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I need help finding a grad school that does not have any foreign language requirements for a doctorate in history.The graduate school needs to be public.The exception would be a grad school run by my brothers and sisters in the Churches of Christ.I have spent time looking at public doctorate programs,and everyone has a foreign language requirement.I talked to one of my professors,and she said that not every one has a foreign language requirement.I think that I would be not able to meet the foreign language requirement.I think this because Spanish 2 in high school got hard.Also, I was worried about not passing Spanish 2. I want a doctorate so I can be a full professor at a university but I will be fine if it is not the will of God and his only begotten son,Jesus Christ, for that to happen. I will be a community college professor if God and Jesus want me to.Sorry for any and all grammar mistakes but I am not the best at grammar.Thanks in advance.
God Bless
-texasexplorer
I'm not sure how accurate this list is since I found it on Wikipedia, but it supposedly identifies all Unis and Colleges that are affiliated with the United Church of Christ. Hope this helps!
The language requirement is typically only for reading the language, not for speaking and writing. In other words, you need to be able to read articles and documents in a language other than English. I've never come across a program that didn't require some sort of language requirement, although I know that at some schools it is possible to replace one of the foreign language requirements with knowledge of "quantitative methods." Is English your first language, or do you already have another language that you perhaps have never studied formally? If so, that might do the trick. What's your field? If your interests lie anywhere outside of the English-speaking world you're going to have no choice. I doubt you'll really have a choice anyway, but if, say, your passion is for medieval France you're really going to have no option.
PhD programs in history are quite competitive, although not as competitive as the next step: finding a job as a full professor at a college or university (or even a job at a community college). Why exactly do you want to do this? If obtaining a reading knowledge of a foreign language is so difficult that you are making such an important decision such as where to apply for graduate school based on that alone, you might not enjoy your time in school and in the field.
I need help finding a grad school that does not have any foreign language requirements for a doctorate in history.The graduate school needs to be public.The exception would be a grad school run by my brothers and sisters in the Churches of Christ.I have spent time looking at public doctorate programs,and everyone has a foreign language requirement.I talked to one of my professors,and she said that not every one has a foreign language requirement.I think that I would be not able to meet the foreign language requirement.I think this because Spanish 2 in high school got hard.Also, I was worried about not passing Spanish 2. I want a doctorate so I can be a full professor at a university but I will be fine if it is not the will of God and his only begotten son,Jesus Christ, for that to happen. I will be a community college professor if God and Jesus want me to.Sorry for any and all grammar mistakes but I am not the best at grammar.Thanks in advance.
God Bless
-texasexplorer
There's a lot of religion packed into this post. Have you looked into teaching at a private christian college? They may have different requirements.
Otherwise, give youself a chance to be as intelligent as you think you are. Concentrate on you language requirement, get a tutuor, and just do it.
History is all about source documents. What do you want to focus on in your PhD? If you only wanted to focus on American history, you might be able to find a program that does not require a foreign language.
Even most (all?) PhDs with a focus on (English-speaking) American history require reading knowledge in foreign languages, although it's true that you could, professionally-speaking, get away with a lower level of proficiency than you would need if your primary field of study was somewhere else.
Reading knowledge is much, much easier to gain than being able to speak or understand the spoken language, though. Still, if it really is that much of a deal-breaker (which if it is I think you should reconsider the job choice, anyway), you could consider getting a master's degree instead, as those don't typically require a foreign language. That won't get you a professor job at a university, but may get you a job at a community college.
I agree that you should take a close look at the religious colleges. While many deeply religious people do attend secular universities, your posting suggests that religion is so closely connected with everything that you do that you might want to at least carefully consider the role that you understand religion to play in your education or in your career. It may be easier to work out those issues somewhere where you have others struggling with the same philosophical issues.
