Specializations?

[cheshirey]

American Studies, 1850-present, particularly on sociomusicology of popular music and other pop culture in the media.

[DrOrpheus]

I realize that you have a "two-body" problem but did you ever consider Michigan?

Or UT-Austin?

Yeah, I considered both. UT-Austin looked awesome. Basically, the problem is my hubby's job...he's a doctor in the VA system. We do NOT want him to leave the system because he's got a great pay + benefits + schedule package. Unbeatable, really. He can transfer to another VA but he has to be on a wait list for it, with no time frame...so he could be on a wait list for years if no doctor in his specialty at the desired VA leaves. Not good. If he leaves the VA system he has to go through the process of getting re-licensed for whatever state he wants to move to (expensive and time consuming) and, again, no guarantee that he could get a position at a hospital remotely nearby. Considering he's the breadwinner and my academic patron, I do have to give heavy weight to his opinion. If we have to, I'll apply to more programs next year and we can do a LDM (long distance marriage) but I am not sure I would do well with the distraction of being so far away from him. As far as PhD hopes, that'd be several years in the future where even he admits that his feelings about the VA might change. I'm willing to to a wait-and-see in that regard.

[rsldonk]

Yeah, I considered both. UT-Austin looked awesome. Basically, the problem is my hubby's job...he's a doctor in the VA system. We do NOT want him to leave the system because he's got a great pay + benefits + schedule package. Unbeatable, really. He can transfer to another VA but he has to be on a wait list for it, with no time frame...so he could be on a wait list for years if no doctor in his specialty at the desired VA leaves. Not good. If he leaves the VA system he has to go through the process of getting re-licensed for whatever state he wants to move to (expensive and time consuming) and, again, no guarantee that he could get a position at a hospital remotely nearby. Considering he's the breadwinner and my academic patron, I do have to give heavy weight to his opinion. If we have to, I'll apply to more programs next year and we can do a LDM (long distance marriage) but I am not sure I would do well with the distraction of being so far away from him. As far as PhD hopes, that'd be several years in the future where even he admits that his feelings about the VA might change. I'm willing to to a wait-and-see in that regard.

I understand about the time requirements, but Texas has a lot of VA hospitals. Could he transfer to a straight military hospital? Ft. Hood is not too far from Austin, about an hour and a half. Ft. Sam Houston is in San Antonio and about the same distance in the other direction. Plenty of places where you could live somewhere in the middle. Not sure the rules, but there is a lot of stuff in both areas.

[StrangeLight]

food for thought on your two-body problem which you've probably already considered:

if you ultimately stay in florida for your PhD because of the risk of moving your husband, the breadwinner, to a new region, then he will always be the breadwinner. turning history into a career is difficult enough without any geographical constraints.

[DrOrpheus]

I understand about the time requirements, but Texas has a lot of VA hospitals. Could he transfer to a straight military hospital? Ft. Hood is not too far from Austin, about an hour and a half. Ft. Sam Houston is in San Antonio and about the same distance in the other direction. Plenty of places where you could live somewhere in the middle. Not sure the rules, but there is a lot of stuff in both areas.

Unfortunately military hospitals don't always fall under the VA system. I'm from ND originally, and the Minot AFB has a hospital, but it is not a VA facility. My Vietnam-vet stepdad has to drive to Fargo (5 hours) for medical care. And to address StrangeLight's concern about the future...we've discussed it. A LOT. Much of his reluctance now comes from the potential to have to move every couple of years for the MA, then PhD, then future job, to places unknown. Once some of that uncertainty is diminished I think he'll be more open to moving. If he's not, then I seriously have to reconsider continuing a relationship in which one makes all the sacrifices and reaps no rewards. And I have given that prospect a substantial amount of thought.

[Jdealla]

Unfortunately military hospitals don't always fall under the VA system. I'm from ND originally, and the Minot AFB has a hospital, but it is not a VA facility. My Vietnam-vet stepdad has to drive to Fargo (5 hours) for medical care. And to address StrangeLight's concern about the future...we've discussed it. A LOT. Much of his reluctance now comes from the potential to have to move every couple of years for the MA, then PhD, then future job, to places unknown. Once some of that uncertainty is diminished I think he'll be more open to moving. If he's not, then I seriously have to reconsider continuing a relationship in which one makes all the sacrifices and reaps no rewards. And I have given that prospect a substantial amount of thought.

Have you considered UNC and Duke? I'm not sure about the fit for you but there's a VA hospital in Durham. There's another VA hospital in Fayetteville, which is about 1 hour 30 minutes away from Chapel Hill, but there are pretty places to live where you both would only commute 45 minutes.

[kotov]

One of my professors at Auburn, Dr. Guy Beckwith, is interested in Ancient Greek technology. I know Auburn isn't a very prestigious program, but it is decent for HTS. There are also two VA hospitals within 50 miles; one in Tuskegee (18 mi.) and one in Montgomery (47 mi.).

