UMASS Amherst Public History MA

[jpngrl]

Hi Everyone!

I come from an Art History background, but my academic focus is material culture, particularly looking at the history of collecting in America. I've heard good things about the Public History MA at UMASS, especially looking at it's museum studies track, but I'd love to hear more about the program from anyone who is attending/has attended or has some advice. My GPA is 3.8 from a great liberal-arts college, and my undergraduate focus was on Asian Art. I'd like to apply this to my intended study by researching cross-cultural exchange between American collectors and non-Western objects. Is this something that UMASS could facilitate with it's faculty/cirriculum? Lastly, does anyone know what the minimum GRE is for that program? I did pretty well my first time for writing (5), but I'm thinking my verbal could be better (158). The reading comp. was unexpectedly difficult, so I may take it again, but I wanted to know if your scores would be something they seriously regard when deciding admission.

I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions/questions.

Thanks!

[HistThrift]

Hey Ukiyo,

I'm currently in the Public History MA program here at UMass, museum studies track as well (it's the most popular one). While I obviously can't speak for the department, based on the diversity of students here I think your field is something that they could facilitate -- we have people doing all sorts of stuff here, and they seem to really like material culture stuff. I would suggest looking up a few students in the program (there's a listing online with profiles) and email any that have a similar interest to yours (not necessarily a topical interest, but material culture thematic interest, for example).

For what it's worth, I came into the program with roughly the same GPA and GRE scores, so I think you're probably fine there so long as you have a strong application. Also, I did have a degree in history, but I also majored in anthropology and archaeology, so I would think that as long as you have a good base of history classes you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Also UMass has one of the best PH programs in the country, so if you get accepted I would send some emails to PH professors to get a feel for some of the opportunities here.