What to do next summer

[maelia8]

I know it's early to be thinking about this, but a lot of scholarship/fellowship deadlines are in November and it's never too early to start planning, so I thought I'd send out a call to veteran history grad students now: What did you do during your first couple of summers in grad school (before orals)?

 

How did you make the time productive? Did you leave your university town, and if so, did you apply for funds to do language courses/cultural immersion/research somewhere else (and with what programs)? If you stayed in town, did you take on a summer job to earn extra cash?

 

At our new student orientation the coordinator was really serious about the need to "put summers to good use," but wasn't very clear about what exactly we should be doing, so I just wanted to hear tales of successful summer activities.

 

 

[ProfLorax]

I'm an English, but I imagine History and English PhD programs tend to be structured similarly (disregard this post if I'm wrong).

 

I think what is productive for your first summer depends on your need. For my first summer, I needed to complete my language requirement, make money, and stay home. I applied for a graduate school summer research grant specifically for students early in the PhD program and used the $5,000 to pay for a local language immersion program and to pay bills. I was shocked to find out that only two people from my program applied for the funding, and since each program can nominate up to two applications, I had no competition. I had heard from faculty that grad students don't apply for enough funding opportunities early in their career, and I guess they are right! Next summer, I'll have an infant in tow and will hopefully be working on my prospectus. I will apply for that same summer research fellowship, and if I don't get that, push to get some online teaching opportunities on campus. 

 

Other first years in my program focused on working since they needed to make money. Some of them found jobs that will add to their CV (teaching); others did not (barista). A friend of mine, who also needed more language expertise, applied for and received funding to study Spanish in Costa Rica. Those with children took the opportunity to not pay for childcare and hang out with the kids while reading and writing for independent projects. 

 

I will suggest that even if you are working in any sense, try to make some time to be "off." Yes, I did complete the language immersion programs and my language requirement (holla!), but I also visited my family and the in-laws in California for two weeks and visited Savannah for fun. It's good to take summers as an opportunity to get ahead and be productive, but it's also important to take a breather too! 

[spellbanisher]

I'll be doing research for my second year research paper, and preparing for language exams. Although you asked for opinions from veteran history students, so maybe I should just shut up. 

Edited September 28, 2014 by spellbanisher

[sacklunch]

Languages. Apply far and wide and go where the money is. 

[kyjin]

Like proflorax said, many early graduate students don't apply for enough funding. I ended up applying for two fellowships last summer and received both, and the one was through History and had no competition. (Other students didn't think to apply? I don't know.) I spent half of my summer in Japan doing research and attending a seminar at a local university in Tokyo, and the other half in a language workshop for Sino-Japanese at my home institution. The money from my two fellowships covered all my trip expenses and my living expenses back in LA for the summer. Next year I'm planning on doing the same language workshop and prepping for quals, so I hope to apply for the same fellowships again. 

[TMP]

In my first summer, I did the DAAD language study program (2 months) and a 2 week archival seminar in Germany.  The remaining time was spent catching up on work and seeing friends.... and recovering from the stress of my first year.

 

Second summer was spent doing pre-dissertation research, seeing friends, and traveling a bit all in Europe.

 

Apply for anything.  Get yourself out of your town.  Check with your adviser as well to see if s/he has specific ideas (mine definitely did- reading for exams but she wrote letters anyway because the opportunities were too good not to try for).

[rising_star]

I'm not in history. I also started my PhD program with a MA, which meant I was eligible to teach courses. My first two summers I taught summer courses AND did research abroad. I applied for and received funding to cover my research expenses and used to the summer teaching money to pay rent and expenses stateside. It worked out well in that it helped me refine my research question, figure out what data and resources were available, make connections, and gain teaching experience. The summer courses at my institution are 5 weeks max in length, which meant that I still had plenty of time to spend 6 weeks doing research and a couple weeks at home with my family.

 

It's good that you're asking now. Deadlines pop up seemingly randomly for the kind of small thing that can support summer research. One summer, I found funding from a source even the grant/fellowship folks at my university hadn't really heard of. It was a total longshot (they hadn't really been funding research from grad students OR research in my area) but I applied and got it, much to the surprise of my advisor, the university grants person, and I. My point in telling this is that you should apply even if you don't think you'll get it because you really never know. It's kinda a crapshoot when you apply for funding so just do it if you can. And don't overlook small grants ($500-$1000), even if you need to go overseas. I got 3 small grants my first summer, which was enough to fund a 5 week research trip abroad. There was less competition for those grants because a lot of people overlook the small grants and go for the larger ones. Don't be like that. Apply for it all!

[maelia8]

@TMP I was thinking of applying for DAAD language course funding, but they mention in the description that it's aimed at A1-B2 level speakers and I've already been assessed as C2 - do you think it would be worth my time? I also looked into their 1-2 month summer research grants, but they clearly state that those grants are intended for ABD people who are done with orals and have a clear dissertation project (which currently does not describe me). 

 

In general, is it possible to get funding for research grants when you aren't yet sure of your exact dissertation topic? Would it be frowned upon to apply for a grant for research on something that may turn into merely a seminar paper?

[TMP]

@TMP I was thinking of applying for DAAD language course funding, but they mention in the description that it's aimed at A1-B2 level speakers and I've already been assessed as C2 - do you think it would be worth my time? I also looked into their 1-2 month summer research grants, but they clearly state that those grants are intended for ABD people who are done with orals and have a clear dissertation project (which currently does not describe me). 

 

In general, is it possible to get funding for research grants when you aren't yet sure of your exact dissertation topic? Would it be frowned upon to apply for a grant for research on something that may turn into merely a seminar paper?

 

I don't think so.  C2 is hard to come by as most people would just move on by that point.  Also, DAAD's stipend gets spent on your housing and course fee (seriously) so there's no money left for food, transportation, etc. I was able to get a free airfare out of my graduate seminar.  Everything worked out for me.  If you want funding from DAAD, you may just have to wait until you're able to be ABD at the time you're given the award.

 

It's okay not to have a firm dissertation topic when you apply for pre-diss funding . It's the point of these grants- to help you get to the archives, find your topic, and check for the topic's viability.  They will assume that you're working on literature review, which should be made evident in your proposal.

[Riotbeard]

My first summer, I did exploratory research and MA thesis research.  Second summer, I worked on my dissertation prospectus and other things we have to do to prepare for our defense. Since then, been doing dissertation research every summer, years, etc.  Would definitely recommend applying for grants good and early to get used to the process.

[Sigaba]

I had a fellowship that covered tuition and fees for summer school so I did additional course work. As there was no stipend for the summer months, I spent a lot of time in the stacks.

After the summer sessions, I shuffled for work and tried to control the insomnia.