Terminal Masters Programs for European Intellectual History

[Babeuf]

Hello everyone!  I'm a relatively recent college grad (2012) who is looking into various terminal masters programs for European Intellectual History.  To be short, I was a scholarship student at university who screwed up, flunked out during my sophomore year for several reasons (my discovery that I have a genetic predisposition for depression amongst them), took some time off, then reapplied to college and kicked butt.  My GPA when I flunked out was below a 2.0, but after reapplying I was able to raise it to a 2.85.  I had several semesters of straight A's, (and two of 3.2-3.5), presented a paper at a local history conference, was on the President's Honor Roll, served on a Political Science Advisory Committee for my department, held several leadership positions in various clubs on campus, was involved in several social-activist campaign initiatives on campus, and established good relationships with several of my professors.  Now, I am interested in pursuing a PhD in European intellectual history, and as of now tentatively plan on studying 18th-century French materialism (although this might change).  I realize that my aggregate GPA will probably preclude me from entering any PhD. programs, and I'm therefore applying for a terminal masters in the hope of transferring into a PhD. program afterwards.  I've already taken the GRE's and scored a 167 V: 154Q: 5.0W (and I honestly think that I could make a perfect score on the verbal and perhaps the writing sections should I practice more).  Would these scores be ok, or should I take the test again?

 

I'm now gearing up to apply for masters' programs, but  I don't really know how to look for terminal masters' programs.  One of my professors recommended UW-Milwaukee, Northern Illinois State University, SUNY-Buffalo and ASU for terminal masters programs.  Do these programs sound fitting for someone in my circumstances?  I'm not sure how to gauge masters' programs, as the traditional advice of "find someone with whom you want to work and apply" doesn't work in my case.  Neither of my parents attended graduate school, and I really don't know what I'm doing here.  Where could I find a list of terminal masters programs for the kind of history I'm interested in?  Any other advice?  I'm sorry for sounding so lost, but....well, I feel a bit lost.  Were I applying for a normal PhD. this would be easier, but as I'm shooting for a terminal MA I'm not sure how low or how high I should aim.  Any ideas for where I should look with these numbers?  Thanks in advance!

[TMP]

Do you have French?

 

Have you talked to your history professors about this particular path?  What's your reason for wanting to do the PhD?

[Babeuf]

Hi TMP.  Thanks for replying!  Yes, I've taken five semesters of French and would classify myself as intermediate in my abilities (although being out of school is causing my French to rust a bit).  I've spoken with three professors who have already agreed to write letters of recommendation for me (although 2 of them are not aware of how low my GPA is).  One, a political science professor who teaches 18th/19th-century European political theory (relevant if I want to do intellectual history) encouraged me and mentioned that he had started with a terminal MA before going for the PhD.  Another professor (in whose classes I had earned nothing but A's and who is unaware of my circumstances) recommended that I apply to Stanford (this will not happen).  The third professor, who knows about my situation (and who actually gave me, to our shared regret, an F when I had depression) was the person who actually recommended a terminal MA at a lower-ranked program en route to a PhD at a higher-ranked school.  All three of them seem to think that I have the capability to earn a PhD and have encouraged me to apply to grad school.

 

As for my reason for wanting a PhD, I would be lying if I said anything other than the intellectual experience of earning a PhD (how many people get PhD's in the humanities with the hope of earning large paychecks and driving sports cars?).  I'm the kind of person who reads Kant, Rawls, Rorty, etc... for fun in my spare time (although I'm reading Gordon Wood's new book right now), and I think that I have the capacity to eat, sleep and drink history.  My most optimistic hope would be to earn a tenured professorial position after grad school, although I am well aware of the current (and perpetually) abysmal state of the academic job market.  If I can't find a position as a full-time professor, my back-up plan would be to use the PhD to find a position at a think-tank or as a researcher in a non-profit or the federal government.  And if this did not work out, I would probably try to find a position teaching European history at a college abroad.  And if I could not do this, I would probably sell my soul and go to law school.

 

So I've given some thought to the practicalities of earning a PhD (living outside of academia, in the "real world", will do this to you).  However, as I am outside of academia now, I'm still unsure of where to apply.  Would you, or anyone else, have any other thoughts or suggestions?

[ReallyNiceGuy]

I just bumped a thread I think will help you.

Best of luck,

RNG

[Babeuf]

Thanks for being such a nice guy, ReallyNiceGuy!

[reed155]

Hello, Babeuf!

Have you thought about Columbia's MA in History and Literature? I know it is particularly focused on France, and since you are interested in Intellectual History, the literature component might be worth doing.

[Riotbeard]

I don't much about this school (its canadian) Washington State University Vancouver, but they have an MA program and Sue Peabody.  Her book "There are No Slaves in France" has a lot to do with the intellectual and history of race in France, which has a lot to do with materialism.  She covers materialists a good deal in the book.  Might be worth thumbing through her book, because she could be worth working with on an MA in your interests.

 

http://cas.vancouver.wsu.edu/history/graduate-degrees

 

You might also want to look at MAs in Francophone studies.

[Babeuf]

Hi Reed155.  Thanks for the suggestion, but I honestly think that my grades probably preclude attendance at a school like Columbia (and I'm generally focused more on philosophical history than literary history).  Maybe keep it as a goal as a PhD instititution?

 

Thanks Riotbeard!  I'm actually looking at schools in Canada and the UK right now, so any and all suggestions are welcome.  I'm not as focused right now on race/gender/popular culture in history, so I'm not sure if Peabody would be the ideal advisor, but I've read the first few dozen pages on Googlebooks and it's interesting (and my interest unfortunately reaffirms that I'm probably going to do a PhD, job market be damned!).  But the broader 18th-century Atlantic world is within my ambit, and I'll definitely keep her in mind.  And, on a completely unrelated note, please thank your avatar for his poetry for me.

