Art History or History?

[Question Asker]

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

I'm a US-based student with a BA in English and several post-bac History and Art History classes under my belt. I'm planning to apply for an MA in one of those two fields, with the ultimate goal of writing academically-informed literary nonfiction. Given my interdisciplinary interests, I’m having a hard time deciding what kind of program to aim for, and I’d be thrilled to get any advice!

I hope to research both the evolution of cities over time (shifting street morphology, social classes of citizens, etc.), and evolving conceptualizations of history over time (examining both the texts of historians and material culture). I realize these sound like two separate topics, and I understand that my thesis will need a more precise focus (perhaps one city from the Late Medieval to Early Modern periods). Before that, though, I would like to study a range of eras and disciplines as I integrate and narrow my topic. I’ve tried to get that broad range as a post-bac student, but I’m finding both architectural and intellectual history classes hard to come by, and it’s getting a bit expensive to keep this up without working toward a degree.

In my thesis, I hope to interpret my research according to aesthetic criteria. I’m particularly interested in the concept of the sublime, though there’s a lot I have yet to learn about aesthetic theory. My sense is that this method lends itself more to Art History than History – is that accurate?

I’m also curious if either History or Art History is more nurturing to aspiring literary nonfiction writers. I’m excited to do scholarly writing and research in the program, but some support for my later career goals would be wonderful.

Thank you!

Edited August 6, 2022 by Question Asker

[AP]

On 8/6/2022 at 5:03 PM, Question Asker said:

I’m also curious if either History or Art History is more nurturing to aspiring literary nonfiction writers. I’m excited to do scholarly writing and research in the program, but some support for my later career goals would be wonderful.

Thank you!

Based on your post, it seems you haven't dived into what entails to do a PhD in History. Doing a PhD with a focus in medieval/early modern cities would require you come in with specific language proficiency. Additionally, a doctoral dissertation demands extensive archival research, broadly construed. While I applaud PhDs who write nonfiction (and I know many), the PhD doesn't train to do that. Do you want to spend 6+ years training for something you don't want to do? 

May I suggest: 

• Looking into Liberal Arts/Interdisciplinary programs?
• A master's?
• Thinking what the PhD (in whatever discipline) will add to your career goals?
• Reading historians that have written nonfiction, "popular" books? 

My two cents.

[Question Asker]

1 hour ago, AP said:

Based on your post, it seems you haven't dived into what entails to do a PhD in History. Doing a PhD with a focus in medieval/early modern cities would require you come in with specific language proficiency. Additionally, a doctoral dissertation demands extensive archival research, broadly construed. While I applaud PhDs who write nonfiction (and I know many), the PhD doesn't train to do that. Do you want to spend 6+ years training for something you don't want to do? 

May I suggest: 

• Looking into Liberal Arts/Interdisciplinary programs?
• A master's?
• Thinking what the PhD (in whatever discipline) will add to your career goals?
• Reading historians that have written nonfiction, "popular" books? 

My two cents.

Thank you for your reply. I specified in my question that I'm deciding between MA programs, not PhD programs. Specifically, I mentioned that I'm trying to determine if the field of History or Art/Architectural History would be a better fit for my interests and aims. 

If anyone knows about specific Liberal Arts / Interdisciplinary programs that might be a good fit, I'd be interested to hear about those as well. From forum post and info session, I've gotten the impression that it's not easy for students in such programs to attract faculty mentors or otherwise get the full MA experience, since most faculty are primarily focussed on the students in their own departments. But I'm all ears if others know different!

[AP]

8 hours ago, Question Asker said:

 I specified in my question that I'm deciding between MA programs, not PhD programs.

Agh, my bad. I glided through that sentence. Sorry.

[JMAurelius]

I wonder whether, instead of history vs art history, it would be better to find scholars whose research interests match yours and whom you would like to work with, and then just apply to whichever program they are currently at.  In some schools, a faculty might belong to two or more departments.  For instance, a Byzantine art historian might be a faculty member of the Classics and the Art History Departments.  So perhaps what the program is called is not quite as important as the faculty you can work with?  In any case, best of luck!

[Question Asker]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:53 PM, JMAurelius said:

I wonder whether, instead of history vs art history, it would be better to find scholars whose research interests match yours and whom you would like to work with, and then just apply to whichever program they are currently at.  In some schools, a faculty might belong to two or more departments.  For instance, a Byzantine art historian might be a faculty member of the Classics and the Art History Departments.  So perhaps what the program is called is not quite as important as the faculty you can work with?  In any case, best of luck!

Thanks so much for the wonderful suggestion! I'm taking this advice right now and it seems to be fruitful.