Southern History

[georgiagirl]

I am applying for graduate school in history this fall. My area of interest is in Southern history, especially southern women's history. Without considering GRE, GPA and all that, which schools would be best for my area of interest? I know there are several obvious answers but I would appreciate lesser known suggestions as well. Any location, any cost,etc. Just looking for a starting point for narrowing down schools. Thanks so much!

[Ardea]

If your application is strong enough, the MA program at Memphis might make an excellent safety. It's extremely strong in Southern history.

Duke, WUSTL and UNC are also great choices for Southern history. There's quite a lot of work in gender studies at all three.

[futurePhD]

I'd also look at places like Vandy, Rice, Virginia, Florida, Emory, and the University of Georgia. I am sure there are countless others, that is just off the top of my head. This is really something that you should discuss at length with your undergraduate professors, however. They will not only know what schools you should apply to, but they will likely know some of the important people in your field.

[geigwm6]

I am interested in southern history too:

My list so far is: University of Georgia, College of William and Mary, and Wake Forest University and maybe LSU.

UVA, UNC, Duke, Rice, Florida, Vanderbilt, WUSTL are all great too, but I think they are too large of reaches for me--I will probably apply to two of those.

[gildedProgressive]

Are any of you (or other) Southern historians still around?!

[LifeIsGood]

I'm working in Southern history. More specifically, enslaved and free people of color in the 19th C South. You?

[gildedProgressive]

Gilded Age/Progressive era women and women laborers in the South. Also particularly interested in Alabama history (politics), and that could really be for any era, but I prefer post WW2.

[kfed2020]

Don't forget Glenda Gilmore at Yale or Evelyn Higginbotham at Harvard. Both wonderful people to work with.

Edited January 16, 2010 by kfed2020

[Caligula]

The University of Georgia! I know it's the third or fourth time it's been suggested on this thread, but it's among the best (perhaps the best) for graduate students working in southern American history.

[Riotbeard]

Hey everybody,

I was going to try and jump start this thread, now that the season is almost over... I will first start by admitting I am going to be an apprentice Southern historian (the first step is admitting you have a problem). I work in the antebellum era my regional interest is lowcountry South Carolina, but more broadly I am interested in race production and the impact racial science on Southern culture and economy in the Atlantic World, and the role of poor relief and public benevolence movements in the South. I have not committed yet, but I think I am going to be at Tulane next year to start my Ma/PhD. Where do you peeps expect to be? What are your more specific interests? southern historians unite! Also... UGA is great, their faculty is super nice and stephen Berry, in particular, is a badass.

[gildedProgressive]

I've posted on this thread before, but I'll be at Auburn working on my MA this fall. I think most of my interests are vague, at best, and I'm hoping they get more focused once I actually get in school.. :/ Though, I'd potentially continue work in some capacity on the CCC in Alabama. It's a project I've been hacking away at for a while now.

[Riotbeard]

<br />I've posted on this thread before, but I'll be at Auburn working on my MA this fall.  I think most of my interests are vague, at best, and I'm hoping they get more focused once I actually get in school.. :/  Though, I'd potentially continue work in some capacity on the CCC in Alabama.  It's a project I've been hacking away at for a while now.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

War Eagle! I grew up alabama, and Auburn is the side I chose in Alabama's internal civil war (I have never attended either school though...). My interests are just the projects I still like from undergrad; I could do a total 180 for my dissertation

[gildedProgressive]

<br /><br /><br />

War Eagle! I grew up alabama, and Auburn is the side I chose in Alabama's internal civil war (I have never attended either school though...). My interests are just the projects I still like from undergrad; I could do a total 180 for my dissertation

War Eagle! I grew up an Auburn fan. The stars aligned, and out of 6 schools and two years, Auburn offered me everything I wanted! Glad to hear of someone else from Alabama!

[outlawesq]

War Eagle! I grew up an Auburn fan. The stars aligned, and out of 6 schools and two years, Auburn offered me everything I wanted! Glad to hear of someone else from Alabama!

I"ll put my vote in for Rice (where I did my undergrad) and South Carolina (where I will be this fall for PhD). John Boles at Rice is amazing and one of the top scholars in the field. He got his Phd. at UVA. I contacted him recently and he still remembers me from almost 15 years ago! Not sure about his age though so you might want to check. My guess is he'll be around for awhile. I'll be focusing on legal history but with a strong interest in Southern and African American history as well. I'm interested in legal meanings of race and freedom and the cross-sections of race, poverty and criminal justice.

