduate school, you'll be competing against students who have had an idea of what they wanted to pursue since they were freshmen and sophomores. 
• Identifying your areas of interest will allow you to search for internship opportunities that may kill two birds with one stone. 

As you work with this professor, do what you can

• to understand how the research you do helps to answer historiographical questions in at least three contexts;
• to read between the lines of what he says to you;
• to work your tail off; and 
• to spend as much time as you can in the stacks.

 

[TMP]

Since you are interested in becoming a professor, you might do your diligence to conduct "informational interviews" with various professors about their jobs.  What is it like? What are the best parts? Worst parts?  What could be improved in academia? How do they have their research funded? (Pay close attention to this one, this is definitely true if you are NOT in an Ivy or wealthy public institution like Berkeley and Michigan) What was graduate school like? (Pay close attention once again how long ago the professor received his/her PhD) How many times did it take to land an assistant professor position? Try to meet with "younger" professors as they will have a better grasp on the "new" realities of the PhD and the job market since the financial crash of 2008.

Since a huge part of the job is teaching (even in a research-intensive university), you might want to look into opportunity to tutor to start developing your teaching persona.

Take the time to read The Professor Is In blog. She has tags for "graduate school admissions" (or something like that)

[ranttila1]

8 hours ago, TMP said:

Take the time to read The Professor Is In blog. She has tags for "graduate school admissions" (or something like that)

I’ve actually read her whole book around five months ago. I was glad that it is so honest about the reality of the academic job market. 

I’ll also make sure to talk to the professor who has agreed to conduct independent research with me about his job and how hard it was to get it. He has been a professor at my university for 7 years so I don’t think he is too old. We will also try and narrow down what kind of topic I will be researching.

How is the job market for Ph.D.’s in early 1800s American History? That is his speciality and I think it is rubbing off on me as well. I know some areas of history have better job placements than others. Are there any graphs out there?

[psstein]

3 hours ago, ranttila1 said:

How is the job market for Ph.D.’s in early 1800s American History? That is his speciality and I think it is rubbing off on me as well. I know some areas of history have better job placements than others. Are there any graphs out there?

Horrific. 19th Century US History is likely the singularly most oversaturated field in the historical profession in the United States. If you are dead set on doing US history of that period, it is in your interest to work with other fields like the history of science/technology/medicine, history of capitalism, environmental history, etc.

I would also just comment that you're not even a true college freshman, and, honestly, the field for academic jobs is likely going to get worse before it gets better. Right now, a huge contingent of PhD graduates, even from top schools, have no chance of having an academic job. Maybe 10-15% of all recently minted PhDs have that opportunity.

The AHA has a jobs report you ought to read, but for whatever reason, my computer won't load it right now.

[ranttila1]

49 minutes ago, psstein said:

Horrific. 19th Century US History is likely the singularly most oversaturated field in the historical profession in the United States. If you are dead set on doing US history of that period, it is in your interest to work with other fields like the history of science/technology/medicine, history of capitalism, environmental history, etc.

I would also just comment that you're not even a true college freshman, and, honestly, the field for academic jobs is likely going to get worse before it gets better. Right now, a huge contingent of PhD graduates, even from top schools, have no chance of having an academic job. Maybe 10-15% of all recently minted PhDs have that opportunity.

The AHA has a jobs report you ought to read, but for whatever reason, my computer won't load it right now.

Sorry I didn’t go further into what I am interested in, but the area that I want to focus in is the history of science in the early 19th century. Not only the history of it, but I want to research how new scientific theories during that time period affected intellectual thought in America and Great Britain as new advances led to the questioning of age old Christian beliefs. Is that considered the history of science or early 1800s American intellectual history? 

Weird question to ask, but what are the top fields in history for job prospects? I have read a wide range of nonfiction that really has piqued my interest, so maybe I could look in other sectors as well. Like you said, I am still quite young so I still have lots of options.

