Near Eastern Studies 2011

[harikagirl]

Hi, I just wanted to add that if you search the forum using the name "MEALAC" (instead of MESAAS, which is kind of a new name), it does appear several of the rejection/acceptances announcements in past years. I saw that yesterday several users posted their rejections. I haven't received mine yet, but I am not too hopeful. I wish the best of luck to those who get (or got) accepted, and everybody in general :-)

[ehpurefoy]

So, I got a rejection in letter format from Chicago MA CMES. And just now I got an email from the department to "confirm" my offer of admission. Really, Chicago? Really? DON'T TOY WITH ME!

[katemiddleton]

Yes, for chicago I never got a letter-neither acceptance or rejection-and all of a sudden Paul Walker emails me on the 'details of my acceptance;' so I called the secretary and she confirmed admission. You might want to call the school!

[wannabee]

Hi, I just wanted to add that if you search the forum using the name "MEALAC" (instead of MESAAS, which is kind of a new name), it does appear several of the rejection/acceptances announcements in past years. I saw that yesterday several users posted their rejections. I haven't received mine yet, but I am not too hopeful. I wish the best of luck to those who get (or got) accepted, and everybody in general :-)

Thanks for the tip! I should have remembered the name change, since I did search both websites when I applied. Still, I didn't see any acceptances for the doctoral program...there is just one PhD waitlist for 2009, and that was notified by phone. Most people applying for the doctorate mentioned being admitted instead for the MA, generally without funding.

I am guessing that the numbers admitted to Columbia MESAAS are quite small and perhaps entering directly for the PhD is rare. If anyone has additional information on admissions, I would be curious.

On paper, it looked to be a great match. Now I am anxious to learn my fate and finalize plans for next year.

*****

Many congrats for the Chicago admits!

Edited March 11, 2011 by wannabee

[samarkand]

Columbia has an entering PhD class of two only (at least for 2010). The rest are MA students.

[Orfeo]

Does anybody know anything about NES at Cornell?

I am interested in the modern Middle East, specifically Egypt. It seems there are three experts on faculty (Z Fahmy, DS Patel, and D Starr). I was attracted to the program because it is rare to find one expert on modern Egypt among a faculty, let alone three, but Cornell was not my first choice. They are all Assistant Profs and in the case of two of the three, have received their PhDs in the last 5 years. The faculty and current candidates have certainly been very enthusiastic and available in recruiting me, which I imagine is an important thing to get from a program.

My only concern is, while this is a great financial offer, it is my only offer. I don't want to be forced into going somewhere because it is my only choice, especially when I am only two years removed from my bachelor's and I feel like I could do a better job on my applications next year (only applied to 4 schools this year, could have spent more time on them, etc.). I know Cornell is a great school and I'm sure I could get good training in methods and languages, but I wonder if a more veteran and established special committee could be the difference between getting placed or not when I come out of school.

Edited March 12, 2011 by Orfeo_Kyle

[wannabee]

Does anybody know anything about NES at Cornell?

My only concern is, while this is a great financial offer, it is my only offer. I don't want to be forced into going somewhere because it is my only choice, especially when I am only two years removed from my bachelor's and I feel like I could do a better job on my applications next year (only applied to 4 schools this year, could have spent more time on them, etc.). I know Cornell is a great school and I'm sure I could get good training in methods and languages, but I wonder if a more veteran and established special committee could be the difference between getting placed or not when I come out of school.

Congratulations on the acceptance!

I would be careful about turning down a fully funded offer for the doctorate at this point. Things seem quite tight, not so much for the MA but if you are trying to get into a PhD program. I have heard horror stories about people who turned down packages for the PhD and did not get in the next round. At the same time, there are people whose results definitely improve.

I can not speak with any knowledge about job placement from Cornell. If you have been admitted there, they should be able to address that...both in terms of examples of placement and rough figures for overall placement.

Could you look up the credentials of the assistant professors? Do they have books coming out? That might give you some idea on the likelihood of tenure. Some folk have suggested that, in some cases, it is better to work with an associate rather than a full professor. An associate is still trying to make their reputation and will be more active publishing and in terms of other involvement.

