History

[Guest daphna]

history of museums sounds like a fascinating subject! I had no idea anyone studied that.

I know berekley is known for the whole "inter" thing. Don't know as much about Cambridge because I didn't check out the options in England (I opted for where the fellowships dwell - in the U.S).

[History_Nerd]

A few people study the history of museums, not many, but it is becoming a more popular field. I'll plug a really killer book called, Museums and American Intellectual Life 1876-1926 by Steven Conn. He teaches at Ohio State, is a total dude and a really amazing scholar. That's just one example of the kind of stuff I'd like to do.

[Guest daphna]

I will definitly look it up!

Unfortunately, though, I keep buying/borrowing history books that sound fascinating but aren't directly related to my research, and I rarely have time to read them.

For about a year I completely stopped reading fiction and read only history books, but I kind of felt like I was missing a part of my rest-time, so I went back to reading fiction. :-)

[Guest bobb]

i know daphna is on the NW wait list but has anyone else in this forum either been accept or waitlisted there? i am on the wait list and hope so much to get in

[mhcrosefly311]

Bobb what schools are you wating on....hope you get in.

[Guest bobb]

just waiting to hear from nw

[rising_star]

Sucks that you're still waiting on NW, Bobb. Any other options out there for you?

[History_Nerd]

It is hard to believe that some of us are still waiting on details with T minus not-a-lot-of-time-left.

Good luck everyone!

[rising_star]

Any word yet guys????

[Guest daphna]

I got notified that I didn't get into NW. I think they either didn't go to the waitlist or took very few people off it.

I'm ok with that since I already decided on another school.

How did it go for you, bobb?

[Noesis]

Why isn't this thread under "Humanities"? That's why history people don't find it...

I'm gonna be in Pittsburgh for the next several years, it seems.

[mhcrosefly311]

So let's begin the debate...History--part of the humanities or is it a social science? State a reason...or don't. keeping it informal....

My vote...History is definitely a social science.

[Guest daphna]

In Israel it's part of the humanities.

I think in the US it's considered a social science because of the period we went through where humanities people were having an inferiority complex because they "aren't really a science". So there was an attempt (also based on the Marxist view of history) to try and make History more "scientific" by using more statistics, numbers etc, and to incorporate more techniques from social sciences like sociology, economy etc.

Personally my kind of history is a lot closer to humanities than to social sciences. It is a science only in the sense that it must prove everything based on clear scientific rules of what is acceptable and what is not, what is based on something substantial (sources etc.) and what is conjecture. The history I hope to do is about people, not only as masses, groups, statistical groupings etc, but as individual people. As such it is more a humanities than a social science.

However, I also use techniques from subjects like anthropology etc. In that sense History is closer to social sciences. So I think it's kind of on the border, standing between social sciences and humanities.

But as for this forum, Noesis, It's under "social sciences" because in most American universities History is part of the Social Sciences.

[History_Nerd]

Social Sciences because I can't actually read :?

Kidding.

[pistolwink]

Humanities!

[mhcrosefly311]

I'll be shooting my own argument in the foot...but at my school history is part of the humanities and not the social sciences. Though from my discussion with my advisor (a historian) have always concluded with us agreeing that History is more of a social science than a humanities (unless you include the biographers-j/k).

[History_Nerd]

So where are my other history peeps heading in this autumn?

[Guest daphna]

I'm headed to Brown.

[History_Nerd]

I found this on "Blog Them Out of the Stone Age" (http://warhistorian.org/wordpress/index.php)

http://warhistorian.org/wordpress/?p=303

(See the link to read the full post)

April 24, 2006

Grad School Barbie

Filed under: The Craft of History — Mark G. @ 7:00 am

GRADUATE SCHOOL BARBIE ™

Graduate School Barbie comes in two styles! Delusional Master’s Barbie ™ and Ph.D. Masochist Barbie ™. Every Graduate School Barbie comes with these fun-filled features guaranteed to delight and entertain for hours:

* Grad School Barbie comes out of the box with a big grin on her face that turns into a frown after 2 weeks or her first advisor meeting (whichever comes first).

* Adorable black circles under her delightfully bloodshot eyes!

* Two outfits: a grubby pair of blue jeans with 5-year-old gap T-shirt, and a floppy pair of gray sweatpants with a matching “Go Screw Yourself

[Guest Minnesotan]

Man... I was wondering why there were no historians around here.

My vote: humanities!

[mhcrosefly311]

watch you mouth young man...history is a social science!

[History_Nerd]

Uh-oh, this could get nasty.

Too bad we can't settle this over a beer. Can I just go ahead and have one anyway?

I think it depends what type of history you do. I'm not going to even bother spell checking the following statement but anthropologists talk about qualitative research versus quantatative research all of the time - and I haven't heard of a lot of historians talking about the differences or why they matter to the study of the past.

Historians who like numbers, graphs, and charts might be interested in this link:

http://www.ssha.org/

And those who aren't, well, you might take comfort in the way that this journal is catagorized:

http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/

(The link is to a BRITISH journal however, and they drive on the wrong side of the road for crying out loud)

Myself? I decided not to be an anthropologist partially because I hate math and numbers, and in my experience, historians have an easier time avoiding them and just exploring a narative than many of their partners in the social sciences.

In your face GIANT Sociology thread!

[mhcrosefly311]

ahhh numbers, sigh! Lovely, lovely numbers...

Moving on from this debate, what is your favorite way to let people know that you want/are a historian-in the making?

My favorite is..."I love to talk to dead people" (though inaccurate, still fun to say).

[Guest Minnesotan]

I just make a snarky comment anytime someone mentions the "History" Channel. The Bombings and NAZIs channel, more like!

If you can't fit in a reference to Greek or Roman culture, it's just not history. =)

And social sciences are for touchy-feely Californians who like to talk about their personhood. Pfft!

[mhcrosefly311]

dude! when did social sciences become touchy feely? And yes I am a Californian transplant in Western MA. (will be retransplanted in Bloomington really, really soon...ugh! no ocean!). Haha...touchy feeling thats real good! I tend to see social scientists as nearly inhuman--sort of like...ummm...scientists with formulas that they use to plug in for ready made results.

As for the "History Channel" crack, I tend to agree whole heartedly with your statement just switch Greek and Roman culture with anything from Latin America and the Caribbean because you ancient guys do get your 15 mins. of glory...heh.

;-)