What do you do when you change your intended focus area?

[midnightfox]

Hi all, I mainly lurked around here through the last application cycle and was looking for some advice/input as I prepare to try again this fall.

My main concern, hence the title of this topic, is that I've completely changed my intended focus area and am unsure how to address this on applications or what programs will think if I reapply to those schools this cycle. Here's a brief summary of what happened:

When I applied last year I wanted to study American colonial/Revolutionary history. While I had done a considerable amount of reading related to that time period and written various papers for schools, I had done no major research. Part of that was due to the fact that I don't live in an area with a history that is really relevant to that time period and there aren't a lot of primary sources nearby. Several months ago, one of our local historians suggested I select a topic that I could research locally and at least try to come up with a better writing sample. I live in a fairly rural area and, after some debate, settled on examining how the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 impacted this community. Long story short, while my interest in colonian/Revolutionary history is as strong as ever, I've really become quite passionate about this topic and feel strongly that it is the area I'd like to focus future research.

What is the best way to address this change in future applications? Could making a change like this further hurt my chances of getting accepted at a school that previously rejected me?

Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Or better yet, is anybody studying something similar?

[CageFree]

I changed focus completely from undergrad to grad... I went from Late Antiquity to modern Latin America. My thesis was on a Late Antiquity topic. When I wrote my SOP I explained very candidly why I wanted to do something different, even without coursework... sort of described my journey.

There's nothing that says you can't do both... many departments require major and minor fields, for example.

[TMP]

Doesn't matter as long as you have some understanding of the "big" questions that are being asked in the field and you have the necessary languages. They won't ask questions that way but would be curious to know your train of thought as how you came to be interested in X, not in Y anymore.

[futurePhD]

Changing your area of interest before entering graduate school does not strike me as a substantial problem per se. In fact, if you are switching to such a completely different topic then I suspect that you will be applying to a very different list of schools this time, or at least you should be. As such, there is less of a need to explain this shift.

Nevertheless, I think the far more important thing to consider is how to connect this new topic, "how the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918 influenced community X," with larger historical questions/debates. More to the point, you have to address the dreaded "so what" question in regards to your topic. You will have to convince an admissions committee, and later your PhD committee, that your proposed area of study has an intellectual payoff. Do you have a solid idea about what this will be?

I would also add that it is not the worst thing in the world to be a little broad or unsure about your research interests entering a PhD program. Very few people enter graduate school with a specific dissertation topic in mind. Of the few that do, many end up doing something different after a few years of course work and training. Best of luck as you apply, sounds like an interesting field of study!

[midnightfox]

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all the input and you all taking the time to respond.

I do have one more question. I remember reading last year where people would talk about communicating with POIs at the various schools to which they applied. What is the procedure for contacting faculty members you might be interested in working with at various schools? Does anyone have any advice for what you should or should not say?

[TMP]

Use the search function. It's been discussed every year. Interesting perspectives.

[midnightfox]

Whoops... You'd think that as someone who wants to spend the rest of their life doing research that I'd have thought of that

Thanks again though, I'm sure there is a lot of interesting info and useful advice to be found here.