Edit: found the jobs report

https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2019/the-2019-aha-jobs-report-a-closer-look-at-faculty-hiring

Edited September 20, 2019 by ranttila1

[psstein]

1 hour ago, ranttila1 said:

Sorry I didn’t go further into what I am interested in, but the area that I want to focus in is the history of science in the early 19th century. Not only the history of it, but I want to research how new scientific theories during that time period affected intellectual thought in America and Great Britain as new advances led to the questioning of age old Christian beliefs. Is that considered the history of science or early 1800s American intellectual history? 

Weird question to ask, but what are the top fields in history for job prospects? I have read a wide range of nonfiction that really has piqued my interest, so maybe I could look in other sectors as well. Like you said, I am still quite young so I still have lots of options.

Edit: found the jobs report

https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2019/the-2019-aha-jobs-report-a-closer-look-at-faculty-hiring

The questions you're interested in fall under history of science. As I hope you're aware (or becoming aware), there's a huge amount of literature on that topic already, so much so that many historians of science don't really look into it anymore. Broadly speaking, the Crisis of Victorian Faith is thought a settled field. That said, I'm happy to provide you with a short reading list, if you so desire. I assume, perhaps wrongly, that you mean Lyell's geological work and predecessors to Darwin when you mean "new advances led to the questioning of age old Christian beliefs." None of the questions you're interested in are boring, but they are abundantly studied, both in US and UK contexts.

Top fields for hiring? I'll leave that to others. I will say that, based on that graph, this is the worst the academic job market has been since the 1970s.

I will tell you, flat out, that if you want to do the PhD to become a professor, don't do it.

[ranttila1]

16 minutes ago, psstein said:

The questions you're interested in fall under history of science. As I hope you're aware (or becoming aware), there's a huge amount of literature on that topic already, so much so that many historians of science don't really look into it anymore. Broadly speaking, the Crisis of Victorian Faith is thought a settled field. That said, I'm happy to provide you with a short reading list, if you so desire. I assume, perhaps wrongly, that you mean Lyell's geological work and predecessors to Darwin when you mean "new advances led to the questioning of age old Christian beliefs." None of the questions you're interested in are boring, but they are abundantly studied, both in US and UK contexts.

Top fields for hiring? I'll leave that to others. I will say that, based on that graph, this is the worst the academic job market has been since the 1970s.

I will tell you, flat out, that if you want to do the PhD to become a professor, don't do it.

The idea I had was looking at how the theory of glaciation by Louis Agassiz was reacted to by intellectuals and how it was molded to fit Christian beliefs. 

If not a PhD, what do you recommend for someone who absolutely loves nonfiction and the attainment of knowledge. I have read 222 books in the past years (crazy for me too), 95% nonfiction, and absolutely love the depth that you can go with any topic of your interest. I am fascinated by biology, psychology, history, and so much more. What other options do I have if I want to get as in depth with a topic as all of these great authors have other than a PhD?

I am also considering a PhD in Biology: is the job market better for professors in that area? See my other post for my dilemma:

 

 

[Sigaba]

 I think that it is important to give aspiring historians materials that will enable them to make informed decisions to reach the goals they define.

While our individual experiences (both the ups and the downs) absolutely should inform the guidance we provide, I don't know if it is particularly helpful to privilege our own experiences.

No one reading any thing ever posted in this forum will face a tougher job market than the women and men who redefined professional academic history in the previous century. 

The ongoing crises of the profession will remain unresolved if we actively seek to discourage/dissuade/divert others.

The $0.02 of a member who was told over a coffee You might have gotten [an academic] job if you were born in the 1950s...Maybe. 

YMMV.

[psstein]

52 minutes ago, ranttila1 said:

The idea I had was looking at how the theory of glaciation by Louis Agassiz was reacted to by intellectuals and how it was molded to fit Christian beliefs. 

If not a PhD, what do you recommend for someone who absolutely loves nonfiction and the attainment of knowledge. I have read 222 books in the past years (crazy for me too), 95% nonfiction, and absolutely love the depth that you can go with any topic of your interest. I am fascinated by biology, psychology, history, and so much more. What other options do I have if I want to get as in depth with a topic as all of these great authors have other than a PhD?

