History, Political Science, or Policy?

[USC95]

I've got a question burning in my soul.... Should I study History, Political Science, or Public Policy?

Here are my research interests:

- History of U.S.-China Foreign Policy

- History of International Diplomacy

- International Security Studies

- History of Humanitarian Intervention

I've been influenced by the works of Niall Ferguson (Harvard-History), Gary Bass (Princeton-Politics), Philip Bobbitt (UT-Law), and I am an avid fan of studying the biographies of the U.S. Secretary of State. I would love to research, write, and teach at the university level on the history and future of U.S. - China foreign policy, and perhaps even serve in a government advisory role some day. Personally, I feel that U.S.-Chinese relations will dominate the political and global scene for the next 50-100 years - a subject of which I am passionately interested.

Here are some personal stats for your reference:

- Out of school since 1995

- No current writing sample

- GRE: 800 Math/720 Verbal/4.0 Writing

- A lot of international NGO experience (14 years)

- Fluent conversational Mandarin

Thanks for any advice you might offer. I truly appreciate it!

[Cornell07]

Yale is very open to people who are interested in both history and international relations. However, with 14 years of experience and a desire to teach, I would probably push you towards a PhD, which Yale does not offer in IR, and simply leapfrog the MA.

[USC95]

Yale is very open to people who are interested in both history and international relations. However, with 14 years of experience and a desire to teach, I would probably push you towards a PhD, which Yale does not offer in IR, and simply leapfrog the MA.

Thanks for your input. I recently met with a professor who suggested I actually get an MA before applying for a PhD program because I've been out of school so long. I was a Philosophy and Religion undergrad with very little political science or official "History" classes in my curriculum. Most of my History classes were all in the my respective departments (History of Ethics, History of Christianity, History of Islam, etc.). So I guess I understand his advice - still, I'd rather go straight into a PhD program.

Regarding the PhD program at Yale - is that in History? You mentioned that Yale does not offer one in IR. Thanks for your help!

[africagirl]

I would love to research, write, and teach at the university level on the history and future of U.S. - China foreign policy, and perhaps even serve in a government advisory role some day.

I would suggest that you decide whether you just want to do the professor thing, or the government advisory thing as well as the teaching. It might determine where you go to school. It seems to me that if you want to do the government advisory role, you need to pick a school in DC and do IR or Public Policy (I know some people on this forum might disagree with the geographic location of schools in this regard). However, if you want to teach straight history at any college/university, your school choices should be based on the quality of the program (i.e. I know UNC-Chapel Hill has a well respected PhD history program, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for IR). Just my thoughts.

[USC95]

Africagirl,

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I would definitely prefer to be "based" in academia and only branch out into a government role as a secondary role, but yes - I've been considering schools in the DC area on this. I'm just not sure if researching the history and future of US-China Relations would be better pursued in the History or Political Science realm. I know a lot of it overlaps, but I wondering about research methods and the philosophical approach to studying my subject as a "political scientist" vs an "historian". And as you suggested, studying at a Policy school might be my best choice for what I'd like to do.

I will keep researching this topic before moving forward. I truly appreciate your advice!