dr. t Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 The results thread has revealed that there are several medievalists kicking around here. I thought we might have our own little exclusive thread for chat, language questions, and conferences. So, is anyone going to Kalamazoo or Leeds? I will be presenting at the former, and hopefully the latter (pending funding). (Yes, the title is deliberate) unræd 1
L13 Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 Not going to any conferences, but good luck and thanks for creating this thread!
kblooms Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I switch being a Medievalist and a Ancient almost daily. Late Antique Byzantinist so I have a foot in both camps
scirefaciat Posted February 15, 2015 Posted February 15, 2015 I am contemplating a trip to the Zoo this year, as I haven't ever been. I think alot will depend upon whether I am accepted to a program or not though.
dr. t Posted February 15, 2015 Author Posted February 15, 2015 I am contemplating a trip to the Zoo this year, as I haven't ever been. I think alot will depend upon whether I am accepted to a program or not though. It's a fun experience - this will be my third time.
Vr4douche Posted February 18, 2015 Posted February 18, 2015 I have a B.A. and M.A. in medieval studies but I have shifted focus to Late-Antiquity. I have applied to Oxbridge divinity schools PhD/Dphil programs studying Late-Antique philosophy and intellectual history. I have professors excited to work with me so it looks good. I have also applied to University of Toronto's Center for Medieval Studies since I am a native Torontonian and did my BA at UofT. I am scheduled to present a paper at the upcoming Oxford Patristics Conference. I wanted to apply to several U.S. schools...St.Louis, Notre Dame, Western-Mich. etc. but I refuse to write the GRE test. It may simply be that as a Canadian I am not accustomed to standardized tests like SAT ACT etc. but I think it is a costly waste of time that serves no purpose. It is a shame. I looked forward to studying in the U.S....c'est la vie. I am contemplating abandoning medieval studies though. I have applied to several programs studying modern medieval military history. I fear that teaching jobs in medieval history will be hard to come by. It may just come down to funding etc....I've already been offered admission to a military history program with $30,000 in funding.
dr. t Posted February 20, 2015 Author Posted February 20, 2015 Did anyone apply to the PIMS paleography certificate program this year ( http://www.pims.ca/academics/diploma-programme-in-manuscript-studies) ? Have you heard back?
kblooms Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 I have a B.A. and M.A. in medieval studies but I have shifted focus to Late-Antiquity. I have applied to Oxbridge divinity schools PhD/Dphil programs studying Late-Antique philosophy and intellectual history. I have professors excited to work with me so it looks good. I have also applied to University of Toronto's Center for Medieval Studies since I am a native Torontonian and did my BA at UofT. I am scheduled to present a paper at the upcoming Oxford Patristics Conference. I wanted to apply to several U.S. schools...St.Louis, Notre Dame, Western-Mich. etc. but I refuse to write the GRE test. It may simply be that as a Canadian I am not accustomed to standardized tests like SAT ACT etc. but I think it is a costly waste of time that serves no purpose. It is a shame. I looked forward to studying in the U.S....c'est la vie. I am contemplating abandoning medieval studies though. I have applied to several programs studying modern medieval military history. I fear that teaching jobs in medieval history will be hard to come by. It may just come down to funding etc....I've already been offered admission to a military history program with $30,000 in funding. GRE isn't that bad, takes less than three hours, and it opens up so many doors at US institutions with phenomenal medievalists.
Vr4douche Posted February 20, 2015 Posted February 20, 2015 I understand its not that burdensome but I still resist it. also I have not studied math in a decade and probably not to the GRE level. I would have needed months to prepare for a test that, to me, proves nothing.
xypathos Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 I guess I'm a medievalist but my focus is on the Hussites and Bohemian Reformation history - probably one of only three people in the world Since my interest is at the intersection of history and theology, Tom Fudge is really the only person qualified to supervise my work. Everyone I've contacted, literally, has replied back "You need to be in dialogue with Tom Fudge. He would love to have you as a student." Which is nice, since he's told me the same! That said, I'm in year one of a M.Div program so it'll have to wait.
dr. t Posted February 21, 2015 Author Posted February 21, 2015 I guess I'm a medievalist but my focus is on the Hussites and Bohemian Reformation history - probably one of only three people in the world Here's another: http://www.bu.edu/history/faculty/phillip-haberkern/ xypathos 1
xypathos Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 Here's another: http://www.bu.edu/history/faculty/phillip-haberkern/ I reached out to him several weeks ago but he never responded, so I took it as sign of him not being interested
dr. t Posted February 21, 2015 Author Posted February 21, 2015 I reached out to him several weeks ago but he never responded, so I took it as sign of him not being interested Hm, I would try again. In my brief experience, he's a pretty friendly guy.
