which program to choose? or both?

[chriswethi]

Hello all, new member here with a question/dillema.

 

I graduated from my first university with a BA in History and minors in Japanese Studies and Classical Civilzations. My eventual goal is to become a professor, but I've been torn between going one route or the other. History is my main focus, but for a MA program I'm trying to decide between Classics or Japanese Studies.

 

My fiance is Japanese, I've been there at least 10 times, lived there for about two years, and have studied the language for around 5 and am quite capable at speaking/reading/writing it. My knowledge of the Classical languages (Latin and Greek) is a little more mediocre with around 2 years of study for the both of them.

 

Now that I'm applying for grad studies at my chosen university, I come to the dillema of which program I really want to choose. Ideally I would like to have a MA in both, but I'm not sure how good of an idea that is--if at all. As I said I want to become a history professor so I think having a mastery of two completely different subjects could increase my chances of finding a solid position in the future. Then again, would a second MA really be worth it, or just a waste of time?

 

I've been accepted into the grad school, but I'm not sure which program to go with. I had decided on Japanese first, then switched to Classics, and now that the time has come I'm back to Japanese haha. If I want to go with both--and the professors approve it--I had wondered whether it would be possible (or wise??) to do them at the same time, or back-to-back, etc.

 

Any advice or words of wisdom, opinions (in regards to the dilemma) would be greatly appreciated. If any of you have completed two MA programs (simultaneously or not) I'd love to hear how you did it.

 

Thanks!

[ZacharyObama]

I have a History BA too. You're probably aware of this already, but the job market for History PhD's is the pits. I would go for the Japanese Studies type MA because then at least you've got something really marketable if you decide you don't want to go for a History PhD. What would you do with a Classics MA if you decided that you didn't want to go for a History PhD?

[chriswethi]

Yeah, I know about the lack of jobs for history professors. It's very unfortunate.

 

My backup for Classics would be to get involved in archaeology/historical preservation. A former professor of mine teaches during the school year, and in the summer leads digs to various sites in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. I went with her once for a two week excursion sort of thing. Though it's not the highest-paying profession, I know I'd love it.

 

I've also thought that going the Japanese Studies route would give me more options. Even without an MA in Japanese Studies, I have taken the JLPT (Japanese Language Placement Test) and scored a "Level 2" (1 being the best) and that could really get me all kinds of jobs with Japanese companies. That's just not the sort of career I want, though.

 

But, that's why I thought that perhaps two MAs might also give me some more flexibility. Thanks for your reply!

[spacezeppelin]

I also have a history BA and strongly considered history PhD programs. To me, three graduate degrees seems like an awful lot. If money isnt an issue, or you are lucky enough to have them all funded, then maybe thats not a big deal. It still stands that someone is paying a lot of money for this to happen (either you or the school). If you know you want to get a history PhD then why are you getting two masters first?

 

I get the Japaneese Studies idea becuase that makes sense in the context of a back-up plan to teaching or as a specalization and additional knowlage if you want to teach courses on Japaneese history. I'm not really sure I see the vision behind the classical civilizations MA though. If it were me, I would want to cut out the extra study and go straight for the PhD, which you absolutely need to teach. I'm pretty sure your PhD reaserch interests will overshadow any MA research when applying for jobs. I see that you mention archeology as well, but if that really is a viable back-up plan then scratch the other degree. One back-up plan is enough, in my opinion.

 

I'm also really not sure how two unrelated masters will help you get a postion as a professor. The fact that they are unrelated seems to make that awfuly unlikely, considering one wont improve your ability to teach the other. History professors usually have pretty clear research interests.

 

I don't mean to be negative at all, I guess I just wanted to share my initial thoughts because you asked.  I'm not sure getting three degrees because you couldnt chose is really worth the time. I have a feeling one passion will become clear to you later, which will make the other MA kind of a waste of time. That happened to a lot of people I know personally, and they all wish they hadn't rushed into unnessesary school. That time could have been spent improving your understanding one subject or working at a job you love, which is really the ultimate goal of all this school anyway. (obviously the education is an end in itself, but I think most of us would agree that we eventually want to move past that as well.)