questions about jewish history

[artgarfunkel]

I've heard that among the many factors that go into considering applications, that it can be either more or less difficult to get into a history PhD program depending on the field one plans to study. How is it with Jewish history (esp. Modern Jewish history?) Is it typically more competitive, or less? Or have I been misinformed, and there isn't much of a correlation between one's field and the difficulty of getting into another program, ceteris paribus? So too, do historians of the Jews have any disadvantages or advantages when they go on the job market, given the number of jobs in Jewish history (is there a lack of them? or an abundance?)

[TMP]

I'd follow the conversations that are going in on the Association for Jewish Studies website.  The job market hasn't changed very much.  There are still far more people than academic jobs.  You'd do well to keep an open mind to other possibilities and self-assessment whether or not you can do this PhD both for the love of the subject and to get a job at the end.  The opinions concerning preparation for the job market vary widely and the best that one can do is simply follow the advice of the adviser.   One adviser will insist on nothing but know Jewish history from Noah to Shoah.  Another might say you should focus on modern period but choose a national history to study (i.e. if you're interested in Jews of North Africa, you'd want to do African or French history on top of Jewish).  Even nobody can agree on minimum standards of language training (much to the chagrin of those who didn't grow up speaking Yiddish or Hebrew!).

 

In terms of admissions, it all depends.  Usually there is only one or two Jewish historian in a PhD program and often they're grouped with European history.  In reality, you're actually competing on two fronts: for the POI and for a spot in the European history field (or another geographic field).  Modern European history is just as competitive as American history so it's quite difficult to get in.  Being a Jewish historian has little impact- it's valued just as much as a colonist French or socialist Russian historian.  The bigger question really is- are your interests aligned with the POI's?  The POI can be quite particular because you'll work as the person's apprentice and therefore, you will inherit his/her intellectual questions and concerns and craft of writing Jewish history.  For example, if you have no interest in cultural history, I would absolutely save $125 application fee and not apply to Stanford.  If the idea of juggling your regular coursework with Hebrew language classes overwhelms you, then avoid Brandeis and NYU.  It is definitely a challenge to find a program AND a Jewish historian that fit you and it might take one or two rounds for the cards to fall into the right places.

 

It's a small, small field that works on a system of apprenticeships.  It's how Modern Jewish historiography has been built- straight back to Salo Baron.

[fig23]

Ehh, just as competitive as any other field.

 

As for Stanford, it depends on region. Zipperstein may be a cultural historian, but Rodrigue is much more a social historian (though you better know Ladino and Turkish or Greek if you want to work with him).

 

The real decision to make is whether you want to be housed in a history department or a Judaic Studies program. They have different orientations and values, in the PhD training and on the job market. Either way, you'll need to be rooted in a region: Israel, Europe, North Africa, Ottoman Empire, Latin America, US, etc. No one is a Jewish historian without a region, and a good historian is going to be conversant in both settings, languages, and literatures (e.g. Leora Auslander and Maud Mandel in French Jewish history, Ken Moss and Jeffrey Veidlinger in Eastern European Jewish history, etc). Be wary of parochial programs that let you specialize in Jewish history without a solid grounding in the region's history.

[uhohlemonster]

It's definitely not easier/harder to get into programs - it just depends where, with whom, etc. I totally agree with the posters above that it is super important to place yourself in other fields and make yourself as versatile as possible for the job market. But actually, I think that the job market for Jewish Studies is comparatively good, since a lot of the positions are privately funded... they aren't as vulnerable to university spending cuts. Anyway, I love studying Jewish History and it's been a ball so far at NYU! Good luck with the whole process!

[artgarfunkel]

Thank you all for your advice.I appreciate it! Anyone (whether you've posted already or not) willing to read a paper I wrote on a Jewish theme? Send me a message.