How many pages per week should I expect to read?

[Nordicllama]

To all of you lucky scholars who have experienced graduate school in history, how many pages a week should I expect to read? I have heard a book per week per class is a good baseline. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Llama

[Sigaba]

There is what you're assigned to read, what you're expected to read, and what you will end up reading.

Assigned reading

In my experience, the assigned readings varied greatly by the type of class. At the upper end, in terms of pages, courses in social history tended to have each week a monograph and up to six or seven articles so that one could get a sense of the historiographical debate in which the monograph is situated. On top of these assignments were book reviews--generally two or three a semester.

Military/diplomatic courses were middle of the pack in terms of assigned books. However, one got to do extra reading for book reviews and class presentations. In my experience, one got to read at least two books for each of three book reviews, and to do what ever additional reading necessary to frame those works in a historiographical context (e.g. the causes of the War of 1812, the "military revolution," the influence of Mahan upon sea power, the origins of the Cold War, the "nature" of the War in Vietnam).

At the lower end in terms of total pages assigned, were classes in theory. However, as theoretical works can be very, ah, turgid, the sledding could be rather difficult.

Expected reading

On top of what one is assigned, there's what one is expected to read. Some professors will pass out from time to time bibliographies. They will then go through them during a seminar and indicate the titles that can be read, skimmed, or avoided altogether. There's a certain "code" in these conversations that you'll either figure out very quickly or end up reading the wrong works while avoiding the ones you need to know. The body language of professors during these conversations can also matter.

Then, there are your reading lists for your qualifying exams. These lists can be built from a combination of your coursework, the bibliographies, your own historiographical research, and negotiations with the professors who will administer your qualifying exams. Another source of information will be those graduate students who are ABD. However, they can be hard to track down and they are not always inclined to be as helpful as they might. (The bottom line is that qualifying exams can kick your backside and make you feel two inches tall. You may not feel like talking about them after you've passed. You will find out how deep the scars are when you're going through your qualifying exams and every professor in the department you meet will go out of his or her way to salt the wound with some playful ribbing.)

On top of these two categories, your department will expect you to do more than enough reading to learn the broader contours of your profession. Names will be dropped, and titles referenced in passing, and then you'll go to the library and spend enough time with a work so that you understand the historiographical significance of that work.

And then there's the reading of periodicals your department assumes you're doing. One professor made this assumption clear by giving first year students-- at the end of their first class meeting as graduate students-- one week to write a five to seven page essay that discussed ten years' worth of issues of three periodicals--with one having to be completely outside our fields of interest.

What you'll end up reading

The rule of thumb is that you'll average a book a day, just about every day, until you take your qualifying exams. For some, this guideline will translate into reading about a book a day. For others, it will be about developing an understanding of the core arguments of one book a day. The variables that make it difficult to make the rule of thumb a hard and fast rule include: individual differences (some feel best reading every word of most books), a department's parameters for qualifying exams, an exam committee's combined expectations, one's relationships with the professors on one's committee, the individual differences among professors, and the historiographical sophistication of one's fields.

Edited March 28, 2012 by Sigaba

[Riotbeard]

About a book day and maybe some articles (You will get used to this). As far as pages... 700-1500 pages a week. I have had some weeks where it was probably over 2000 pages, but just a handful.

[oswic]

My goodness. I need to work on my stamina.

[Nordicllama]

Wow. I think I need to take a speed reading seminar. Thanks for the heads up, my friends!

[Sigaba]

Maybe there should be a tips for reading like a historian thread, if enough people think it would be helpful.

[oswic]

Maybe there should be a tips for reading like a historian thread, if enough people think it would be helpful.

I would be eager to read such a thread.

[sandyvanb]

Maybe there should be a tips for reading like a historian thread, if enough people think it would be helpful.

This probably would be helpful. I know I had a steep learning curve during my MA and now I've been out of practice for a year!

[Nordicllama]

Maybe there should be a tips for reading like a historian thread, if enough people think it would be helpful.

That would be fantastic. Thanks, Sigaba!

[Sigaba]

The reading tips thread is

[Simple Twist of Fate]

Thanks for starting this thread, Llama - and thanks to Sigaba to starting the reading tips thread.

I'm almost obsessive about reading books cover-to-cover (as I think I noted in the What Are You Reading? thread). I realize that realistically, this may be a habit I will have to abandon.

Llama - I've tried (a version of) speed reading... it can work fine for me in fiction, but usually it just doesn't work out for me in the denser, academic stuff. Maybe my brain just doesn't move fast enough. And of course, when I'm reading fiction, I'm usually trying to relax and enjoy myself rather than attempting to finish it as quickly as possible. So my point being that it hasn't really helped me much in the past. Your results may vary.

[sankd]

I read about 50 or so books a semester. I can't count the amount of articles. I wish I could give tips on how to read well, but I am one of those weird people who can churn out a good 750 word review less than two hours after picking a book up.

It goes in ebbs and flows. Next week I have seven books and four articles to read. I also need to produce 6500 words of thoughtful analysis on all of that reading. It's a busier week than usual.

Edited March 28, 2012 by sankd

[kotov]

I had a book of 524 pages and a book of 431 pages to read for this week. I didn't have any writing due this week, but I'm already done with all of my assignments at this point. I'm only in two actual readings courses this semester (1 lecture, 1 independent study paper). Reading 3 to 4 books a week (plus whatever you have for your own research) is a reasonable expectation. You either have to read a lot faster than I do or be good at "gutting" a book (I posted my method in the new thread on the topic).

[Riotbeard]

Read the intro word for word. Then read the first paragraph of every chapter and the first sentence of every paragraph. This was day one grad school info. you are looking for argument, not content...

[Ganymede18]

Read the intro word for word. Then read the first paragraph of every chapter and the first sentence of every paragraph. This was day one grad school info. you are looking for argument, not content...

I've heard this before, but it really just doesn't work. people don't always write middle school-style 5-paragraph essays. sometimes you need to dig into the actual paragraphs for the most important information. shocking!

I'm not against skimming of course, but I'd recommend a more holistic approach. Not much point otherwise.

[Chiqui74]

I am a slooooow reader....oy! I can't read a book a day!

[Sigaba]

I am a slooooow reader....oy! I can't read a book a day!

Post number 10, above, has a link to a thread that discusses different approaches to reading. Maybe there's something there that will help you.