I am also interested in Egypt but will probably go the poli sci/comparative route once the dust clears.... But I am no expert in this area and perhaps someone else has more information.

Edited March 12, 2011 by wannabee

[katemiddleton]

hey guys! So I had a quick question- I've been accepted to the harvard divinity school on a presidential scholarship (full tuition +10,000) for an MA in Islamic studies, and also to the Georgetown arab studies MA program on a full scholarship, but nothing extra. Although the offer from harvard is extraordinary, and I am humbled by it, Georgetown was my dream school, and the faculty fit at georgetown is better. I'm not sure what to do; if I reject g-town for the MA does that mean they won't look at me for a PhD? I'm really confused, and I'd love some advice!

[philol]

Hi all,

Any UMich acceptances here? Did anybody hear anything about open house for admitted students at the Near Eastern Studies department? I know they had them in previous years.

I was accepted to the PhD program but wasn't told anything about an open house. I'm an international student and therefore wasn't invited to recruitment weekend either, and did my interviews on skype.

The real question is that I intend to visit campus before making a decision anyway, and was wondering if it were legit to ask them to pay for my hotel? After all, they have never invited me...

Thank you for your thoughts!

[Bunter]

hey guys! So I had a quick question- I've been accepted to the harvard divinity school on a presidential scholarship (full tuition +10,000) for an MA in Islamic studies, and also to the Georgetown arab studies MA program on a full scholarship, but nothing extra. Although the offer from harvard is extraordinary, and I am humbled by it, Georgetown was my dream school, and the faculty fit at georgetown is better. I'm not sure what to do; if I reject g-town for the MA does that mean they won't look at me for a PhD? I'm really confused, and I'd love some advice!

Dear Kate,

It depends on what you want to do. I am finishing an MA at Harvard's CMES, and received a full tuition scholarship + stipend from an external funding source. I can say that paying for an MA is something that I wouldn't recommend in this field, and you are lucky to receive two offers. However living expenses in DC are very expensive.

Having said that, I know some people in the Georgetown program, and I know others who have dropped out of the Georgetown program. I would say that it is a better fit for someone interested in pursuing a policy job, due to its proximity and connections with all of the DC organizations, than Harvard. I think Harvard is better suited for a career in academia, and getting recommendation letters from Harvard faculty should help you get into a good PhD program in political science, or another field, which you might find is a better fit after you do your MA. The latter was the case for me. Having said this, I also think that the hard part about Harvard is getting in, not necessarily doing the coursework or anything else. It is really a bit too laid back for my tastes, and I am going elsewhere for my PhD. My own personal bias is that anyone interested in studying Islam & the Middle East should undertake training that is not limited to the political, because, well, the academic conversations regarding the "politics" of the middle eastern and particularly Arab states are rather shallow intellectually. Once you've taken an undergrad-level course or two on the modern political history and the debates on liberalism, oil economy, political violence, you inevitably turn to hashing through details of causality and agency in the postcolonial period among classes and political actors, which, although important, is being done by many many young scholars these days. Furthermore, many political scientists are also turning into historians of the modern middle east as a result of (1) the lack of cooperation and available data from regional public archives in the middle east [see Yoav Di-Capua's book] (2) hostility towards in-region scholarship from government officials (3) unused archives abroad (4) an insufficiency of scope in political models for explaining regional trends [bob Vitalis]. I think much more useful and critical scholarship is coming out of anthropology and history departments, and particularly those that don't use political lenses of states, economies, and classes, per se. So if academia is a long term goal, I would go to the place that has a better all-around faculty in these areas, not just those with job connections.

i would also add that none of my friends in CMES or the divinity school who are graduating this year and are not going straight into PhD programs have any sort of definite job prospects at this point. A lot of interviews, but no one I can think of has anything inked out. So any of the earlier conversations on this thread about such-and-such a program being a 'dream' school for the purposes of landing a job need to be held up to the cold hard reality of the economy and the fact that at each elite institute with such MA programs, 25+ people a year are 'specializing' in the middle east or Islam with working Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and recommendations from famous scholars. Furthermore, the types of jobs that these programs quality you for aren't high paying ($40,000 is typical) so again I would not go into debt for this degree.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Bunter

[katemiddleton]

thank you bunter! I myself am a historian of Islamic law, but I understand your analysis of the limitations of political science. I'm very discouraged by your evaluation of the job prospects post a Harvard MA in middle-east related fields! I was relatively sure that I would be able to either go into a PhD or get hired by a think tank/NGO after graduation; I'm sad to hear that this may not be so. Would you then say that for post-MA job prospects, Georgetown is a better place? how is the PhD placement at Harvard?

