Help in whittling down my schools

[Heimat Historian]

Hello all.  I've already posted this in one of the general forums but I'm wondering if folks in the history forum can offer some more specific advice.  I'd like some help narrowing down my grad school list for applications.  Here's my story for  frame of reference:

 

Undergrad:

I attended the University of Texas at Austin for undergrad, majored in history, minored in German with a 3.2 overall GPA.  

 

Graduate school part 1: 

I attempted a masters degree at University of South Florida but due to family issues I had to leave the program incomplete.  

 

Graduate school part 2:  

I'm currently finishing my Masters degree in history at the University of Texas at San Antonio, with a 4.0 GPA.  I will be finishing in the Spring and will apply for PhD programs in the fall for entry in Autumn 2015.

 

I started with a list of over 50 schools.  I've since whittled it down into a list of 28 schools.  I intend on doing my research in modern European history, with a focus on German immigrants which I will approach through a transnational lens.  My specific interests lie in the study of enclave communities of Germans throughout the world.   Additionally, I'm working with a professor to potentially get an article published in small peer reviewed journal.  

 

Here's my list of schools in alphabetical order.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

 

Binghamton University - SUNY

College of William and Mary (Tyler)

Columbia University

Emory University

George Mason University

Harvard University

Indiana University - Bloomington

Rice University

Stanford University

Stony Brook University - SUNY

Tufts University

Tulane University

University of Arizona

University of California - Davis

University of Chicago

University of Colorado - Boulder

University of Connecticut

University of Delaware

University of Georgia

University of Illinois - Urbana - Champaign

University of Iowa

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Vanderbilt University
Washington University in St. Louis

 

Thanks again. 

 

[A Finicky Bean]

Hey, on first look (and I'll look again when I have more time) I wondered if you have faculty with whom you would like to work at each of these universities? That would be the first step. Then, try to think about the fit of the school and you. I guess this is rather generic of me, but it is what I did.

[Sigaba]

 

I attended the University of Texas at Austin for undergrad, majored in history, minored in German with a 3.2 overall GPA.  

 

 

Are you discussing your plans with David Crew?

[Heimat Historian]

Unfortunately, I never worked with Professor Crew while I was at UT.  That was also 11 years ago. Thanks for the input. 

[Heimat Historian]

Got my list down to 17!

[Sigaba]

  

 

Here's my list of schools in alphabetical order.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

 

 

Hey, D--

 

What criteria are driving your selection matrix? (If you have a spreadsheet going, a screen shot would be awesome.)

When you say "transnational perspective," what do you mean? (Are there existing scholarly works that you envision as blue prints for a dissertation?)

Have you identified a (very) big picture historiographical issue that you see your dissertation, if not your career interests, addressing?

Why not initiate a conversation with Professor Crew? (He's on leave this semester but what about the next one?)

 

#helpushelpyou

[Heimat Historian]

Thanks for your comments.  Currently, I don't necessarily have a rigid criteria.  I began my search by looking at a few different sites that rank graduate programs just as a starting point.  From there I examined the schools and looked at Germanists.  Those that were working on research that fit with my interests were added to my list.  From there, I further whittled it down into my present list of 17 schools.  

 

As far as a transnational approach I want to work on issues of migration and cultural transmission.  For example, I hope to examine both the home country (i.e. Germany)  and the places where German communities exist (e.g. Mexico, the southern cone, East Africa, New Guinea, Canada, US, etc.).  My large questions are: why did Germans migrate?  How do we examine German populations in a non-monolithic manner?  What type of cultural traditions did they bring with them and transmit to the culture at large?  To what extent did these populations assimilate? I want to explore these communities in the context of both official colonialism and unofficial colonialism from the mid 19th century through the end of WWI. 

 

Scholarly works that I'm interested in are: The Heimat Abroad: The Boundaries of Germanness (a collection of essays about recreating German institutions in foreign lands).  I'm also interested in the work of H. Glenn Penny (who is at Iowa and someone I'd very much like to work with).

 

I hope this sheds some more light on what I'm looking at.  If you have some methodologies that will help in my decision making, I'd be happy to have the help.  Thanks again. 

[gsc]

Thanks for your comments.  Currently, I don't necessarily have a rigid criteria.  I began my search by looking at a few different sites that rank graduate programs just as a starting point.  From there I examined the schools and looked at Germanists.  Those that were working on research that fit with my interests were added to my list.  From there, I further whittled it down into my present list of 17 schools.  

