Medieval Applicants (2018)

[OHSP]

On 11/5/2017 at 3:50 PM, ManuscriptBitch said:

Hey! I just finished an MA in Med/Ren at Columbia and am now applying to History PhD programs*. I'm primarily interested in 15th/16th c. northern European book history and materiality, especially as it pertains to the transition from manuscript to print. I already have Latin and French. Mostly, I'm just anxious about the application process and want some more ideas for "safety schools". I know that the idea of a safety school is somewhat ridiculous when talking about doctoral programs, but I feel like I've been aiming too high with some of my top choices; I really just want to apply to a diversity of programs so that I can get in SOMEWHERE. My top choices at the moment are Penn. Harvard, Brown, and NYU. I'm also thinking of applying to Fordham, Michigan, Bard Graduate Center, Stanford, Yale (Medieval Studies), and U Chicago. Any other ideas for History programs with profs who do materiality would be really helpful. Thanks!

 

*I know, everyone tells me I should also be applying to English or Art History to do book history; however, my background is in History and I feel like it aligns better with me methodologically.

Who are you interested in working with at NYU?

[VAZ]

Bedos-Rezak I bet? Honestly, NYU (and NYC) is not an ideal place for premodernists. The number of premodern faculty is like 4.75 out of 55 across the department, and even fewer for graduate students.....

[dr. t]

3 hours ago, ManuscriptBitch said:

I should also add that one of the reasons I really like Brown is because they just got the AHA grant for career diversity for doctoral students and I could get an MA in Art History. It seems like one of the better schools for non-academic careers because it has such a flexible curriculum.

Eeeeeeeeh. I think our department is much more forward-thinking in some respects than most, but 'flexible' is not a word I'd particularly associate with it. Your freedom of movement is highly adviser-dependent in any program, and premodernists are, generally speaking, on the conservative side.

(I think it still serves your needs, but be careful with your expectations)

Edited November 26, 2017 by telkanuru

[Manuscriptess]

16 hours ago, VAZ said:

Bedos-Rezak I bet? Honestly, NYU (and NYC) is not an ideal place for premodernists. The number of premodern faculty is like 4.75 out of 55 across the department, and even fewer for graduate students.....

She is whom I primarily interested in working with (along with Juette and some people from IFA). I disagree that NYC isn't a great place for pre-modernists: my MA is from Columbia and I had a TON of support and worked with a bunch of great professors (not just in History). There were a bunch of full grad classes in History on Medieval and EM topics without needing to enlist undergrads to fill seats. There is also a really strong camaraderie among all of the Medievalist grad students across departments. Columbia just tends to be a bit more skewed to religious and political history so it's not a great fit for me, personally, for doctoral work. Fordham is also great for Medievalists. Also, as a book historian, there is no other city in the country that has close to the number of holdings as NYC. Getting to work not only at Columbia but also at the Met, the Morgan, NYPL, etc. has been pivotal for me. If you go on Digital Scriptorium and just look at where manuscripts are held by city, NYC has by far the most. 

[jos123]

how's everybody's cycle going so far?

[FrankJEspin]

Hello everyone! 

First time applicant here applying to history programs. I’ve got acceptances form UNC and Minnesota and have a final interview with Notre Dame next week. Still waiting on several programs. 

Best of luck! 

 

[L13]

Good luck to the people who applied to Notre Dame! I had to turn down a spot there, but the impression I got from my interviews was that the medievalist faculty there is very nice and supportive. (Of course, I may be totally wrong about this because my exposure to the department was limited and controlled, plus the student I was put in touch with voiced some other issues she had with the university, but that's the impression I got.) A good departmental climate can really make a difference to your PhD experience.

Edited January 27, 2018 by L13

[unanachronism]

Hey fellow medievalists. I have an interview at Yale for the PhD in Medieval Studies coming up this week. Very nervous, very excited. Anyone got any pointers? 