[Bunter]

thank you bunter! I myself am a historian of Islamic law, but I understand your analysis of the limitations of political science. I'm very discouraged by your evaluation of the job prospects post a Harvard MA in middle-east related fields! I was relatively sure that I would be able to either go into a PhD or get hired by a think tank/NGO after graduation; I'm sad to hear that this may not be so. Would you then say that for post-MA job prospects, Georgetown is a better place? how is the PhD placement at Harvard?

I also work on Islamic law, and will be going into a religion department. I am happy with where I ended up, but am sort of surprised that I did not get into a couple of the schools to which I applied. I am not sure if this is due to my general 'fit' or what.

I think the field of political science as it currently exists in the US is somewhat deficient in general for being able to deal with the middle east and people who take religious institutions seriously, so doing an MA in a field concerning the middle east-- that centered on anything other than the predictable and all-too-common security studies or democratization foci-- might not get you the recognition you deserve from a political science admissions panel. There is also a big disconnect between people doing western political philosophy and theory in political science departments and people who are well versed in Islamic studies.

For getting a job at an NGO georgetown might be better, but this is just me thinking out loud. HDS might get you a good job with an NGO like CAIR or a religiously affiliated organization, not sure about Brookings or something like that. On the other hand, find out how many people finish the Georgetown MAAS program per year and assume that at least a quarter of them are trying to get the same jobs as you, there certainly aren't enough to go around. It might be a common thing for people to finish, go into a holding pattern for 12 months and send out resumes like crazy. I would ask to speak to alumnni of the program or students who are finishing currently to see if they have any prospects.

[rnrichards26]

So I got into MA in Middle Eastern Studies at UT-Austin and also at GW-Elliott School. Thing is, I get in-state tuition at UT and possibly funding (they haven't made decisions yet) but I was denied funding at UT. I know UT is a great program academically, especially for Arabic, but GW has a great location and a more professionally oriented program. That said, I'm hesitant to dive into massive debt for a two year degree. Can anyone offer any insight or advice or know anything about these programs? I'd really appreciate it.

[Bunter]

any chance somebody can speak to the reputation of this department?

I don't know the people you refer to who work on the modern stuff, but Powers and Toorwa, who are both big figures in the pre-modern and medieval areas are well respected and are continually putting out good scholarship. Even if you don't work with them primarily, I think as far as secondary advisors go and people to talk to at least on the conceptual level, you might benefit greatly from their input. They are also well connected and I don't think they will be retiring any time soon, which is also something to consider.

[Orfeo]

I don't know the people you refer to who work on the modern stuff, but Powers and Toorwa, who are both big figures in the pre-modern and medieval areas are well respected and are continually putting out good scholarship. Even if you don't work with them primarily, I think as far as secondary advisors go and people to talk to at least on the conceptual level, you might benefit greatly from their input. They are also well connected and I don't think they will be retiring any time soon, which is also something to consider.

Thanks! That is helpful.

So I got into MA in Middle Eastern Studies at UT-Austin and also at GW-Elliott School. Thing is, I get in-state tuition at UT and possibly funding (they haven't made decisions yet) but I was denied funding at UT. I know UT is a great program academically, especially for Arabic, but GW has a great location and a more professionally oriented program. That said, I'm hesitant to dive into massive debt for a two year degree. Can anyone offer any insight or advice or know anything about these programs? I'd really appreciate it.

