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meepa · 08-01-2005, 07:56 PM

I'm not going to answer all of your questions, but I can help you with some.

Languages: Unless you're doing American or recent English history, you must be able to read other languages. Many graduate programs in history do not require you to be able to speak or comprehend spoken language, nor even write it. Most of the time they simply desire that you have a solid ability to read it so you can delve into the primary resources and, if applicable, other scholarly work done in the other language (e.g. if you're doing the French revolution, you want to be able to read 18th C French as well as modern).

If you want to do ancient Rome and Greece, prepare to learn latin and greek. If you want to do medieval Europe, realize you're going to want to specialize in something more particular because that topic is gigantic. Lets say for argument's sake you wanted to do France. You'd need to know both French AND Latin. Basically you're stuck with learning latin for any history work in Europe unless you work in a more modern era where Latin wasn't the language of civility.

The job market for graduate degrees with history is... bad. Realize that there are a lot of people who love history, and a degree in history is a very common one that leads people to go on to graduate work. Also realize that outside of teaching, museums, and writing, the jobs are pretty non-existant. I can't comment on the job market for museums, but teaching positions are a serious pain in the ass.

Since you're talking about an advanced degree, I'm going to assume you're talking about teaching at some kind of post-highschool position. I don't know your personal situation, but if you desired a history teaching job at a university in the US, realize you're going to be entering a national job market with a pool of english-speaking applicants from all over the world. Obviously some locations are more desirous than others, but even so, any position is hard to get. Keep in mind that once someone gets a position at a university, they are aiming for tenure. Assuming they get it, that's a job for life. Read: very very low turn-over rate. And there are many phds out there.

The other option is community college. A lot of people look down their nose at these, but I'll assume you don't. Technically you only need a master's degree to teach at a 2 year school (no university will even consider you without a phd). But realize that because the job market is so bad, many phds are competing for the same community college jobs as masters grads. Also, 2-year schools tend to end up offering more temporary positions on a term-by-term basis (universities do this too), thus they aren't ponying out those sweet tenure-track jobs.

Side note: Community colleges are almost always geared towards teaching while universities (depending on the school) have a much larger emphasis on research and publishing.

As for which school you go to, like you said your work is more important than the name on your degree. Also, of course, the connections you make are critical, but these wont be limited to the faculty at wherever you attend as long as you make the effort to network. The important things I would stress when choosing a school are that 1) you pick a place that you won't mind living and working your ass off for the next several years and 2) one that has a department and professors that specifically deal with what you want to specialize in.

Remember you'll be working very closely with professors in the field you wish to pursue. For example, one school might have such-and-such professor who is the Germany history specialist. Sure, he/she knows a great deal about German history and can teach undergraduate topics up and down the board. But if you look at that person's work, maybe their research has been on social history in the 1930s or political history in the 1700s. If their work is completely out of sync with what you're interested in, you may need to look for another school with faculty that are more knowledgable in the area you care about.

The only other thing that I think YOU need to seriously think about is what are you really want to study. You say ancient rome/greece or medieval europe... That's like saying a zoologist saying "I want to specialize in animals". You're talking about three HUGE areas of study when you really need to be thinking more specifically in the long-term. Nobody expects you to know what you're going to write your thesis on, but even when you apply to history grad schools, they will typically want to know to which depts you're applying to.

I reccomend checking out some schools that you know about or think you would be interested in. Go to their website, go to the history dept, and you can often see what the profs specialty is and what kind of students they take on for graduate work. You can email their graduate-student or applications advisor and ask for any information or a rundown on how their program works. Some schools let you apply directly into a phd program while others require you to complete a masters, then compete for a phd position.

If you're still in contact with any of your old profs, email them (or if you can meet with them, do that) and try to get any info from them you can. Talk to them about what subjects you're interested in. If they're knowledgable, they can point you to collegues at other schools to look up. If look up a prof who seems to specialize in your dream topic at another school, don't hesitate to email them and politely ask for information (this is only if their email address is openly given on the school's website... if you had to dig up someone's email address, then use your better judgement).

Also, many schools only accept applications once a year (ie they only start a new graduate program at the start of the academic years, no separate schedules throughout the terms). They look at a lot of things. They will look at your undergraduate transcript, they'll look at your GRE scores (yes you will have to take this test), they'll require writing samples (both why you want to go and previous historical work you've done), and they'll want letters of recommendation.

If you're really serious about grad school in history, you have a lot of work ahead of you. And yes, it's a ton of work just to figure out how to get started, then it's a ton of work to apply to places, then if you manage to get accepted, it's all that work put together and multiplied. I hope this doesn't sound discouraging, but grad school isn't a decision that someone can just step into very easily.

And if you're set on the periods in history you were talking about, well you might as well go register for language classes now. I know a lot of people who are simply shut out of any opportunity soley because they cannot read the language that they want to study. The good news is that reading is the easiest part of a language to learn (as opposed to writing, hearing, and speaking). The bad news is if you plan to actually travel and do research in France or Italy or whatever, you will need to be able to do more than read. But always take solace in the fact that reading is far and away the most important part.

One other thing that I forgot to mention. I don't know too much about scholarships, but what I do know is you can really take the edge of the cost of school if you can get a teaching or research assistant position. Naturally this increases your work-load even more, but by doing this, many schools will often waive almost the entirety of your actual tuition, and all your left with is various fees (like technology or whatever) and the price of books. Some even give you a living stipend if you work for them.

And since you mentioned teaching as a potential career, TAing is basically a "must" to give you the experience you need for schools to consider you as a hire.

I know I've said a lot of info here and, I apologize, probably not in the most organized manner. If you have any more questions I'd be happy to clarify anything I can for you.

But the bottom line is the people who can help you the most are advisors and professors.

