mention faculty from other departments in SOP?

[a fragrant plant]

I understand that it's very important to discuss how apposite a department fits for one's research project in the statement of purpose. I only apply to programs that have people who are either the theoretical or geographical specialists in my area of research. Given the fact that Sociocultural anthropology is a very broad subject, is it appropriate to mention faculty of other departments (e.g., history, science studies, women's studies, etc) who may play a subsidiary role in my PhD education? The rationale behind this approach is to highlight the fit between me and the school and my commitment to inter-disciplinary understanding of social phenomenon. All comments are welcome; especially from those who are in social science. Thank you in advance!

Edited November 6, 2009 by peanuttheanthro

[LordNorth]

I think it's fine to mention them as people who have influenced your opinions, thoughts or studies to date; in general, I think it's good to be specific about what you're interested in and whose work you have read. However, I wouldn't spend too much time talking about them, if I were you. I definitely wouldn't make out like people in other departments are a main reason for you applying to that university - my understanding is that you're trying to establish a fit with the department, not the university as a whole. But like I said, mentioning them as people who have shaped you as an intellectual sounds great.

[dzk]

You're applying to the program/department, not to the school, so they really don't care about what you think about faculty outside the department. Focus your interests and show them that you're a good fit... they'll figure it out without you invoking names.

In fact, you often need to be very careful even with the names you drop within the department. I don't know how anthropology works, but in the life sciences, I would not mention anyone by name you have not personally corresponded with.

[modernity]

I wouldn't mention names specifically - but perhaps that other departments are also involved in similar avenues. I would reference interdepartmental cooperation or something of that sort. There has to be a clever way to phrase it - putting more than that I think would distract from your interest in their department.

[fuzzylogician]

It depends on each department's culture. Check out their websites: if a department mentions collaboration as part of the its official description and has affiliated faculty from other departments listed on its faculty page, I think it's safe to mention them (and perhaps others) yourself. As others have said, they shouldn't be the main reason you're applying, so don't talk about them too much. On the other hand, if a department doesn't say anything about collaborations, when you look at professors' publications there's nothing coauthored and the faculty page doesn't list affiliated faculty, then I wouldn't mention professors from other departments. It could signal to the department that you don't understand its culture and are looking to do things it doesn't normally allow.

[rising_star]

I think it's fine to mention them as people who have influenced your opinions, thoughts or studies to date; in general, I think it's good to be specific about what you're interested in and whose work you have read. However, I wouldn't spend too much time talking about them, if I were you. I definitely wouldn't make out like people in other departments are a main reason for you applying to that university - my understanding is that you're trying to establish a fit with the department, not the university as a whole. But like I said, mentioning them as people who have shaped you as an intellectual sounds great.

Here's the thing though: If they are faculty elsewhere on campus, they may not have influenced the OP's thoughts or studies to date. I don't think that mentioning people in other departments who do related research and/or may be appropriate as committee members will make the SOP any less specific. What it would show, in my mind, is that the OP has done research on not just the department/program but the university as a whole to make sure it would be a good fit. Granted I'm in a different social science discipline, but I was encouraged to make sure the university as a whole had the resources to support me by potential advisors when I contacted them prior to applying.

Note: I'm not saying that the OP shouldn't make his/her fit with the department clear. That is important, obviously. But showing that you will be able to have all the appropriate resources at your disposal is seen as a good thing, at least in my field. (For something like anthropology where you may need specific research languages that are not taught everywhere, showing that you know where to find these on campus can be an asset. Like if your research requires Bambara and you need to further your language skills, applying to a program & university with no expertise in African languages will likely seem weird and won't help you get where you need to.)

You're applying to the program/department, not to the school, so they really don't care about what you think about faculty outside the department. Focus your interests and show them that you're a good fit... they'll figure it out without you invoking names.

In fact, you often need to be very careful even with the names you drop within the department. I don't know how anthropology works, but in the life sciences, I would not mention anyone by name you have not personally corresponded with.

