Economic History

[Noodles]

I am interested in studying economic history, but I have not yet defined any particular interest. I am interested in global economic history, political economy, post-Soviet transitions, economic growth, economic development, business history, etc. I am not interested in attending a graduate program in anthropology, economics, or sociology. I tend to be be macro or "big picture" minded.

What are the best history departments to study economic history?

My list, in no particular order, is currently: Stanford, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard, Penn, Yale, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge, Michigan, UC-Irvine, Edinburgh, and Columbia.

I am sure I have left some out. Any suggestions? How is Minnesota?

[Caligula]

The list seems good, though I'm not quite sure how you managed to not include Chicago when you're hoping to study economic history...

[RockEater]

I agree with Caligula. You should definitely look at Chicago (though if you subscribe to Keynesian economics, you may get burned there!) I'd also say that your list of interests is great, but you'll have to boil down to something by the time you write your statement of intent! I mean, I've got a passion for space history, political history, trivial history (the history of the cheeseburger, etc)...you should ask yourself: where are the most unanswered questions that fascinate you, and how much do you think you can fill in?

But you don't have to worry about that yet.

[Noodles]

Oops. I somehow forgot to include Chicago, Northwestern, Cornell, NYU, WUSTL, and Georgetown. I probably forgot a few other places as well. What departments are strong in economic history that are generally not as well recognized?

Also, I changed my major to history and have some requirements to make up. I will not be applying next admissions cycle.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Noodles

[hopkinsgirl]

Oops. I somehow forgot to include Chicago, Northwestern, Cornell, NYU, WUSTL, and Georgetown. I probably forgot a few other places as well. What departments are strong in economic history that are generally not as well recognized?

Also, I changed my major to history and have some requirements to make up. I will not be applying next admissions cycle.

i mean, your best bet on this question is to ask one of the professors in your university's history dep't that focuses on economic history... the people on this board are pretty damn knowledgeable, but frankly your profs will know the full scoop with the departments that are best for you to apply to (e.g. let's say you want to work with a particular prof at harvard; your prof at your current institution will know if that person is imminently retiring and may well leave in the middle of your ph.d program).

it seems from your post that you're probably a junior in college right now... if youre coming straight out of undergrad, the profs at places you're applying to want to see that you have taken a pretty fair number of classes in the area you want to specialize in (versus people who apply some time after college and have had time to do more research and possibly publish a bit, so you should probably establish pretty soon your particular interest. rockeater's advice is really good -- one of the things admissions committees are impressed by is how specific a statement of intent is in terms of what the applicant intends to research and how much he/she already know about it.

also be forewarned that if you do not already have a solid reading and writing ability in applicable foreign languages (if you choose a foreign area of concentration), you're going to have a hard time getting into a ph.d program, where they expect you to be able to hit the ground running in foreign language research if you need it. harvard, for example, expects its applicants to have reading ability in two languages other than english (which is no mean feat esp. if you want to do anything asia-related).

plus, the list of grad schools you have right now is nuts -- 20 is too many -- but again, once you actually have a sense of what you want to research, you'll know where the best places to apply are.

sorry if this sounds harsh. which university are you at right now?

[Noodles]

i mean, your best bet on this question is to ask one of the professors in your university's history dep't that focuses on economic history... the people on this board are pretty damn knowledgeable, but frankly your profs will know the full scoop with the departments that are best for you to apply to (e.g. let's say you want to work with a particular prof at harvard; your prof at your current institution will know if that person is imminently retiring and may well leave in the middle of your ph.d program).

it seems from your post that you're probably a junior in college right now... if youre coming straight out of undergrad, the profs at places you're applying to want to see that you have taken a pretty fair number of classes in the area you want to specialize in (versus people who apply some time after college and have had time to do more research and possibly publish a bit, so you should probably establish pretty soon your particular interest. rockeater's advice is really good -- one of the things admissions committees are impressed by is how specific a statement of intent is in terms of what the applicant intends to research and how much he/she already know about it.

also be forewarned that if you do not already have a solid reading and writing ability in applicable foreign languages (if you choose a foreign area of concentration), you're going to have a hard time getting into a ph.d program, where they expect you to be able to hit the ground running in foreign language research if you need it. harvard, for example, expects its applicants to have reading ability in two languages other than english (which is no mean feat esp. if you want to do anything asia-related).

plus, the list of grad schools you have right now is nuts -- 20 is too many -- but again, once you actually have a sense of what you want to research, you'll know where the best places to apply are.

sorry if this sounds harsh. which university are you at right now?

I would rather you reply harshly than dishonestly. However, I believe it was neither.

I am anticipating having to complete a master's degree to focus my research interests and improve my foreign language (i.e., French or Russian) skills. I have several more history courses to complete at my undergraduate institution. They will be primarily focused on economic, world, and Eastern European histories. I am currently attending the University of Minnesota (that is why I asked what others thought about the history department - it is supposed to be strong in historical demography).