Congrats on the acceptances/interview Frank! A good start to the season

[L13]

None of the following is truly necessary IMO, but if you're feeling anxious and looking for ways to assert control over the interviewing process, here are some more productive ways to do it:

Reread your statement of purpose carefully and, if you have the time, look over your writing sample to refresh your memory.

Try to think of further questions that might arise from your statement of purpose and come up with potential answers.

Jot down 2-3 questions you have about the program; interviewers usually ask if you have any questions for them and it looks good to say yes, so be prepared with backup questions in case the interviewer preempts the most obvious ones herself.

Troubleshoot your Skype connection/video call software/communications technology before the actual interview, especially if you haven't used it in a while.

Look at a list of medievalists and medievalist-adjacent scholars at Yale because their names may come up.

Look at what the person who's going to be interviewing you has published recently and get a sense for where their career is going in terms of research interests. Big names sometimes swerve in new directions mid-career and it's good to be aware of that.

Ultimately, remember that no matter how you interview, the decision is out of your hands, and may be out of your interviewer's hands as well.

While it's usually easy to tell if you're interviewing with a department/POI that's already decided to accept/advocate for you because they'll try to sell you on the department instead of interrogating you about your research, every interview is a two-way sales pitch to some extent, so be prepared to take what you hear with a grain of salt. If the person who's interviewing you hastens to assuage a concern you didn't raise/haven't even thought of, that means lots of other people have brought it up.

[unanachronism]

Thanks a bunch L13! Great points. 

Especially re: questions for them, I never know what to ask... mainly because at this point obviously I have spent a lot of time scouring their website, and also talking with a prof who received their PhD from the program, who wrote one of my letters of rec. I'm not sure how to strike the balance between useful questions that make me seem invested in them vs. those that make it seem like I haven't done my research, haha. But I will give the website another once-over and see if there are any things that stand out to me that I still want to know. 

It's unclear to me who is interviewing me. I received an email from the DGS (not my POI) that the admissions committee is "very interested" in my application and that this is an "informal phone call" to talk further. soooo... the whole admissions committee? just the DGS? We'll see! 

I've just been roleplaying little conversations in my head and trying to feel confident in why I am a good fit for this particular program. It is a horrendous distraction from my MA thesis, which is due Friday. 

[L13]

In that case, try to focus on your thesis. The marginal utility of obsessing over the interview any further is bound to be smaller than the marginal utility of spending that time finishing your thesis. Good luck!

[unanachronism]

3 minutes ago, L13 said:

In that case, try to focus on your thesis. The marginal utility of obsessing over the interview any further is bound to be smaller than the marginal utility of spending that time finishing your thesis. Good luck!

What, I'm supposed to be responsible and not procrastinate? Nooooooo

thanks again!

Alright back to Hugh of St Victor 

[Grace Bones]

Hi! I just got accepted to an archaeology MSc program in the UK. I'm interested in medieval history so I plan to specialize in that area. I only speak/read English and modern Norwegian so I'll try to fit in Latin and either French or German. Any recommendations for which language?

[L13]

That’s pretty tough. I don’t know much about archeology, but if it’s anything like manuscript studies, I assume German would be very helpful. On the other hand, virtually every European medievalist needs Latin... Are you thinking you’ll focus on an area where Old Norse was predominant?

Honestly, I’d advise you to start learning both if possible.

[khigh]

12 hours ago, Grace Bones said:

Hi! I just got accepted to an archaeology MSc program in the UK. I'm interested in medieval history so I plan to specialize in that area. I only speak/read English and modern Norwegian so I'll try to fit in Latin and either French or German. Any recommendations for which language?

Is going to depend on where your site is in England and what group was occupying the region and trading there in that time. Some regions, you may need Scots Gaelic, others may be Celtic or Norse. North of the wall archaeology is a lot different than south of the wall. 

