German history program recommendations + MA funding?

[crackerjacktiming]

Hi All,

I've been reading TGC for a few weeks now, and I'm hoping to get advice from people that have already gone through the application process. Currently I am undergraduate student researching graduate programs strong in late Modern German history. While I have a list of potential POIs and schools, I'm looking for suggestions for programs that fund MAs. Ideally I will be attending in the Fall 2013 or Fall 2014 semester.

I'm interested in pursuing an MA before applying for any PhD programs because I think it will strengthen my applications. I've identified the weaker points in my application:

1. Low(ish) UG gpa: I think my gpa will be around a 3.5 when I graduate. My history gpa is higher than that. I know my graduating gpa should meet the minimum for admissions, but I'm hoping a better gpa in an MA program will boost my application.

2. Language skills: I'm currently studying German. By the time I graduate, I will have two years of study completed. To be blunt, learning German hasn't been the easiest! I'd like to develop my German skills a bit more before applying for a PhD. I've also studied Italian in the past but it's very rusty.

3. Lack of research: I've taken several upper divisional courses that have required short research papers. I've worked with translated primary source resources. By the time I graduate I'll have several short research papers (10-15 pages) and a seminar paper (20-25 pages). From what I've read, completing an MA thesis will ease me into researching and give me time to develop my language skills.

Any thoughts on this? My one concern with doing an MA first is funding. I understand that funding is fairly limited for MA students. This forum has been a huge already in my search in finding funded programs, so thank you!

This is the list I've come up with so far: SUNY Binghamton, Bowling Green, Kent State, UT-Knoxville, Vermont, Central Michigan, University of Akron, Northern Illinois, and Maryland.

Have I missed any glaringly obvious choices? Please feel free to chime in if I have. Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. Thank you!

edited to add: I have done some general searched on past threads already. I know there was a post about funded MAs just down the page but I didn't see many programs strong in German history.

Edited April 20, 2012 by crackerjacktiming

[hbeels]

Have I missed any glaringly obvious choices? Please feel free to chime in if I have.

I know there are a few faculty members at the University of Louisville who specialize in modern Germany... I'm pretty sure there are one or two at Northern Colorado as well, but I think their program might be more broad than what you're looking for. Hope this helps!

[Kelkel]

I got into Miami Ohio and Binghamton University, both funded MAs, for Modern German history!

[kyjin]

Take a look at some Canadian schools. They tend to be more generous with MA funding.

[crackerjacktiming]

I know there are a few faculty members at the University of Louisville who specialize in modern Germany... I'm pretty sure there are one or two at Northern Colorado as well, but I think their program might be more broad than what you're looking for. Hope this helps!

Thank you for the suggestions! The program at University of Louisville looks like a great match overall. I'll be sure to keep Northern Colorado on my list as well. I'm glad to see both schools have scholars that study gender, that's right up my alley.

[annieca]

I have two schools for you:

- Indiana-Bloomington - they have an Eastern European center that literally is one of the best I've ever seen. I'm not totally sure but I think they also have FLAS grants so you can get paid to study German some more.

- UNC-Chapel Hill - Chapel Hill is pretty well known for its Eastern European center. I know it's more "democracy" based (or so I'm told), but it's a good program for what is that iffy "postmodern" from when Germany became Germany to today. The head of my department is a modern German historian and she went to Chapel Hill. UNC also has FLAS grants.

As for studying German, aren't those cases a pain? I know they trip me up every time and I haven't even learned genitive yet!

[crackerjacktiming]

I got into Miami Ohio and Binghamton University, both funded MAs, for Modern German history!

Congrats! I do remember looking through Miami Ohio's faculty page before. I'll have to give it another look through to see if anyone's research catches my eye.

Take a look at some Canadian schools. They tend to be more generous with MA funding.

I haven't considered many Canadian unis. I have looked into U of T and McGill, but I'll have to expand my search. Thanks for the suggestion!

I have two schools for you:

- Indiana-Bloomington - they have an Eastern European center that literally is one of the best I've ever seen. I'm not totally sure but I think they also have FLAS grants so you can get paid to study German some more.

- UNC-Chapel Hill - Chapel Hill is pretty well known for its Eastern European center. I know it's more "democracy" based (or so I'm told), but it's a good program for what is that iffy "postmodern" from when Germany became Germany to today. The head of my department is a modern German historian and she went to Chapel Hill. UNC also has FLAS grants.

As for studying German, aren't those cases a pain? I know they trip me up every time and I haven't even learned genitive yet!

I'm definitely interested in Chapel Hill, but to my understanding UNC doesn't offer terminal masters. For the PhD program, it's on the top of my "reach" list. The program there looks interesting - hello, Christopher Browning!

I'm not as familiar with Indiana. I did see that they offer a few MAs, but the two terminal MAs look like they are geared toward US/Eastern European history. I'll have to look into their FLAS program.

Thank you for the suggestions! I totally agree with you about German cases. Studying German makes me wish I had a deeper interest in Italian history if only because the language is less intense.

[grlu0701]

What particular fields are you interested in?

If you are interested in cultural or intellectual history, you may want to check out LSU. They have a very strong modern German faculty (although Dr. Lindenfeld will be retiring in two or so years, that'd be okay for a MA student) and have recently hosted some pretty impressive conferences on fin de siecle German culture. Look into Dr. Marchand -- she is extremely nice and everything that I've heard from her students has been positive.

Although I ultimately decided to decline LSUs offer, I was offered a TA position as an incoming MA and it came with a stipend that could fully support a single person. If you can develop an impressive application and are interested in cultural or intellectual history, don't discount this school! (Plus, it has great football!)

[TMP]

I'm definitely interested in Chapel Hill, but to my understanding UNC doesn't offer terminal masters. For the PhD program, it's on the top of my "reach" list. The program there looks interesting - hello, Christopher Browning!

I wouldn't apply to UNC Chapel Hill for PhD. Browning is retiring in 2014 and Janusch isn't too far behind.

[crackerjacktiming]

I wouldn't apply to UNC Chapel Hill for PhD. Browning is retiring in 2014 and Janusch isn't too far behind.

Oh, shoot. Well, that makes sense since they've both been in the field for quite some time. Thank you for the heads up!

What particular fields are you interested in?

If you are interested in cultural or intellectual history, you may want to check out LSU. They have a very strong modern German faculty (although Dr. Lindenfeld will be retiring in two or so years, that'd be okay for a MA student) and have recently hosted some pretty impressive conferences on fin de siecle German culture. Look into Dr. Marchand -- she is extremely nice and everything that I've heard from her students has been positive.

Although I ultimately decided to decline LSUs offer, I was offered a TA position as an incoming MA and it came with a stipend that could fully support a single person. If you can develop an impressive application and are interested in cultural or intellectual history, don't discount this school! (Plus, it has great football!)

I'm mostly interested in Social/Cultural history. I'm not sure if I've looked into LSU before, but I will certainly give it a look. Thank you for information and the suggestions! I haven't given southern schools much consideration, but it sounds like LSU may be an interesting option.

[Abetheh]

In reply to the suggestion for Canadian schools, I'm starting an MA in German history this fall at York University in Toronto with a fairly good funding package (Research Assistantship as well as entrance scholarship) They have a couple of professors who do German history in the 19th and 20th centuries. The University of Victoria also has a few professors doing modern German history, but it is slightly harder to get funding there than at York. UofT and McGill both do not fund MA students at all.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Abetheh