You've got some great suggestions and I can't really add much to it. Look at Emory. I hear Fox-Genovese is a great advisor and is very well known in the field as well. If you're looking for lower-ranked/unranked programs I hear UNC-Greensboro is strong in Southern as well but I honestly know nothing about it. Good luck!

[ChibaCityBlues]

I"ll put my vote in for Rice (where I did my undergrad) and South Carolina (where I will be this fall for PhD). John Boles at Rice is amazing and one of the top scholars in the field. He got his Phd. at UVA. I contacted him recently and he still remembers me from almost 15 years ago! Not sure about his age though so you might want to check. My guess is he'll be around for awhile. I'll be focusing on legal history but with a strong interest in Southern and African American history as well. I'm interested in legal meanings of race and freedom and the cross-sections of race, poverty and criminal justice.

You've got some great suggestions and I can't really add much to it. Look at Emory. I hear Fox-Genovese is a great advisor and is very well known in the field as well. If you're looking for lower-ranked/unranked programs I hear UNC-Greensboro is strong in Southern as well but I honestly know nothing about it. Good luck!

Sorry to say, but not has Fox-Genovese been dead for several years now, but when she was alive she had the reputation of being a really nasty person and awful adviser.

[outlawesq]

Sorry to say, but not has Fox-Genovese been dead for several years now, but when she was alive she had the reputation of being a really nasty person and awful adviser.

my bad...guess real life outside of academia for so long has kept me too busy to realize the woman died but I know someone who specifically went to Emory just to work with her & I' m sure her career is all the better for it.

[amercanist]

I don't know why so many people on these boards seem to be hung up on the brand name of the school. For the OP, go somewhere where there is a giant (or even better, up and coming assoc profs) in the field which you choose to study. Though many of these big names might be tied to the laundry list of universities mentioned here, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to go there as well. I mean, can you honestly say if someone like C. Vann Woodward (yes, I know he died. yes, I know he was at Yale) taught at some backwood West Virginia university, that anyone here interested in studying with him would honestly think about the reputation of the school? Certainly you have to think about funding and the area of the country in which you want to live, but seriously, go to where the scholars are not necessarily to the label --- I'll get off my soapbox now

Anyhow, to answer your question directly, I think Glenda Gilmore (Yale) and perhaps Jacquelyn Dowd Hall (UNC) might be of interest to you depending on your period. Though you have to consider the fact that since they are so well-known, their time for taking on new grad students might be limited. My advice: select some books you've read and enjoyed, how well were they received? Look at the programs which those scholars are at and go from there. Good luck to you.

[amercanist]

I don't know why so many people on these boards seem to be hung up on the brand name of the school. For the OP, go somewhere where there is a giant (or even better, up and coming assoc profs) in the field which you choose to study. Though many of these big names might be tied to the laundry list of universities mentioned here, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to go there as well. I mean, can you honestly say if someone like C. Vann Woodward (yes, I know he died. yes, I know he was at Yale) taught at some backwood West Virginia university, that anyone here interested in studying with him would honestly think about the reputation of the school? Certainly you have to think about funding and the area of the country in which you want to live, but seriously, go to where the scholars are not necessarily to the label --- I'll get off my soapbox now

Anyhow, to answer your question directly, I think Glenda Gilmore (Yale) and perhaps Jacquelyn Dowd Hall (UNC) might be of interest to you depending on your period. Though you have to consider the fact that since they are so well-known, their time for taking on new grad students might be limited. My advice: select some books you've read and enjoyed, how well were they received? Look at the programs which those scholars are at and go from there. Good luck to you.

lol, just looked at the date of OP post, my bad.

[Kai210]

On 8/25/2009 at 4:50 PM, georgiagirl said:

I am applying for graduate school in history this fall. My area of interest is in Southern history, especially southern women's history. Without considering GRE, GPA and all that, which schools would be best for my area of interest? I know there are several obvious answers but I would appreciate lesser known suggestions as well. Any location, any cost,etc. Just looking for a starting point for narrowing down schools. Thanks so much!

Duke, Rice, WUSTL, University of North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Emory come to mind. Also, I would strongly recommend Yale as Glenda Gilmore's expertise is in the area of southern history, specifically women's history. She's an awesome scholar and very well-known in the field.