08-01-2005, 07:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
meepa Insane	I'm not going to answer all of your questions, but I can help you with some. Languages: Unless you're doing American or recent English history, you must be able to read other languages. Many graduate programs in history do not require you to be able to speak or comprehend spoken language, nor even write it. Most of the time they simply desire that you have a solid ability to read it so you can delve into the primary resources and, if applicable, other scholarly work done in the other language (e.g. if you're doing the French revolution, you want to be able to read 18th C French as well as modern). If you want to do ancient Rome and Greece, prepare to learn latin and greek. If you want to do medieval Europe, realize you're going to want to specialize in something more particular because that topic is gigantic. Lets say for argument's sake you wanted to do France. You'd need to know both French AND Latin. Basically you're stuck with learning latin for any history work in Europe unless you work in a more modern era where Latin wasn't the language of civility. The job market for graduate degrees with history is... bad. Realize that there are a lot of people who love history, and a degree in history is a very common one that leads people to go on to graduate work. Also realize that outside of teaching, museums, and writing, the jobs are pretty non-existant. I can't comment on the job market for museums, but teaching positions are a serious pain in the ass. Since you're talking about an advanced degree, I'm going to assume you're talking about teaching at some kind of post-highschool position. I don't know your personal situation, but if you desired a history teaching job at a university in the US, realize you're going to be entering a national job market with a pool of english-speaking applicants from all over the world. Obviously some locations are more desirous than others, but even so, any position is hard to get. Keep in mind that once someone gets a position at a university, they are aiming for tenure. Assuming they get it, that's a job for life. Read: very very low turn-over rate. And there are many phds out there. The other option is community college. A lot of people look down their nose at these, but I'll assume you don't. Technically you only need a master's degree to teach at a 2 year school (no university will even consider you without a phd). But realize that because the job market is so bad, many phds are competing for the same community college jobs as masters grads. Also, 2-year schools tend to end up offering more temporary positions on a term-by-term basis (universities do this too), thus they aren't ponying out those sweet tenure-track jobs. Side note: Community colleges are almost always geared towards teaching while universities (depending on the school) have a much larger emphasis on research and publishing. As for which school you go to, like you said your work is more important than the name on your degree. Also, of course, the connections you make are critical, but these wont be limited to the faculty at wherever you attend as long as you make the effort to network. The important things I would stress when choosing a school are that 1) you pick a place that you won't mind living and working your ass off for the next several years and 2) one that has a department and professors that specifically deal with what you want to specialize in. Remember you'll be working very closely with professors in the field you wish to pursue. For example, one school might have such-and-such professor who is the Germany history specialist. Sure, he/she knows a great deal about German history and can teach undergraduate topics up and down the board. But if you look at that person's work, maybe their research has been on social history in the 1930s or political history in the 1700s. If their work is completely out of sync with what you're interested in, you may need to look for another school with faculty that are more knowledgable in the area you care about. The only other thing that I think YOU need to seriously think about is what are you really want to study. You say ancient rome/greece or medieval europe... That's like saying a zoologist saying "I want to specialize in animals". You're talking about three HUGE areas of study when you really need to be thinking more specifically in the long-term. Nobody expects you to know what you're going to write your thesis on, but even when you apply to history grad schools, they will typically want to know to which depts you're applying to. I reccomend checking out some schools that you know about or think you would be interested in. Go to their website, go to the history dept, and you can often see what the profs specialty is and what kind of students they take on for graduate work. You can email their graduate-student or applications advisor and ask for any information or a rundown on how their program works. Some schools let you apply directly into a phd program while others require you to complete a masters, then compete for a phd position. If you're still in contact with any of your old profs, email them (or if you can meet with them, do that) and try to get any info from them you can. Talk to them about what subjects you're interested in. If they're knowledgable, they can point you to collegues at other schools to look up. If look up a prof who seems to specialize in your dream topic at another school, don't hesitate to email them and politely ask for information (this is only if their email address is openly given on the school's website... if you had to dig up someone's email address, then use your better judgement). Also, many schools only accept applications once a year (ie they only start a new graduate program at the start of the academic years, no separate schedules throughout the terms). They look at a lot of things. They will look at your undergraduate transcript, they'll look at your GRE scores (yes you will have to take this test), they'll require writing samples (both why you want to go and previous historical work you've done), and they'll want letters of recommendation. If you're really serious about grad school in history, you have a lot of work ahead of you. And yes, it's a ton of work just to figure out how to get started, then it's a ton of work to apply to places, then if you manage to get accepted, it's all that work put together and multiplied. I hope this doesn't sound discouraging, but grad school isn't a decision that someone can just step into very easily. And if you're set on the periods in history you were talking about, well you might as well go register for language classes now. I know a lot of people who are simply shut out of any opportunity soley because they cannot read the language that they want to study. The good news is that reading is the easiest part of a language to learn (as opposed to writing, hearing, and speaking). The bad news is if you plan to actually travel and do research in France or Italy or whatever, you will need to be able to do more than read. But always take solace in the fact that reading is far and away the most important part. One other thing that I forgot to mention. I don't know too much about scholarships, but what I do know is you can really take the edge of the cost of school if you can get a teaching or research assistant position. Naturally this increases your work-load even more, but by doing this, many schools will often waive almost the entirety of your actual tuition, and all your left with is various fees (like technology or whatever) and the price of books. Some even give you a living stipend if you work for them. And since you mentioned teaching as a potential career, TAing is basically a "must" to give you the experience you need for schools to consider you as a hire. I know I've said a lot of info here and, I apologize, probably not in the most organized manner. If you have any more questions I'd be happy to clarify anything I can for you. But the bottom line is the people who can help you the most are advisors and professors.