[jamc8383]

Babeuf,

 

I would also suggest that you consider San Francisco State University's MA program.  Getting in is not terribly competitive, but the program is rigorous and the track record for placement of its MA students into top phD programs is impressive.  Just in the last three cycles, my colleagues have gone on to Berkeley, Stanford, UChicago, Wisconsin-Madison and Brandeis (at least two of these students came in with undergrad GPAs under 3.00).

 

There are a ton of opportunities to expand your CV, and differentiate yourself as a scholar.  Moreover, the program is strong in modern European history; importantly for you, there are two historians (Sarah Curtis and Catherine Kudlick) who specialize in French history.

 

The downside, of course, is that the CSU's are broke; so you can't get the program funded.   There are many opportunities for scholarships within the department, the college, and the university, but you would definitely need to plan on working for the two-year duration of the program.

 

Just a thought.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.  Good luck on your search!

[Riotbeard]

 

Thanks Riotbeard!  I'm actually looking at schools in Canada and the UK right now, so any and all suggestions are welcome.  I'm not as focused right now on race/gender/popular culture in history, so I'm not sure if Peabody would be the ideal advisor, but I've read the first few dozen pages on Googlebooks and it's interesting (and my interest unfortunately reaffirms that I'm probably going to do a PhD, job market be damned!).  But the broader 18th-century Atlantic world is within my ambit, and I'll definitely keep her in mind.  And, on a completely unrelated note, please thank your avatar for his poetry for me.

 

I will let Mr. Crane know, and you are a discerning fan.  His poetry is way better than his prose, although that stuff is certainly good too.

[Sigaba]

I realize that my aggregate GPA will probably preclude me from entering any PhD. programs, and I'm therefore applying for a terminal masters in the hope of transferring into a PhD. program afterwards.

 

Please do consider applying to at least one Ph.D. program. The department may ask you to earn a master's before admitting you to candidacy for a Ph.D but then you'd not have to go through another application season.

 

 If I can't find a position as a full-time professor, my back-up plan would be to use the PhD to find a position at a think-tank or as a researcher in a non-profit or the federal government.

 

If you want to work at a think tank or for .GOV, you might want to start looking at job listings now so you can use your time in graduate school to develop the skills and expertise you'd need to be a competitive applicant (e.g. crunching numbers, familiarity with social science methodologies, and grant writing).

 

You will also want to start positining yourself now to get a security clearance and figuring out ways to square your experiences as an activist with the sensiblities of public service.

 

 

I'm not as focused right now on race/gender/popular culture in history[.]

 

Fair enough. Just understand that many of the historians making the decisions about who gets admitted and, later, hired, are.

[pudewen]

I don't much about this school (its canadian) Washington State University Vancouver, but they have an MA program and Sue Peabody.  Her book "There are No Slaves in France" has a lot to do with the intellectual and history of race in France, which has a lot to do with materialism.  She covers materialists a good deal in the book.  Might be worth thumbing through her book, because she could be worth working with on an MA in your interests.

 

http://cas.vancouver.wsu.edu/history/graduate-degrees

 

You might also want to look at MAs in Francophone studies.

It's not Canadian. It's in Vancouver, Washington, which, confusingly enough, is on the border with Oregon (i.e. the opposite side of the state from the far better known Vancouver).

[Babeuf]

Hi all.  Sorry for the late reply (I had to go out of the country for two weeks and I couldn't figure out how to set up a silly VPN internet account).

 

Thanks so much for your suggestion, Jamc8383.  Yes, from what I can see SFSU would be perfect!  I'm not very familiar with the CSU system (I'm currently in a southern/midwestern state and am fairly far removed from the promised land of California), but one of my professors, who earned her PhD from a UC school, suggested CSUs for the masters.  I will ask her about this school, but the faculty, placement and location look very promising.  Do you think that there might be a chance to gain funding after the first year should I do well?

 

@Sigaba- I'm currently looking into requirements for working at think-tanks and have spoken with a researcher at a small policy shop in my current city.  I'm actually fairly pragmatic, so I don't think that squaring my experiences as an activist would necessarily interfere with the demands of working in a think-tank (I would hopefully find work at a shop reasonably consonant with my own politics).  And my large, state undergrad program was not as focused on race/gender history as I would imagine universities in coastal regions and SLACs are, so part of my lack of focus on race/gender history is due to, well, a lack of exposure, or at least emphasis, I suppose.  My university had generalized instead of specialized majors (i.e. History of Latin America), so I cobbled together my interests in history and philosophy to basically make my own, unofficial specialization in intellectual history.  But I don't have any animus against race/gender/cultural history per se and I could easily see myself incorporating these research areas into my broader interests were I in an environment that favored them more.  So I guess I'm not focused on them "for now", but I could easily be so later.

 

 

Riotbeard: Yes, "The Black Riders and Other Lines", for instance, is much more resonant than any of his novels.  Because, you know.... dayyyum.

[jamc8383]

 Do you think that there might be a chance to gain funding after the first year should I do well?

 

 

Short answer: nope.  CSUs are broke.  That being said, if you do well and get reasonably involved, you're primed to take advantage of many scholarship opportunities sponsored by the CSUs, the university, the College of Creative and Liberal Arts, the History Dept, etc, etc.  Travel grants are also pretty accessible, though not widely publicized.  Additionally, I believe that if you get resident status (and you make a pittance) you are eligible for Cal Grant which would cover tuition but not much else.