Unfortunately I can't speak to either of those programs (maybe somebody else on here can), but I can share some general wisdom I have heard from multiple sources: Don't pay for a Master's in this field. Career prospects for people with just a Master's degree are not particularly lucrative, so taking on a lot of debt is a difficult thing to manage. But if your ultimate goal is to get a PhD, there are plenty of opportunities for funded PhDs with just a Bachelor's (earning your MA along the way). You should think about what your ultimate goal is. If it is to work in academia, start down that path by applying for PhD programs. If it is something in government or the private sector, try to get some work experience with your Bachelor's.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Orfeo_Kyle

[Bunter]

Rejections arrived today from UPenn and Columbia. Looks like I'm heading to Duke.

It's been real, thread.

[wannabee]

So I got into MA in Middle Eastern Studies at UT-Austin and also at GW-Elliott School. Thing is, I get in-state tuition at UT and possibly funding (they haven't made decisions yet) but I was denied funding at UT. I know UT is a great program academically, especially for Arabic, but GW has a great location and a more professionally oriented program. That said, I'm hesitant to dive into massive debt for a two year degree. Can anyone offer any insight or advice or know anything about these programs? I'd really appreciate it.

Was this a typo? Did you mean you were denied funding at GW?

[sukidakara]

Rejections arrived today from UPenn and Columbia. Looks like I'm heading to Duke.

It's been real, thread.

Was it via e-mail or post? Columbia I mean. Why haven't I heard anything... They won't even respond to my e-mail

I got my rejection e-mail from UPenn yesterday. Looks like I'm gonna end up in either NYU or GT.

Edited March 16, 2011 by sukidakara

[samarkand]

Rejections arrived today from UPenn and Columbia. Looks like I'm heading to Duke.

It's been real, thread.

Awesome (not the rejections, but that you're heading to Duke). Did you apply to work with Ebrahim Moosa in Religion?

[Bunter]

Awesome (not the rejections, but that you're heading to Duke). Did you apply to work with Ebrahim Moosa in Religion?

Yup.

Got my Columbia rejection yesterday afternoon via email from GSAS. I emailed the department administrator (Jessica something) the day before asking for my decision.

[tt503]

any chance somebody can speak to the reputation of this department?

I know almost all the current grad students in this department and can try to answer some of your questions, though I've only been at Cornell (in a different course of study than NES) for a year. (In fact, if you end up coming to CU, I'll probably meet you at some point...I'm in White Hall every day for Arabic). From what I've seen, the faculty is really helpful since it is a small department (I don't really know anything about Patel, since he teaches more in the government program), but they bring in a lot of speakers for their colloquium series., The program is flexible enough that you can take courses of interest in whatever school you'd like (graduate school, law school, etc) if you and your adviser think it would be suitable. I don't think any of the current students have had any trouble getting accepted to conferences, and as for "job security"...one of the ABD PhDs is working at NYU, and a recent grad of the program is doing a post-doc here at Cornell.

[Ross Thames]

Hey thread,

If there are any of you in the New York City area who would like to meet up for a coffee some time and shoot the breeze about Modern Arabic Literature, Modern Turkish Literature, Middle Eastern Politics/History, or swap Arabic books (I'd swap a Sonallah Ibrahim for a haydr Haydr (I've been trying to get my hands on walimat li-i3shaab al-bahr for ages)), please send me a message. It would be, along with my ny public library card, a nice consolation when my Columbia rejection comes in the mail.

[Ross Thames]

for anyone tired of waiting for their MESAAS admissions decision, you can call Jessica Rechtschaffer at 212-854-6512 and she will tell you over the phone.

[Ya Khasrati]

for anyone tired of waiting for their MESAAS admissions decision, you can call Jessica Rechtschaffer at 212-854-6512 and she will tell you over the phone.

Thanks for the heads up! So I called and spoke to a Lisa and she said that those who were accepted to the Phd have already been notified. Thus, if you haven't been contacted, connect the dots. The MA's are still being considered and will hear by the end of April?! Oh well.

[thattallguy]

Has anyone heard anything about the Georgetown academic year FLAS grants for Arabic yet? The last post on this thread about this award was on March 9...Too soon to be asking again?