You can definitely mention people you haven't contacted, particularly if they are in other departments. It's all about how you do it. I don't think anyone expects you to have contacted every potential dissertation committee member in the department. For example, I only contacted potential advisors at each school. In my SOP, I referenced a few other faculty with similar interests that I'd also like to take courses from and have on a committee. No one looked askance or said anything negative about this. One person said it showed that I'd done my research on the faculty as a whole. Because really, one person isn't enough. You have to take classes from more than one person if you expect to earn your PhD.

Maybe the life sciences are different but there is a lot of collaboration between faculty in different departments in the social sciences. I'm not in anthro but a lot of the faculty in my department collaborate with anthropology, sociology, and area studies faculty. In fact, most of my advisor's collaborators are outside of our department.

I wouldn't mention names specifically - but perhaps that other departments are also involved in similar avenues. I would reference interdepartmental cooperation or something of that sort. There has to be a clever way to phrase it - putting more than that I think would distract from your interest in their department.

The problem with this is that a lot of departments say they collaborate when they don't really. If you need such collaboration to really advance your studies, why not be upfront about it in your SOP?

Anecdote time. My research interests are focused on a particular region of the world. On one PhD program visit, my potential advisor actually arranged appointments for me with a number of the faculty in the Area Studies Center for that region. Why? Because he wanted to make it clear to me that there were plenty of resources on campus to support me doing research in that region. These faculty were from all sorts of other social science and humanities departments, all were very encouraging about my research interests, and all were trying to make it clear to me that the university had strong support for research in that region. Now granted, I didn't know that when I applied but I can't imagine that mentioning faculty associated with that center would've hurt my application in any way.

I hope that story made sense. It's hard to tell and keep anonymous. If you're confused, just PM me.

[coyabean]

Here's the thing though: If they are faculty elsewhere on campus, they may not have influenced the OP's thoughts or studies to date. I don't think that mentioning people in other departments who do related research and/or may be appropriate as committee members will make the SOP any less specific. What it would show, in my mind, is that the OP has done research on not just the department/program but the university as a whole to make sure it would be a good fit. Granted I'm in a different social science discipline, but I was encouraged to make sure the university as a whole had the resources to support me by potential advisors when I contacted them prior to applying.

Note: I'm not saying that the OP shouldn't make his/her fit with the department clear. That is important, obviously. But showing that you will be able to have all the appropriate resources at your disposal is seen as a good thing, at least in my field. (For something like anthropology where you may need specific research languages that are not taught everywhere, showing that you know where to find these on campus can be an asset. Like if your research requires Bambara and you need to further your language skills, applying to a program & university with no expertise in African languages will likely seem weird and won't help you get where you need to.)

You can definitely mention people you haven't contacted, particularly if they are in other departments. It's all about how you do it. I don't think anyone expects you to have contacted every potential dissertation committee member in the department. For example, I only contacted potential advisors at each school. In my SOP, I referenced a few other faculty with similar interests that I'd also like to take courses from and have on a committee. No one looked askance or said anything negative about this. One person said it showed that I'd done my research on the faculty as a whole. Because really, one person isn't enough. You have to take classes from more than one person if you expect to earn your PhD.

Maybe the life sciences are different but there is a lot of collaboration between faculty in different departments in the social sciences. I'm not in anthro but a lot of the faculty in my department collaborate with anthropology, sociology, and area studies faculty. In fact, most of my advisor's collaborators are outside of our department.

The problem with this is that a lot of departments say they collaborate when they don't really. If you need such collaboration to really advance your studies, why not be upfront about it in your SOP?

Anecdote time. My research interests are focused on a particular region of the world. On one PhD program visit, my potential advisor actually arranged appointments for me with a number of the faculty in the Area Studies Center for that region. Why? Because he wanted to make it clear to me that there were plenty of resources on campus to support me doing research in that region. These faculty were from all sorts of other social science and humanities departments, all were very encouraging about my research interests, and all were trying to make it clear to me that the university had strong support for research in that region. Now granted, I didn't know that when I applied but I can't imagine that mentioning faculty associated with that center would've hurt my application in any way.