Vr4douche Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) I wouldn't read too much into not getting a response. Profs get a lot of emails. God, as a TA I received probably 30 per week. Things happen...emails get missed or forgotten, its no biggie. I had several POIs who only responded after a second email, and more that took a month or two to respond. I emailed one prof. late November and heard back early January. When he did respond he was the most interested of any of my POIs. If your project limits you to 1 professor I think its too narrow. Find potential POIs in your general area and tailor your proposal to them. As profs. from Oxford and Cambridge have told me, the application proposal just gets your foot in the door and can be changed after acceptance. Edited February 21, 2015 by Vr4douche
scirefaciat Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 Wow, I didn't know about that program, Telkanuru. I might have to check it out -- I am pretty good with late 13th and 14th century legal hands, even some of the earlier 13th century stuff. I am not as comfortable with ecclesiastical scripts, especially things like books of hours that are meant to be fancy. What types of documents do you tend to work with?
xypathos Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) I wouldn't read too much into not getting a response. Profs get a lot of emails. God, as a TA I received probably 30 per week. Things happen...emails get missed or forgotten, its no biggie. I had several POIs who only responded after a second email, and more that took a month or two to respond. I emailed one prof. late November and heard back early January. When he did respond he was the most interested of any of my POIs. If your project limits you to 1 professor I think its too narrow. Find potential POIs in your general area and tailor your proposal to them. As profs. from Oxford and Cambridge have told me, the application proposal just gets your foot in the door and can be changed after acceptance. Thanks! Dr. Fudge responded a month or so after I sent my initial email but I also knew he was in Germany at the time doing research and when he got done there, the term was starting up at UNE. I'll put together another email for Haberkern and try again. I exaggerated a little when I said there's only one professor that my interests line up with. Haberkern is a possibility perhaps, Palmitessa at Western Mich. said he was interested but from a more socio-cultural perspective and if I wanted to stay theological, Fudge would be better. Also, its been suggested that Howard Louthan at Minnesota (he literally just moved there a bit ago to take over the Center for Austrian Studies) might be interested. Edited February 21, 2015 by xypathos
dr. t Posted February 21, 2015 Author Posted February 21, 2015 Wow, I didn't know about that program, Telkanuru. I might have to check it out -- I am pretty good with late 13th and 14th century legal hands, even some of the earlier 13th century stuff. I am not as comfortable with ecclesiastical scripts, especially things like books of hours that are meant to be fancy. What types of documents do you tend to work with? Sermons, monastic charters, devotional texts, that sort of thing. Definitely more towards formal book hands, but those can get kind of messy, too. I'm a pretty good "practical" paleographer, but I want some experience being able to discern different hands and a better background in the details of manuscript production.
scirefaciat Posted February 21, 2015 Posted February 21, 2015 I love that sort of stuff -- there is actually a really interesting study going right now having to do with tracking parkinson's through medieval paleography. It's going on at York -- I will see if I can find a link for you. I'm at the point now where I can distinguish different people's handwriting in the writs, and that is alot of fun. There is one that writes like he is sitting on the back of a horse ALL the time.
dr. t Posted February 26, 2015 Author Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Does anyone have any thoughts about how to get (used) foreign-language books? I'm currently trying to get a copy of Ernst Kantorowicz's 1931 edition of Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite, but I've only been able to locate it on amazon.de, and they won't ship to the US or to my friend in GB. Edited February 26, 2015 by telkanuru
virmundi Posted February 26, 2015 Posted February 26, 2015 Does anyone have any thoughts about how to get (used) foreign-language books? I'm currently trying to get a copy of Ernst Kantorowicz's 1931 edition of Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite, but I've only been able to locate it on amazon.de, and they won't ship to the US or to my friend in GB. The best place in my experience is abebooks.
alpheratz Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Popping into this rather old topic to wave hi to my fellow medievalists. I leechblocked gradcafe this past year (I need to focus on my studies!), but I finally undid that. Is going to Kalamazoo the summer between MA and PhD worthwhile, do you think? Or is it mostly PhD students who go? I've never been, but there's some stuff I'd like to see!
Joan Callamezzo Posted March 21, 2015 Posted March 21, 2015 I gave a paper at the Zoo as an MA a couple years ago and I LOVED it! It was seriously such a fantastic experience and really cemented that I was doing what I was meant to be doing. Going as an MA is actually perfect because no one really expects anything out of you, and the senior scholars are so wonderful and supportive, and just all around excited to see fresh faces. Everyone wants to give you advice and buy you drinks and take you under their wing.
dr. t Posted April 10, 2015 Author Posted April 10, 2015 For those interested in English history, HLS has begun to digitize its fairly impressive collection of Manor Rolls. http://etseq.law.harvard.edu/2015/03/early-english-manor-rolls-go-online/
mvlchicago Posted April 10, 2015 Posted April 10, 2015 EM student just came to say holy smokes please thank your scholars for engaging postcolonial theory over the past ten years. It's making my dissertation ideas easier, knowing that I'm temporally surrounded from both sides .
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