I am also considering a PhD in Biology: is the job market better for professors in that area? See my other post for my dilemma

Okay, again, I want to highlight how few people still work on science and religion, or American science. It's sad, but it's the nature of the field right now. I know a guy who finished a science and religion dissertation recently, and he's had an incredibly tough time of the academic market. It's work that needs to be done, but it's not frequently done anymore.

What I'd strongly recommend is going to college (i.e. graduate high school and fully immerse yourself), then investigating your interests through formal coursework. You may find that you're not as interested in things as you thought you were. I went to college with the intention of becoming a physician. It turned out that, despite the fact I found chemistry and biology really interesting, I absolutely hated them as academic subjects. I just didn't find the ionic bonding of two obscure molecules engaging.

Whether that leads to a PhD or not is not clear. The academic job market for life and medical sciences is not good. However, unlike the humanities. PhDs in the sciences have readily identifiable alternatives.

[psstein]

2 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

 I think that it is important to give aspiring historians materials that will enable them to make informed decisions to reach the goals they define.

While our individual experiences (both the ups and the downs) absolutely should inform the guidance we provide, I don't know if it is particularly helpful to privilege our own experiences.

No one reading any thing ever posted in this forum will face a tougher job market than the women and men who redefined professional academic history in the previous century. 

The ongoing crises of the profession will remain unresolved if we actively seek to discourage/dissuade/divert others.

The $0.02 of a member who was told over a coffee You might have gotten [an academic] job if you were born in the 1950s...Maybe. 

YMMV.

I agree with some qualifications. The profession is currently in crisis, in part, because the model for training graduate students is broken. The current model depends upon taking intelligent, capable people, promising them the moon, and then exploiting them as cheap labor for 6-9 years. 6-9 years is on the low side, if any of these newly minted PhDs choose to become adjuncts. Given that the humanities are in retreat practically everywhere, even at the top R1s, it is completely irresponsible to encourage students to go to graduate school with the goal of becoming professors. Accordingly, it's also worth warning people with that goal of the brutal future of the profession and the current trends, which don't paint a good picture for any sub-field.

When I was a junior in college, not all too long ago, I told my professors (at a very well-known East Coast college), that I wanted to go to grad school. With one exception, they all told me "don't do it."

[TMP]

1 hour ago, ranttila1 said:

The idea I had was looking at how the theory of glaciation by Louis Agassiz was reacted to by intellectuals and how it was molded to fit Christian beliefs. 

If not a PhD, what do you recommend for someone who absolutely loves nonfiction and the attainment of knowledge. I have read 222 books in the past years (crazy for me too), 95% nonfiction, and absolutely love the depth that you can go with any topic of your interest. I am fascinated by biology, psychology, history, and so much more. What other options do I have if I want to get as in depth with a topic as all of these great authors have other than a PhD?

I am also considering a PhD in Biology: is the job market better for professors in that area? See my other post for my dilemma:

 

 

How about going into journalism? There's nothing wrong with doing those things as a hobby as well. Finish up college and see where things stand in your life and the academia.

[ranttila1]

On 9/20/2019 at 1:58 PM, TMP said:

How about going into journalism? There's nothing wrong with doing those things as a hobby as well. Finish up college and see where things stand in your life and the academia.

Are there good paying jobs in science writing? I’m talking about someone who writes books or articles about the history of science and has the ability to weave it into an amazing story. I love reading books like (I love reading in general), and also enjoy writing with great rhetoric, but I’m worried that such a career would have dismal pay. 

[psstein]

Just now, ranttila1 said:

Are there good paying jobs in science writing? I’m talking about someone who writes books or articles about the history of science and has the ability to weave it into an amazing story. I love reading books like (I love reading in general), and also enjoy writing with great rhetoric, but I’m worried that such a career would have dismal pay. 

Yes, there are. I know several who work for the government and make a good salary. Scientists are, in general, awful at writing.

[OHSP]

On 9/20/2019 at 2:58 PM, TMP said:

Finish up college and see where things stand in your life and the academia.

^ this.