Your field of study + foreign language

[NoirFemme]

To elaborate on the self-explanatory title: I have one language--reading proficiency--under my belt  (French), but I'm waffling over the second because I don't know which one I'll need. Two of my academic interests are WWI and the Cold War. For the former, German is a no-brainer. But would I need to know Russian for the Cold War? (I'm a 20th century Americanist btw)

[elinen]

It really depends on what you want to focus  on. In Cold War historiography, sources from the Soviet bloc are increasingly used so it is a new and exciting direction. However, if you're interested in US foreign policy in the Cold War, other languages might be more helpful, for example Spanish/Portugese if you're interested in US-Latin American Cold War relations.

[Sigaba]

9 hours ago, NoirFemme said:

To elaborate on the self-explanatory title: I have one language--reading proficiency--under my belt  (French), but I'm waffling over the second because I don't know which one I'll need. Two of my academic interests are WWI and the Cold War. For the former, German is a no-brainer. But would I need to know Russian for the Cold War? (I'm a 20th century Americanist btw)

As an Americanist,you would benefit from knowing Russian but you don't necessarily need it if you already have French and German. (FWIW, John Lewis Gaddis initially wanted to be a historian of Russia but the language proved so difficult that he transitioned to American diplomatic history.)   Unless you're a beast when it comes to acquiring language skills, you may want to see if you can substitute statistics for your second language.

Also, as an Americanist, you may need to narrow down your interests sooner rather than later unless you intend to find a way to slice the apple so that your dissertation topic brings World War I, the Cold War, and the U.S. together in ways that existing Cold War scholarship has not. (For example, have historians missed the influence of World War I on post World War II U.S-Soviet relations?)

If you do pursue Russian, I strongly recommend that you start thinking about what types of primary source materials you would use in your dissertation. The increased use of Russian-language sources is pushing Cold War historiography back towards the Orthodox/Revisionist debates for which historians of American foreign relations paid a high price within the profession.

[NoirFemme]

1 hour ago, Sigaba said:

As an Americanist,you would benefit from knowing Russian but you don't necessarily need it if you already have French and German. (FWIW, John Lewis Gaddis initially wanted to be a historian of Russia but the language proved so difficult that he transitioned to American diplomatic history.)   Unless you're a beast when it comes to acquiring language skills, you may want to see if you can substitute statistics for your second language.

Also, as an Americanist, you may need to narrow down your interests sooner rather than later unless you intend to find a way to slice the apple so that your dissertation topic brings World War I, the Cold War, and the U.S. together in ways that existing Cold War scholarship has not. (For example, have historians missed the influence of World War I on post World War II U.S-Soviet relations?)

If you do pursue Russian, I strongly recommend that you start thinking about what types of primary source materials you would use in your dissertation. The increased use of Russian-language sources is pushing Cold War historiography back towards the Orthodox/Revisionist debates for which historians of American foreign relations paid a high price within the profession.

I should have put (African) Americanist! I'm concerned with the presence of AAs in Europe during WW1 (maybe 2) and how that influenced their responses to the Cold War. Plus, AAs and communism, and racism and US foreign policy. But the advice about the types of primary sources I might use is a great point.

 

Thanks!

Edited May 13, 2016 by NoirFemme

[Sigaba]

1 hour ago, NoirFemme said:

I should have put (African) Americanist! I'm concerned with the presence of AAs in Europe during WW1 (maybe 2) and how that influenced their responses to the Cold War. Plus, AAs and communism, and racism and US foreign policy. But the advice about the types of primary sources I might use is a great point.

 

Thanks!

FWIW, I think your areas fit very well together. Do you see your research interests being similar to those of Meredith Roman at SUNY Brockport?

Edited May 13, 2016 by Sigaba
A whole lot of typos.

[NoirFemme]

53 minutes ago, Sigaba said:

FWIW, I think your areas fit very well together. Do you see your research interests being similar to those of Meredith Roman at SUNY Brockport?

Yes!

Thanks for pointing me to Roman. And I'm even more pleased, because I see that SUNY Brockport has a public history track (It's been a pill trying to combine my academic interests since PH is such a specific field in itself).

[Sigaba]

2 hours ago, NoirFemme said:

(It's been a pill trying to combine my academic interests since PH is such a specific field in itself).

I recommend that you first prioritize your academic interests (albeit provisionally) and from that ordering, your search for programs and POIs may be a bit easier.

That is, if you were to list your interests which combination hits the sweet spot between what you want to do and with whom you want to work?

• Twentieth century American history
• African American history
• The Cold War
• American foreign relations (does not necessarily incorporate the Cold War.)
• World War I
• World War II
• Military history (A historian focusing on a specific war will often have a very different approach to the topic than a military historian studying the same conflict)
• Public history

A point to remember is that you're going to be competing for spots against applicants who have a laser-like focus on what they want to do and why. While you don't necessarily need to have your interests nailed down as precisely, you will likely benefit from being able to conceptualize and communicate your interests concisely and consistently. I am a X historian who focuses on A and B as a means to understand better C and D... will resonate more powerfully than I am interested in A, B, C, and D, and E.

[NoirFemme]

5 hours ago, Sigaba said:

I recommend that you first prioritize your academic interests (albeit provisionally) and from that ordering, your search for programs and POIs may be a bit easier.

That is, if you were to list your interests which combination hits the sweet spot between what you want to do and with whom you want to work?

• Twentieth century American history
• African American history
• The Cold War
• American foreign relations (does not necessarily incorporate the Cold War.)
• World War I
• World War II
• Military history (A historian focusing on a specific war will often have a very different approach to the topic than a military historian studying the same conflict)
• Public history

A point to remember is that you're going to be competing for spots against applicants who have a laser-like focus on what they want to do and why. While you don't necessarily need to have your interests nailed down as precisely, you will likely benefit from being able to conceptualize and communicate your interests concisely and consistently. I am a X historian who focuses on A and B as a means to understand better C and D... will resonate more powerfully than I am interested in A, B, C, and D, and E.

Ah, see, I have a public history degree at the undergraduate level. The program gave me extensive experience with traditional history methods as well as (paid!) heritage work--not to mention my publishing credits and conference sessions--so I am trying to replicate this at the graduate level, heh! 

I do have a list of schools and POI that contain a public history/humanities component+my interests; however, I might be overthinking the search for the "perfect" program and how to be the "perfect" candidate.

Edited May 14, 2016 by NoirFemme