[Grace Bones]

7 hours ago, L13 said:

That’s pretty tough. I don’t know much about archeology, but if it’s anything like manuscript studies, I assume German would be very helpful. On the other hand, virtually every European medievalist needs Latin... Are you thinking you’ll focus on an area where Old Norse was predominant?

Honestly, I’d advise you to start learning both if possible.

I'm a little worried about my ability to study 2 languages at once. I've been trying to find a latin class that I can take before fall 2018 but haven't found anything yet. 

I don't know if I want to focus on Scandinavian archaeology. There's a program at the university of Oslo that I like, so maybe that's something that can come later.

[Grace Bones]

7 hours ago, khigh said:

Is going to depend on where your site is in England and what group was occupying the region and trading there in that time. Some regions, you may need Scots Gaelic, others may be Celtic or Norse. North of the wall archaeology is a lot different than south of the wall. 

I'll be in Sheffield. 

[khigh]

19 minutes ago, Grace Bones said:

I'll be in Sheffield. 

Sheffield is doing the Rothwell Charnel Chapel project! I'm actually a little jealous! That would be Latin. It's way south of the wall. I think England does their archaeology like the continent in that you choose the project you apply to before you go. Once you find that out, it would be a lot easier to know what languages (if any) from the time period you need. 

[Grace Bones]

5 minutes ago, khigh said:

Sheffield is doing the Rothwell Charnel Chapel project! I'm actually a little jealous! That would be Latin. It's way south of the wall. I think England does their archaeology like the continent in that you choose the project you apply to before you go. Once you find that out, it would be a lot easier to know what languages (if any) from the time period you need. 

That's pretty exciting, honestly I totally forgot they were doing that lol. I figured Latin would make me more employable, I mean who ever heard of a medievalist who doesn't know Latin!

[khigh]

4 minutes ago, Grace Bones said:

That's pretty exciting, honestly I totally forgot they were doing that lol. I figured Latin would make me more employable, I mean who ever heard of a medievalist who doesn't know Latin!

I love archaeology, but I don't have the scientific background for it. I've interned with an archaeologist stateside, but dealing with NAGPRA really turned me off the entire thing, but at least now I can say I have cataloged over 100k beads without my eyes bleeding. I actually had to look up what Sheffield was doing because I knew one of the universities in the region was doing Rothwell, I just couldn't remember which one. 

Latin would definitely be useful for a medievalist and then it depends on region. You would need something different north of the wall than you would in say, Wales or Germany or Scandinavia. 

[Grace Bones]

Archaeology in the UK is considered a branch of history rather than anthropology it seems. I have a BA in history and am not overly gifted in science so I expect to be challenged. But I have other skills that will give me an edge so I think I'll be ok

Btw, a friend of mine pestered me to apply to the U of MN. I didn't, but apparently Minneapolis is a great city.

[psstein]

3 hours ago, Grace Bones said:

That's pretty exciting, honestly I totally forgot they were doing that lol. I figured Latin would make me more employable, I mean who ever heard of a medievalist who doesn't know Latin!

You need Latin as a medievalist. There's absolutely no way around it. The other language will depend on your geographical interests.

[jos123]

 To be completely honest, I don't think you can be a medievalist without good Latin. Also, it's rare to encounter people in the field without reading skills in French, German, and Italian.  

Edited January 30, 2018 by jos123

[psstein]

17 hours ago, Grace Bones said:

I'm a little worried about my ability to study 2 languages at once. I've been trying to find a latin class that I can take before fall 2018 but haven't found anything yet. 

I don't know if I want to focus on Scandinavian archaeology. There's a program at the university of Oslo that I like, so maybe that's something that can come later.

CUA offers an online course, as does something called "Erasmus Academy." 

CUA's is more expensive, but I haven't heard anything good or bad about Erasmus Academy.

[dr. t]

3 hours ago, jos123 said:

 To be completely honest, I don't think you can be a medievalist without good Latin. Also, it's rare to encounter people in the field without reading skills in French, German, and Italian.  

If you don't know Latin, you haven't actually been doing medieval history.