[DrOrpheus]

Have you considered UNC and Duke? I'm not sure about the fit for you but there's a VA hospital in Durham. There's another VA hospital in Fayetteville, which is about 1 hour 30 minutes away from Chapel Hill, but there are pretty places to live where you both would only commute 45 minutes.

Oh you'd better believe I lobbied hard to apply to UNC-Chapel Hill for the MA, and he agreed, but by the time we finally settled on what to do I only had about 3 days to get everything in and still had to secure 2 LOR's. From what I see on their website and have been told by faculty and peers, they really don't like to take people without an MA though, and my language skills are marginal for starting grad study as it is. So, it tops the list for PhD programs to apply to when I get my MA.

The job thing is just one portion of a very complex set of issues I'm facing in regards to grad school and beyond (both in and out of academia), but I will not get into that on here as it's deeply personal.

And not to offend anybody or disregard good suggestions/advice, but just to put it out there...I did have a list of about 11 schools to apply to at one point, so it's not like I didn't consider any other programs outside of the FL system. Location was second behind fit. These two schools are (honest!) the best fits for my interests, so the fact that they are also in FL make me quite happy. My general discontent stems from a) a desire to hedge my bets a bit by spreading apps across the country, and my UG is the best fit, and I can't stay here for the PhD if I ever want to be taken seriously as an academic.

[Jeppe]

I'm working on early modern Imperial and political history, specifically of the Northern Atlantic from around 1650 to 1776. I am mostly doing comparative work on the British, Dutch, French, Swedish, and Danish empires and state formation.

[LEJ1758]

When we lived in Utah, we had a bumper sticker that read, "Eat, Drink and Be Merry, For Tomorrow You May Be In Utah."

We lived in Moab - the black sheep of Utah due to its low Mormon population. At one time, the state actually pushed legislation for Moab to become part of Colorado.

And to chime in on topic, my primary area of interest is Romani studies, particularly in Eastern Europe. I am also interested in the Yugoslav wars and post-war society. I am finishing my MA thesis this semester on Kosovar nationalism from Tito to the present and how the Roma have fit within the dominant nationalist ideology.

It's rare that I come across somebody with (sort of) similar research interests, or at least area! That is great that you are contextualizing the Roma population within the war as they are way too often forgotten.

My research interests also lie withing Former Yugoslavia, specifically Bosnia. I am concerned with how and why Islam became a marker of identity for the (now) Bosniak people. More than focusing on the precepts of the religion itself, I want to explore the specific shift in identity from Bosnian (Bosanac) to Bosniak (Bošnjaštvo).

[kotov]

It's rare that I come across somebody with (sort of) similar research interests, or at least area! That is great that you are contextualizing the Roma population within the war as they are way too often forgotten.

My research interests also lie withing Former Yugoslavia, specifically Bosnia. I am concerned with how and why Islam became a marker of identity for the (now) Bosniak people. More than focusing on the precepts of the religion itself, I want to explore the specific shift in identity from Bosnian (Bosanac) to Bosniak (Bošnjaštvo).

This sounds like an interesting subject. Since I'm interested in the subject of genocide as a phenomenon, I've read a good bit about Srebrenica. What you're talking about researching seems like something that could help us to better understand events like Srebrenica. Do keep us informed on how that goes.

[kotov]

Also, after talking with a few professors, my research is narrowed down to basically one of two subjects, so I can give a much clearer idea of what I'm going to be looking at.

The first subject deals with Slovakia during WWII, which was a puppet state, still nominally independent, but obviously very much in tune with the Nazi agenda. It was run by a clergyman named Fr. Jozef Tiso. During the war, the Catholic Church was involved with both the fascist government, which actually paid Nazi Germany to deport Slovakia's Jews, and, after it became clear that the Jews were being murdered on a massive scale, the church protested and helped to convince (along with the help of some politics and bribery from Jewish leaders) Fr. Tiso to call for an end to the deportations and make their grievances known to Germany. I want to look at the duality of the Church's role and how it ties into the concept of "clerofascism".

The second subject deals with the cultural memory of the Holocaust in Communist Romania, particularly under Ceausescu. There's a bit of irony to this, as the reason I'm interested in the subject is because of the repression of the memory of the Holocaust, which was largely barred from academic and political discussion, except for one lone scholarly work in 1971. The lack of education on Romania's role in the Holocaust (it directly participated in the killing of more Jews than any nation other than Germany) continued until a commission, led by native Romanian Elie Wiesel, produced a large report on the Romanian Holocaust in 2004. Since 2006, Holocaust denial is illegal in Romania and punishable by 6 months' imprisonment; however, scholarly literature on the Romanian Holocaust is still limited and Ceausescu is a big reason for that (among other problems in Romania).

