djp2 Posted February 8, 2014 Posted February 8, 2014 Can I ask how you were notified of your acceptance? Was it an official email from administration or an unofficial email from your POI?
TL1234 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I received a call from POI on Feb. 5 telling me I was accepted. Formal letter to come. How did others find out? TL1234 1
montserrat Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Who else is going to the recruitment days in March?
montserrat Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Early modern Europe (particularly Spain) and how involvement in imperial projects changed national identities. So I do a fair bit with Latin America as well.
diasporabound Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Awesome, that sounds great. I'm working at the intersections of slavery, death, discourses of mental health and law in colonial Latin America. Looking forward to meeting you.
montserrat Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Oooh, that sounds fascinating. We might have the same POI. I'm really looking forward to meeting you. Has anybody got their official offer letter or funding information yet? Mine has yet to show up in my mailbox.
diasporabound Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 We might! I haven't received mine yet either.
dr. t Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 If my recollection of the timetable is accurate, formal approval by administration happened yesterday.
TL1234 Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 I am, working on race and citizenship in Colombia. Looking forward to meeting you all.Â
diasporabound Posted February 23, 2014 Posted February 23, 2014 Oh wow, I also work on Colombia (and comparatively Brazil), 18th and early 19th century. Looking forward to meeting you.
TL1234 Posted February 23, 2014 Posted February 23, 2014 This is so exciting!!! I work 20th Century. I really want to hear more details about our offers….
Jdealla Posted March 1, 2014 Posted March 1, 2014 (edited) @TL1234 and @Diasporabound: Â Since January, I've been preparing applications for Fall 2015, and I'm interested in studying Nationalism in 18th-19th century Colombia, particularly the role of history and literary culture (using the revolutionary press as a starting point, and then diving into the histories written post-independence) in the formation of social memory and, therefore, group identity. So far, I've compiled a tentative list of potential programs and advisers, but since both of you work on Colombia, and since at least one of you works on Nationalism, would you mind offering your guidance? Â Also, more generally, since we've got two Colombianists and one wannabe on the forum at the moment, (a rarity, I think), maybe a separate topic, one with a collaborative working bibliography on Colombian history (along with related topics), would be helpful and actually possible. Edited March 1, 2014 by Jdealla
diasporabound Posted March 2, 2014 Posted March 2, 2014 Hey Jdealla, I think a bibliography on Colombia is a marvelous idea. I also think it's wise to think about what kind of scholar you want to be as you match yourself to departments (and not just an advisor). Since there aren't a huge number of specialists on Colombia in general, I think you can go for the people whose work you admire (Colombianists), or otherwise look for two things: someone whose a specialist in the region/archives/types of documents you'll be using AND another person that's a specialist in the particular themes. For example, for me at Harvard, that meant combining a historian of slavery and legal processes in Latin America, as well as a scholar that works on death (including among slaves) in the Caribbean, and another who's well versed in Iberian-Americas imperial history. None of these people study Colombia, but they're familiar with the contexts, types of documents, and subfield in which I want to assert myself as a scholar. Hence, they can provide the training for me to do my own work in Colombian archives. What got you interested in Colombia by the way? I always like to know   A few texts to get us started (looking for others to chime in, especially looking for interdisciplinary works):  Aline Helg, Liberty and Equality in Caribbean Colombia Ann Twinam, Public Lives, Private Secrets Ann Twinam, Miners, Merchants and Farmers in Colonial Colombia David Bushnell, The Making of Modern Colombia Nancy Appelbaum, Muddied Waters: Race, Region, and Local History in Colombia, 1846-1948 Anthony McFarlane, Colombia before Independence Marixa Lasso, Myths of Harmony  (many great articles out there...also works by Michael Taussig, Mary Roldan, Joanne Rappaport, Peter Wade, etc.)  Hope that helps!