 

As far as a transnational approach I want to work on issues of migration and cultural transmission.  For example, I hope to examine both the home country (i.e. Germany)  and the places where German communities exist (e.g. Mexico, the southern cone, East Africa, New Guinea, Canada, US, etc.).  My large questions are: why did Germans migrate?  How do we examine German populations in a non-monolithic manner?  What type of cultural traditions did they bring with them and transmit to the culture at large?  To what extent did these populations assimilate? I want to explore these communities in the context of both official colonialism and unofficial colonialism from the mid 19th century through the end of WWI. 

 

Scholarly works that I'm interested in are: The Heimat Abroad: The Boundaries of Germanness (a collection of essays about recreating German institutions in foreign lands).  I'm also interested in the work of H. Glenn Penny (who is at Iowa and someone I'd very much like to work with).

 

I hope this sheds some more light on what I'm looking at.  If you have some methodologies that will help in my decision making, I'd be happy to have the help.  Thanks again. 

 

As a history student at Iowa, I hear awesome things about H. Glenn Penny. 

 

The DGS is also a Germanist, too - she just published a really interesting book on postwar Germany. 

 

If you have questions about Iowa, professors at Iowa, Iowa City, etc, feel free to PM me!

[Abetheh]

I'm responding a bit late in the game for this year's application cycle, but I thought I'd pass along what I know/think.

 

The University of Toronto has a lot of great Germanists to work with, and they have Russel Kazal who has written about Germans in Philadelphia. (Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity).  UofT also have a couple of people who work on Irish immigration to and identity in North America. While the Irish side of things is not directly related to your project, I've found that comparative study of Irish and German immigrants to North America is very useful.

 

Another excellent study of German emigration is Walter Kamphoefner's The Westphalians: From Germany to Missouri. 

 

Hope this is of some use to you. Good luck!

Edited January 13, 2014 by Abetheh

[TMP]

I'd actually dump Madison.  The immigrant historian there is retiring (if he's still on the faculty list) and the Germanist there is much more interested in social and religious ideas.  Who's at Stanford?  I don't recall seeing a German historian there when I looked at it.  Michigan's historians are into gender and nationalism (respectively).  

 

You'd need to be quite bit more specific in your interest.  It's a big topic there.  I'd suggest Tobias Brinkmann at Penn State but I don't think the program is accepting anyone for Modern Europe (which really makes sense).  

 

I might try dropping Vandy a line- it does have two of the best German historians around.  

 

One of the things you'd want to think about is having common interests in German history because you will essentially get books relating to historiographical questions that your adviser is actually interested in.  If you hate labor history with passion but your adviser loves talking about class and industrialization, you'll be miserable studying for your comps.  That should help you narrow down your list relatively quickly.  On the other hand, if you find the Vormärz period exciting but your adviser is more curious about the 1960s, you'll still get some Vormärz books but not as many as you might want because you have more books on the 1960s.

 

(as you might be able to tell, I'm studying for my comps this year! )

[kdavid]

If it's any help, I started with 20 and worked down to 10.

 

Something which really helped me whittle down my list was speaking with current and former graduate students, and contacting faculty.

 

A few students told me to flat out cross xyz schools off my list purely because the faculty member I was interested in working under would have made my life very difficult (i.e. they were notoriously poor advisors/teachers/etc.). I was able to cross three of my list based on that alone.

[Whatishistoryanyway]

Although it's not as highly ranked overall, I would look into Tennessee. They have some amazing germanists.

[spellbanisher]

I'd contact the professor i'd want to work with at each prospective school. Sonewhere i read that you don't apply to programs or schools, you apply to professors. The kind of responses you get back could tell you a great deal about the kind of advisor a professor will be.

[junotwest]

I will say this w/ regards to contacting professors: I didn't contact any professor prior to applying and have received several funded PhD offers (I did my research on the fit front, felt it was unnecessary).  That said, some professors are very willing to direct you elsewhere (learned this post-visit)! Which may seem like a bad thing at the outset, but really demonstrates, as spellbanisher said, the character of the advisor--a professor who's willing to you send you looking elsewhere is a compassionate prof certainly worth working with.  

 

So, what I'm saying is, contact the profs, if you'd like, yes.  But in addition to asking if they're taking students and the like, ask if they feel X department can best serve your interests and if they are aware of others in which you could thrive as well.  Best of luck to you!