Help, Study Abroads for PhD?

[ministerofculture]

Hey everyone,

Quick question. I never had the opportunity to study abroad as an undergrad. I'm now off for a fully funded PhD program at a private university to study American Politics with a focus on law and courts.... i may develop a comparative interest, but right now I'm pretty focused on American Political Development. I realize this doesn't jive with a need to study abroad but I'm curious:

1) Are there any good opportunities for PhD students to "study abroad" even for a short term?

2) Would I basically have to change my subfield or add comparative?

I have no idea, I can't find any info on my schools web site about phd students going abroad. I would even be happy with a summer abroad... any ideas? Fulbright route?

Thanks all.

[polisciphd]

Study abroad for a specialization in American courts? I would say that the reason for study abroad in grad school is not for the experience of living overseas, it is for research. You may want to look into the whole comparative thing, that way you could compare the legal systems of various countries, incl. USA if you wish, and you would have reason to travel abroad.

[UndraftedFreeAgent]

Your ability to, and the value of, studying abroad depends on a few big things.

1. Your specific research interests. Is there something you can do studying abroad that you can't do here? IR or Comparative people often do field research, but I wouldn't consider changing your field unless you want to spend the rest of your life studying that subject.

2. The program to which you've been admitted. I'm willing to bet most programs won't want you to study abroad without a very good reason. Not only can you not take courses from your university when you're abroad, but you're also out of direct contact with your advisors, professors, and colleagues who will not only mentor you, but provide contacts and research opportunities that could make or break your career.

3. Your ability to get external funding (Fulbright, etc). My feeling is that Fulbrights would mostly go to Comparative or IR people, but I don't know much about the process, so don't take my word for it. What I can tell you is that your program will almost certainly not fund the trip if it's not crucial to your studies.

You also may or may not be underestimating the time commitment that grad school will require of all of us. Undergrads enjoy studying abroad because their courseloads are generally arranged to be much lighter than usual. If undergrad required 30 hours of study per week, count on 60+/- hours per week at grad school, if not more. Even Summers in grad school are likely to be rather packed. Most likely, you will be researching, possibly taking a class or two, preparing for exams, or working some sort of job to make ends meet.

I didn't mean that to sound as downbeat and bitter as it probably came out, I'm just bringing up some things that I'm sure have already crossed your mind. If you have a chance to go study abroad or just travel before you begin, then by all means do it, but I can't think of any programs that would really allow us Americanists to study abroad and really get much out of it. If you add Comparative as a second field, then it's an entirely different story. You could also pose your question to one of your profs. No harm in asking.

[polisciphd]

Oh, Fulbrights are awarded because of research interests. You have to argue that it is worth their money to send you to x place. You don't just apply and say I want to go because I think it would be cool.

[silencio1982]

one thought - you might be able to go abroad in the summer to do some language study... most PhD programs require knowledge of at least one foreign language. i'm not sure what the situation is if you're an americanist though... and it depends on what language you want to study as far as how hard it is to get funding goes. i definitely think you might be able to do some comparative work on law and courts, or if you're interested in international law at all you could make the case for going abroad. most people go abroad for fieldwork, not coursework... i think language coursework might be an exception to that rule.

[Quarex]

Firstly, it is true that there is really no need to study abroad, particularly if your interests are in American issues. That said, you could also undoubtedly justify studying abroad in England to analyze Old Bailey/Common Law/etc. records from pre-American periods to see how the development of the American system took hold.

Secondly, I studied abroad at the graduate level in England, which seemed like a great idea to me since my surveillance/security/etc. focus went well with the exploding CCTV proliferation there. That time may well have been better spent, from a research perspective, just staying in America and working harder than usual. Granted, I would not trade my time there for anything, and I somehow managed to get 30 credit hours out of the deal, but it was something surely I would have managed without, as well.

Also, I cannot help but assume the plural is "studies abroad," even though that somewhat distorts the clarity of the phrase. This is clearly important.