My strongest interests are in comparative histories of post-Soviet nations and IGOs. I understand that I will need to narrow my list of target schools and that is what I am doing. I expect to apply to about 10 programs (including a few of master's programs). I'm planning to apply to departments that have several faculty members working in my areas of interest because people retire or move on to other institutions.

Thanks for your input. Are you at JHU? If so, how do you like it there? What areas is the department strong in?

[Sparky]

If you want to do Eastern Europe, especially economic history, you will need Russian to be competitive, and it is a better idea to make your second language German rather than French.

Also, have you thought about looking into poli sci programs, specifically poli econ and comparative politics-focused ones? Pretty much everything you've described in which you are interested in stuff we covered in my undergrad poli sci classes. Especially if you are mainly looking post-Soviet, as the 1990s are just *barely* starting to be moved from "current events" to History.

I'm not trying to kick you out of history or anything--I just think you might be surprised by how much history you can do in a non-quantitative-focused poli sci program.

[TMP]

If you want to do Eastern Europe, especially economic history, you will need Russian to be competitive, and it is a better idea to make your second language German rather than French.

Also, have you thought about looking into poli sci programs, specifically poli econ and comparative politics-focused ones? Pretty much everything you've described in which you are interested in stuff we covered in my undergrad poli sci classes. Especially if you are mainly looking post-Soviet, as the 1990s are just *barely* starting to be moved from "current events" to History.

I'm not trying to kick you out of history or anything--I just think you might be surprised by how much history you can do in a non-quantitative-focused poli sci program.

I second Sparky. One of my favorite scholars has written books on the history of Eastern European Jews. He's in political science! He's much more interested in how Soviet policies shaped Jews' lives so he's not all quantitative. Even he runs his courses more like history courses than statistical analysis. So when you look at political science departments, really find out what kind of approach they take and how they evaluate applicants. You're going to want a department that doesn't put a lot of emphasis on quantitative methods.

And yes, Russian is a must in order to be competitive for Eastern Europe (history or political science). If you haven't done it yet, consider taking a year off to polish up your Russian.

[Noodles]

I have been planning to apply to political science programs for graduate school, but I am majoring in history at UMN because the course selection of this particular history department is better aligned with my interests than the UMN political science department. This is not true of many universities though. I am taking courses in economics and political science as well. I chose the major at UMN with the most courses related to my interests. I am going to start Russian in the Fall and while I realize German would be the next best language for studying Eastern Europe, I was considering French because it is one of the two official languages - the other is English - of the United Nations and other IGOs.

So, essentially, I asked about history programs because I know less about them than political science, international affairs, or economics departments. I have concluded that an economics program would not be a match for me. I am open to history, political science, international affairs, or interdisciplinary programs. I am also quite interested in long-run growth and political science departments tend to have very few faculty members working in this area. There are probably very few departments in each discipline that will suit my needs well; so I am broadening my horizons to include many types of programs and departments. Some universities in the U.K. (e.g., LSE) have economic history departments and so I am looking for a few history departments in the U.S. to apply to as well. The departments that seem to be the best match also happen to be the most difficult to get into. Haha.

[hopkinsgirl]

I have been planning to apply to political science programs for graduate school, but I am majoring in history at UMN because the course selection of this particular history department is better aligned with my interests than the UMN political science department. This is not true of many universities though. I am taking courses in economics and political science as well. I chose the major at UMN with the most courses related to my interests. I am going to start Russian in the Fall and while I realize German would be the next best language for studying Eastern Europe, I was considering French because it is one of the two official languages - the other is English - of the United Nations and other IGOs.

So, essentially, I asked about history programs because I know less about them than political science, international affairs, or economics departments. I have concluded that an economics program would not be a match for me. I am open to history, political science, international affairs, or interdisciplinary programs. I am also quite interested in long-run growth and political science departments tend to have very few faculty members working in this area. There are probably very few departments in each discipline that will suit my needs well; so I am broadening my horizons to include many types of programs and departments. Some universities in the U.K. (e.g., LSE) have economic history departments and so I am looking for a few history departments in the U.S. to apply to as well. The departments that seem to be the best match also happen to be the most difficult to get into. Haha.

oh i've enjoyed hopkins (our dep't is great) but in general (partic our european historians) are more focused on cultural history. you definitely should look into LSE because they have a number of programs i think you'd be interested in. i definitely agree with whoever said that it's tough to get into a history program if you're focused on post-soviet (90s) europe... historians are just now beginning to tangle with the 80s

[Noodles]

oh i've enjoyed hopkins (our dep't is great) but in general (partic our european historians) are more focused on cultural history. you definitely should look into LSE because they have a number of programs i think you'd be interested in. i definitely agree with whoever said that it's tough to get into a history program if you're focused on post-soviet (90s) europe... historians are just now beginning to tangle with the 80s

Thanks for your input. I expect that my interests may change between now and when I begin filling out applications in a couple of years. Do you know of any work being done on the history of various IGOs such as the UN, WTO, IMF, and so on?