Programs for postwar America *and* Britain? (Also, can you study two countries?)

[greenwintermints]

I'm making up a short list of programs (applying in fall 2014) and I'm having a bit of trouble with my list. I'm interested in both U.S. and British history, particularly in the postwar era, and I don't want to pigeonhole myself into one field or another, at least not at this stage.  What schools could I study both countries at?

 

So far I've got Michigan, WashU, Iowa (that's where I go now), UC-Berkeley, UNC-Chapel Hill, Penn, Rutgers (I'm not keen on living in New Brunswick, though, but I've heard their program in gender history is really well regarded), UT-Austin, Washington, and then Colorado and Oregon as major backups (at this point I'm wondering if it's worth even applying there).  

 

I really like Michigan, Wisconsin, and UNC. UT-Austin and Iowa are good choices because they're close to family.  Am I missing some other schools? Should I move some schools up to the top of my list? Would Harvard/Yale/Princeton have what I'm looking for? I've never been interested in the East/Ivy League, but if they'd have what I'm looking for I'm open to it.

 

Also, will it throw up any red flags to admissions committees if I say I want to study both the US and Britain (within the same time frame)?

 

Sorry if I've made any mistakes posting, this is my first post here! Thanks so much!

[underthesea]

Indiana University might be another good option for you to consider. I don't know what your specific interests are, but the IU has excellent faculty in both British and United States history. Hope this helps!

[annieca]

Woohoo for another person in the state of Iowa! 

 

As far as I know it's fine that you have two countries. However, and this is a very big however, you will need to focus quite a bit more. Transnational history is something that might be worth taking a look at - Maryland has a great program in it. But focus wise, you are a bit all over the place. Let me break it down into how you could specialize and maybe something will jump out at you.

 

Time: Postwar (I'm assuming you mean post-WW2 here) is a huge time frame - almost 70 years. If you want to keep that time frame, you'll have to get more specific in...

Population: gender? working class? LGBT? etc.

Topic: social movements, working conditions, politics, etc.

Type of history: social? cultural? political? economic? etc.

 

You don't have to have all of those, per se, but at least a few. For example, my senior thesis was just on Slovak emigres' (population & type of history) opinion on the Velvet Divorce  (geographic, time, topic). 

 

That was how I pitched myself to universities and how you'll have to do the same. If you can't narrow, or don't want to narrow, I suggest one of two things - either take some time off and discover what your passion is or do an interdisciplinary program. I'm not sure if there's anything for US/UK as I know more about Eastern Europe, but there might be.

 

I wouldn't call it pigeon-holeing. There are ways you can be broad but still be quite narrow. Again, I'm going to use myself as an example. Post-Cold War Eastern Europe social and political movements from a social history perspective - I can talk about Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, etc. and that's just geography of what I study.

 

I honestly hope that helps! 

[greenwintermints]

Thanks! I'll definitely check out IU - not sure why it slipped my mind, since my mom went there!

 

As for narrowing my focus - I have actually narrowed it some! I did a major term paper on James Bond, Playboy, and the sexual politics of the 1960s, and I loved it - so I think social/cultural history with a focus on gender/sexuality is where I'm looking right now. It's just that I think the same period in Britain is interesting as well, and how the same cultural zeitgeist (as it were) takes different turns in each place (and, I mean, James Bond is a British export, after all, albeit with an American flair). But perhaps if I can narrow down the approach/angle I'm interested in (gender history, political history, etc) I can have some freedom geographically when I'm pitching to universities?

 

I hadn't thought about Maryland at all, so I'll check that out too! Thanks so much!

 

(Also, what are you doing at Iowa? I love the school and the state, so it's always good to see some other Iowans/Hawkeyes around!)

Edited April 30, 2013 by greenwintermints

[Simple Twist of Fate]

Sent you a PM, greenwintermints.

[itsevolutionbaby]

It's definitely worth to take a look at the faculty of the Ivies too, and see if there is a good fit in any of them. They tend to have very good professors in both US and British history, as well in gender things -although with different focus, depending on the place-, so I'd at least explore their faculty webpages and the titles of past dissertations if they are available. 

 

Because of your interests in culture, media, sexuality, etc. it might also be a good idea to consider American Studies Departments. They tend to be especially interested in these kinds of topics, and I know for a fact that people in American Studies PhD programs work on projects that sometimes don't even relate to the United States, so your transnational or comparative US/Britain idea could perfectly work. From what I've seen, American Studies departments tend to be more heavy on theory and less committed to methodology and archival work, so that's something to consider.

 

Also, I've seen people in English Departments do interesting work about the history of media, so you might want to look at these as well. Now that's of course a whole different beast (while there are differences between Am. Studies and History, courses are often crosslisted and a degree in one could very well land you a job in the other department, depending on your research), so if you are committed to being trained as a historian you might not like it that much. 

Edited May 2, 2013 by itsevolutionbaby