what do you think.....

[katanianQ]

I would be grateful for any opinions on this:

Do you think there is a stigma in completing a Phd in Europe? The university in question is decently ranked according to a few different lists (top 200 in the world) and has an excellent department with people out of very well known ivies/equivalent in US and England (who have published a lot w reputable presses..) It's not in an english speaking country though..

It just seems a lot more attractive than slaving away for 5-6 years at a US program..

For the record, I am not looking for an R1 job or anything remotely prestegious like that.. I would be happy at a very small liberal arts college if I am lucky enough to get a job at all.

I just can't justify the time, debt, and insanity..

What do you guys think?

[Spritely]

What makes the European program more attractive? If it's a funding issue, that makes total sense and may be reason enough to go. I don't think Ph.D.s in our field are correlated strongly enough with job placement to afford us the luxury of huge student loans if we aren't funded, so I'm a strong proponent of going where the funding is. On the other hand, if you would just rather live in Europe--well, join the club. But it's hard enough to get a job with a degree from a school in the U.S., and it's even harder to do so from a non U.S. program. If you have a funded offer in the U.S., I would probably take that over a European school, unless you're planning to live/teach in Europe or elsewhere in the world, in which case a well-respected European program would make equally good sense.

[adverbially]

Even though some of my interests are in Irish studies, and even though I already have an M.A., I was strongly advised against applying abroad. I was told that a European PhD is more or less useless here, unless you want to teach at, say, a really good private high school. Bummer, though, because 3 years in Dublin sounded pretty sweet.

[katanianQ]

Well, the European Ph.D would be free since I have dual citizenship.. And also, it a research degree so you basically write your dissertation and then you're finished.. so 3 years instead of 6 years..

Adverbially, if you don't mind me asking, where did you hear that a european Ph.D is useless? I actually did my M.Phil in Ireland and it opened a lot of doors for me.. I got a full time assistant professorship after 1 month on the job market when I came back to the states. Now granted, I am at a small college, but as I stated before, that's all I'm after really. I'd just like to move up to a slightly bigger school. (the job thing was very fluke-y and i was very very lucky.)

[adverbially]

The info came from the MA director and the PhD director at the university where I did my Master's, which is a pretty well-ranked and well-regarded school. That's just the advice of two people, though; I'd fish around.