I hope that story made sense. It's hard to tell and keep anonymous. If you're confused, just PM me.

Just wanted to say that I'm sitting in my mentor's office right now and we both agree with your assessment. He says so few people look beyond a school's ranking or reputation to consider the resources of the university community and how they might support their plans that doing so shows you are thoughtful and serious. He is in econ - and i'm anthro -- but he says he cannot imagine any adcomm taking offense at someone showing due diligence by mentioning university resources that would be helpful.

[modernity]

The problem with this is that a lot of departments say they collaborate when they don't really. If you need such collaboration to really advance your studies, why not be upfront about it in your SOP?

Well I was going under the assumption that the person knew for sure whether or not they collaborated, and whether or not as a student in the department of his/her choosing he/she would be able to do so. Its hard to know, and I would defer to rising because you've always seemed to know what you're talking about... I just worry if its a word limit SOP, talking about professors in detail in other departments could take up valuable space.

Edited November 6, 2009 by modernity

[dzk]

You can definitely mention people you haven't contacted, particularly if they are in other departments. It's all about how you do it. I don't think anyone expects you to have contacted every potential dissertation committee member in the department. For example, I only contacted potential advisors at each school. In my SOP, I referenced a few other faculty with similar interests that I'd also like to take courses from and have on a committee. No one looked askance or said anything negative about this. One person said it showed that I'd done my research on the faculty as a whole. Because really, one person isn't enough. You have to take classes from more than one person if you expect to earn your PhD.

In the sciences, it reflects poorly on you if you mention someone who is not taking students. Furthermore, it's not really an advantage to name a specific professor if their presence doesn't make a critical difference to whether you're going to that program. There are other factors that vary from program to program. If you have to resort to naming people to show that you're a good fit for the program, you have a weak SoP. That's not to say there isn't a place for naming names, but you need to be exceptionally careful about it. Not only could they misinterpret your point, but academics can be very petty.

That said, classes mean very little in the sciences, you're focusing on your research, so it's clear that the culture is very different.

[a fragrant plant]

In the sciences, it reflects poorly on you if you mention someone who is not taking students. Furthermore, it's not really an advantage to name a specific professor if their presence doesn't make a critical difference to whether you're going to that program. There are other factors that vary from program to program. If you have to resort to naming people to show that you're a good fit for the program, you have a weak SoP. That's not to say there isn't a place for naming names, but you need to be exceptionally careful about it. Not only could they misinterpret your point, but academics can be very petty.

That said, classes mean very little in the sciences, you're focusing on your research, so it's clear that the culture is very different.

I think naming names may harm you if you have only named one professor in your entire SOP and in the worst-case scenario that person you mentioned is retiring. I don't know about the culture in science subjects but I think in my field it's impossible to talk about the fit without naming certain professors' current projects. Not all professors work on the same project in a department, though that might be different in your field.

Contrary to what you surmise, classes mean very little in the PhD curriculum of social science too. What rising_star meant is that you want to go to a school where there are people (both within and outside the department) who may be able to give you advice regarding your research project. Taking classes from these people is just one form of learning.

Edited November 6, 2009 by peanuttheanthro

[samjones]

i'm applying to social science programs (anthro and american studies) and i'm only mentioning faculty in my intended department and then just the name of other departments, institutions, centers that my intended departments/programs are affiliated with to demonstrate my interdisciplinary interests. but that's only because i want to make sure that they see that i really want to be in the anthro program and not in some other program while at the same time making sure they know that i do plan on continuing to examine my interests from interdisciplinary perspectives.

but you know, if the faculty are listed as affiliated on the programs' website, it might not be distracting from your interest in the anthro program.

i agree with those who said mentioning more than just the faculty you'd work with is a great demonstration of how well you researched the school(s) and department(s) you're applying to. i think i may even be inspired to look further into the schools i'm looking at now!