I want to thank all of yall for the help.I am Church of Christ not United Church of Christ.Thanks for the list.I remember seeing at least one of those quantitive method things.Personally, I think teaching at a private Church of Christ university would be better for me than teaching at a state school but I dont know if I would do that because of the pay.Maybe, I should go to a Church of Christ university after junior college.I am not sure what I want to focus on, maybe American or world history.My passion is World War Two.Yes,my religion is the most important thing to me.It is the most important thing to me because I want to go to Heaven and have a good relationship with God and Jesus Christ.English is my only language.I want to be a professor because my parents think that it would be best for me.I also want to be one because of time off and getting to share knowledge with others.The reason why I want to be a full professor at a university is more money.Also,I think it is God and Jesus' plan for me to be a professor of some sort but I could be wrong.I am going to try Rosetta Stone and see if that helps.Again, Thanks for all of yall's advice and guidance.I appreciate it.
God and Jesus bless
-texasexplorer
Last edited by texasexplorer; 11-25-2009 at 06:05 PM..
The initial post talks about finding a PhD program. The last post talks about teaching, which would come after completing the PhD program.
But then the last post also mentions not having completed even junior college yet. If that is the case, it seems to me very premature to be deciding what kind of place you want to work or what your area of emphasis will be, when you've got at least eight years of study ahead of you.
And while I don't want to appear overly harsh, I do think you will need to be prepared to make some concessions in what you want.
Completing a doctorate in history is going to require a lot of writing. You will need proper grammar and punctuation. Two spaces between the end of one sentence and the beginning of another is really basic punctuation, taught in junior high typing classes. You can apologize for it on an internet message board, but not in a college course, and especially not in a dissertation. You are just going to have to learn these things.
And it doesn't matter what your field of study is, every student has to take classes that they just have to 'get through'--foreign language, math, art history, composition. Every degree has it. Planning your college education and your entire career on avoiding a few weeks of unpleasant or difficult studies isn't very smart and might even be called cowardly. Your college degree isn't supposed to prepare you for just one job, it is also supposed to make you a well-rounded individual. That is what sets a university degree apart from a trade school diploma. You may also find that schools with such lax standards that they don't require basic general studies courses, probably don't have highly regarded programs. You may find that the degree you get doesn't let you get the job you want.
Also, while your religious views may be of great importance to you personally, the job of a professor is to disseminate knowledge--not opinions. Even a professor of religion has to be objective in his/her lectures. And while religion does play a significant role in history, it is not the main topic that can be covered by a professor. And any mention of religion in a history class must be about religious views in the past, not the current professor's religious views.
Whether you use the link provided above or not, you should spend some time reading the application requirements for faculty positions at various private Christian colleges. While most of these institutions require faculty uphold the school's Christian faith, morals, and values, they also require that faculty teach the subject for which they are hired, not espouse their personal beliefs. Professors who are unable to keep their personal beliefs out of the classroom generally do not fare well in academics--even when their method of expressing their beliefs are far more restrained and subtle than you have done in your posts here.
I agree, sounds WAY too early to be concerned about this yet. Keep talking to your professors, concentrate on doing well in school, figure out where your own academic passions lie, and then think more about grad school.
If you want money and time off there are far, far easier ways to go about doing it than by trying to become a professor. Not only is graduate school itself a major investment of time (and I certainly put in more than 40 hours per week while in grad school, although admittedly I did have a lot of flexibilty during the summer), but getting a teaching job -- community college OR university -- is extremely difficult. It's certainly not something you do because your parents think you should do so. You need to want it for yourself, and, to a large extent, be willing to live practically anywhere if you want to land a tenure-track job. (again, that's so far down the road that it's not a consideration right now, but you should be careful not to overly glamorize the sheer hard work and luck and compromises necessary to carve out an academic niche for yourself). Professors can make decent money, but there are certainly a lot of other jobs out there that pay as well and more.
By all means keep up at the language study, as that will be useful no matter what you do. But more important than a foreign language right now is developing the skills and knowledge that will get you into college, and then graduate school, in the first place. Be open to new experiences, and maybe as you move forward in the college you'll discover some other profession that you never knew existed, but that will be perfect for you.
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