Jdealla Posted March 3, 2014 Posted March 3, 2014 (edited) diasporabound,  "look for... someone who's a specialist in the region/archives/types of documents" - Thank you for this; since you've been through this process, with success, your suggestion validates the method I've been using. So far, I've found a few Colombianists who work on nationalism (directly or tangentially), mainly Marcela Echeverri at Yale, and Lina Del Castillo and Ann Twinam at UT Austin. But, by digging up dissertations on Colombia and Nationalism, then looking at those granting schools and the committee members, I've expanded my list to around a dozen programs that have advised a project on Colombia, a number I'll whittle down by the time applications are due. Your suggestion, to look for specialists in the types of documents, in my case 19th century periodicals and secondary history books, is one I hadn't considered as much as I should have, and I'll be sure to put it to good use when the time comes to finalize my list.  You know, I did apply to Ph.D. programs back in 2010 for Fall 2011, but I didn't get in anywhere except for Indiana, and that was for a M.A. in Lat. Am. Studies, with only one year of funding. Since then, I've blamed my bad luck on the economy, which made that application cycle ultra-competitive for a number of reasons; but looking back, if I had been on those admission committees, I don't think I would have accepted myself either: my interests weren't as defined as they are now, and my reading hadn't been focused, which I'm sure showed in both my SOP and my writing sample.  Anyways, let's move on to the good stuff.  My interest in Colombia sort of just happened; I majored in History at UNC-CH, and more than half of those classes were in Latin American History, and most of those were with a professor who's married to a Colombian. And so, intermittently, as side notes in both his classes and his books, I heard bits and pieces about Colombia, though not much more than anecdotes, but enough to make me curious. Since UNC offered no exchange option to study abroad in Colombia, I settled on Mexico, which only left me wanting to see more of the region I was studying. Then, during my senior year, with a few friends, I took a trip to Bogota and to Medellin to satisfy my lingering curiosity. I loved the place enough to interview for an English teaching job while I was there, but unfortunately, I never got a call back. When I graduated, I ended up in the Peace Corps in Honduras, though I left after nine or so months, due to the coup and the widespread violence in the country, among other, more subtle reasons. Since I was only 22, still wanting both to explore Latin America and to keep up with my Spanish, I decided to move to Bogota. A year and a half later, I was back in the U.S., and ironically enough, with a Colombian wife.  Here's a brief contribution to our bibliography. Since I'm interested in the late colonial period through the early national period, roughly 1780-1850, most of what I've added looks at issues between those dates. Also, following your lead, I've included mostly monographs, the new survey by LaRosa and Mejia being the exception. I do have more that I could add, along with some articles, as well as a few works by Colombian historians, but I'll wait for other additions to this before I throw them in.  Aline Helg, Liberty and Equality in Caribbean Colombia Ann Twinam, Public Lives, Private Secrets Ann Twinam, Miners, Merchants and Farmers in Colonial Colombia David Bushnell, The Making of Modern Colombia Nancy Appelbaum, Muddied Waters: Race, Region, and Local History in Colombia, 1846-1948 Anthony McFarlane, Colombia before Independence Marixa Lasso, Myths of Harmony Michael LaRosa and German Mejia, Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History Peter Wade, Music, Race, and Nation: Musica Tropical in Colombia Peter Wade, Blackness and Race Mixture: The Dynamics of Racial Identity in Colombia Rebecca Earle, Spain and the Independence of Colombia John Leddy Phelan, The People and the King: The Comunero Revolution in Colombia, 1781 David Bushnell, The Santander Regime In Gran Colombia Saether Steinar, Identidades e independencia en Santa Marta y Riohacha, 1750-1850 James Sanders, Contentious Republicans: Popular Politics, Race, and Class in Nineteenth-Cen​tury Colombia Allan J. Kuethe, Military Reform and Society in New Granada, 1773-1808 Edited March 3, 2014 by Jdealla
diasporabound Posted March 3, 2014 Posted March 3, 2014 What a wonderful journey! I think people believe academia is much more straight-forward than it really is. Having applied more than once to both Anthro and History programs, most people I know have "other" experiences that lead them to kick butt once they find their groove in a PhD program that's a really great fit. I'm at the Yale visit now, and the people are really incredible. I would definitely reach out directly to the people you might want to work with (and maybe over time, like every few months)- to gauge who's interested in your project, and who approaches the subject in a way you appreciate (i.e. methodologically, interpretatively, etc.)  The bibliography you've added is great- I was being slightly lazy but you've reminded me of some of my old favorites. I think for Colombia it's also worthwhile to add articles, because much of the most interesting, cutting edge research for Colombian history (that reflects where scholars are now) is not reflected in English-language monographs. It might also be useful to put this convo in the Latin American History thread. This list is not just helpful for Colombianists (or even just specialists of slavery or nationalisms) but also for people working on broad themes in this period.   Let's keep the convo going!
diasporabound Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 Anyone decided/committed? Or still on the fence? It'd be nice to get an idea of who might be in the cohort, and if some of us are still on the fence, maybe we can help each other navigate the information we've gathered.Â
RevolutionBlues Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 If anyone is definitely sure that Harvard is not the place for them, those of us on the wait list would appreciate a speedy decline. Thank you catsandscarves 1
montserrat Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I'm definitely in! Looking forward to seeing the rest of you in the fall, I hope. dr. t 1
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