I know I elaborated way more than anyone cares, and I hope this doesn't end up in my research getting yanked, but if it does, hey, I have at least one backup.

[sankd]

So which one did you put down on your statement?

[kotov]

So which one did you put down on your statement?

The former. I feel like it's a bit less nebulous, and that I've had better luck talking to professors who would work on it with me. There are very few people who work in Romanian history (though it is my first and true love in hsitory), and my overarching interest is more thematic (Holocaust/Genocide) than geographically specific. I can work on the latter topic later on at some point I guess.

[dbritton]

Broadly speaking, my research is on the trans-Appalachian frontier ca. 1500-1800. Within this I am focusing on Native and European interaction and the resulting problem of ambiguity of identity and imperial dominion. I am using frameworks such the "shatter zone" concept and applying methods such as ethnohistory. I'm also quite savvy in GIS and hope to incorporate that into my studies.

As a side note, I am also interested in the advent and evolution of frontier religion and religious experiences, i.e. Second Great Awakening, The Great Revival, the Bell Witch, camp meetings, etc.

[Henry Hudson]

Broadly speaking, my research is on the trans-Appalachian frontier ca. 1500-1800. Within this I am focusing on Native and European interaction and the resulting problem of ambiguity of identity and imperial dominion. I am using frameworks such the "shatter zone" concept and applying methods such as ethnohistory. I'm also quite savvy in GIS and hope to incorporate that into my studies.

As a side note, I am also interested in the advent and evolution of frontier religion and religious experiences, i.e. Second Great Awakening, The Great Revival, the Bell Witch, camp meetings, etc.

great stuff!

[vtstevie]

I'm an Americanist focusing on post-Revolutionary and early Republic US. My MA thesis is about turnpike construction in Vermont and how the debates surrounding them reflect changing attitudes about virtue and private enterprise as the post-Revolutionary generation came of age.

[TaraDanielle]

Broadly speaking, my specialization is Greater Syria in the Middle Ages (particularly during the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt). I focus mainly on cultural/social/intellectual issues.

More narrowly, I am working on a thesis about intellectual relationships in Syria during this time, and how different processes of education fostered relationships that transcended class, race, and sometimes even gender.

[Tabletop Joe]

Broadly, I'm interested in the history of cultural production under Communism in Eastern Europe; specifically, I'm interested in the Czech, Polish, and Soviet film industries and in writer's unions.

[TransnationalHistory]

Wrote my undergrad thesis on the development of the British Boy Scouts in relation to the colonies in Africa and South Asia. I applied mostly to the African field with a secondary interest in Britain/British Caribbean, though for some departments I applied to do Atlantic World. Certain programs peg Atlantic World as just 15th-18th C, which wouldn't work for me.

[RevolutionBlues]

I'm interested in the phenomenon of revolution in modern Europe and its role in shaping the region's history. My undergrad thesis charted the development of socialistic theories of imperialism within the Second International in the quarter century prior to the First World War. However, I am beginning to think my focus may not be adequate to get into grad school, especially since it seems the majority of professors working on this all received their phds in the late-60s/early-70s (mostly at Stanford) and are now retiring out.

[Jeppe]

Wrote my undergrad thesis on the development of the British Boy Scouts in relation to the colonies in Africa and South Asia. I applied mostly to the African field with a secondary interest in Britain/British Caribbean, though for some departments I applied to do Atlantic World. Certain programs peg Atlantic World as just 15th-18th C, which wouldn't work for me.

Interesting topic! Just out of curiosity, which program did you apply for at NYU?

[datroy]

I'll be focusing on guerrilla warfare in the 18th/19th centuries and the way in which the dynamics at the local level between guerrillas/resistance movement and locals, and the way counter-guerrillas respond, affect the ability of the latter to implement its military strategy. I'll most likely focus on the American Revolution in the South. Not terribly surprising that so far I've gotten into schools with military history programs and rejected from those without specific military history programs. Still waiting to hear from UNC, which does have a military history program. We'll see.

[The Dudester]

I'll be focusing on guerrilla warfare in the 18th/19th centuries and the way in which the dynamics at the local level between guerrillas/resistance movement and locals, and the way counter-guerrillas respond, affect the ability of the latter to implement its military strategy. I'll most likely focus on the American Revolution in the South. Not terribly surprising that so far I've gotten into schools with military history programs and rejected from those without specific military history programs. Still waiting to hear from UNC, which does have a military history program. We'll see.

I'm interested to see how your career proceeds. It seems that military history is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, but your work seems more broadly applicable.

[sankd]

I'm interested to see how your career proceeds. It seems that military history is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, but your work seems more broadly applicable.

If you do guerrilla/irregular warfare and tie it to sociocultural things, you can sort-of find a viable niche for yourself. God save you if you are interested in doing operational armored warfare history.

Or gosh. The Civil War.