Northern Ren

[NetherlandishNerd]

Hello everyone!

Making my first post as I prepare for the 2017 application season. I graduated in May 2016 from a well-ranked private undergraduate program, took a year off to teach English abroad and travel, and hope (by the grace of the academic gods) to enter a doctoral program for Northern Ren in 2018. Anyone else in the same boat?

I'm aiming to apply to around ten programs and my current list of PoI's is as follows:

Elizabeth Honig (Berkeley), Matt Kavaler (UofT), Marisa Bass (Yale), Christina Normore (NW), Claudia Swan (NW), Mitchell Merback (Hopkins), Joseph Koerner (Harvard), Celeste Brusati (UMich), Andrew Morall (Bard), Jeff Chipps-Smith (UT-Austin), Shira Brisman (UW-Madison)

Is there anyone I'm missing from North American institutions that I should look into? I need to confirm that Chipps-Smith is still taking students. Larry Silver, from what I understand, is not. Colin Eisler would be risky on account of his age. (I know one curator who studied at the IFA and had her adviser die, and a former supervisor's friend had two advisers die--- I can't even imagine!)

Looking forward (dreading?) to commiserating as we move nearer to the New Year and deadlines.

[poliscar]

It would be worth looking into Alexander Nagel at NYU/IFA. Christopher Wood is also at NYU, albeit in the German department. 

[NetherlandishNerd]

Thanks, Poliscar. I'm familiar with their work.

I've been debating about whether or not to apply to NYU/IFA. I'm a fan of what I've read of Nagel's and really need to read more of his work (Anachronic Renaissance is high on my list), but I've been wondering if it would work against me to study under and Italianist (from what I've read, that's his principal background, though he obviously tackles so many different areas).

And in regards to Wood, I wonder how much I would be able to work with him? I have yet to look into funding opportunities for interdisciplinary programs, but my undergraduate department has definitely bred into me a certain hesitation about pursuing a less-traditional art history degree. My university has an option for inter-departmental PhDs and while our faculty supports them and advises them, their wary of encouraging that pathway to academia. Perhaps it's an old school view, but they're all so much further along than I am so I can't really contest that based on my limited experience.

[poliscar]

I believe that Wood's courses in German have been cross-listed with the IFA, so I imagine it would be fairly easy to work with him. Also since he has coauthored a fair amount of work with Nagel (including Anachronic Renaissance!), I wouldn't be surprised if they end up co-chairing dissertations together. In that case you would still be working through the IFA, so I wouldn't worry too much about the interdisciplinarity of things (though I understand the apprehension). Probably worth emailing one of them to check, but I don't see why it wouldn't work out. 

[NetherlandishNerd]

Definitely a good way to think about it!

[Books&Caffine]

Smith is still taking students, but be aware that UT is a terminal MA program.  You can apply with the intention of continuing into the PhD eventually, but they technically need to reaccept you.

[NetherlandishNerd]

Ah, that's good to note. Thanks!