Hi y'all, I hope your weekends are going well! I'm a master's student currently applying to US PhD programs, but am struggling a little bit as I'm not sure which field I actually fall under. For context, my background is primarily in Religious Studies and Area Studies, specifically focusing on Islam during the Abbasid Caliphate. I love reading literary and philosophical texts, and have also really enjoyed the history classes I've taken. If I do become a historian, it would definitely be in intellectual history.
My top university has faculty in their History Department and their Middle Eastern Studies department with whom I'd be interested in working with. I can only apply to one department, however (and am in similar straits regarding other universities). As far as I can tell based on testimonies from graduate students I've emailed with, the school is very open to working across departments, so it shouldn't impact my course offerings too much--and I'd be happy with advisors in either department. I'm currently thinking about this dilemma insofar as how I want to position myself as a scholar for the future, particularly regarding both the academic job market (bleak, I know) and non-academic opportunities (ie, assuming I pivot to foreign service, high school teaching, etc).
I know I might be overthinking this massively, but would really appreciate any advice. For context, I'm also looking at Religious Studies programs at other universities simultaneously. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond; I really appreciate it.
Have you reached out to specific faculty to discuss the dilemma? I’d personally find an advisor you really want to spend the next 5 years with and go from there
Thank you, that's really helpful--I've reached out to a few faculty members in different departments, all of whom have been pretty nice. I'll take a more in-depth look at their research to make the decision :)
I have always been told it’s better to get a PhD in a discipline than an area. My background is in Middle Eastern studies but I entered an anthropology program for this reason. I will also say that at least at my university, area studies funding has gone down the toilet due to the political climate. Everyone has been hit hard but area studies just got pummeled and is now basically nonexistent. Area studies is unfortunately an easy target in a populist era. I do agree that picking an advisor is super important, so if the best person by far is in MES, it’s hard to justify applying to a different program if the funding is there. My program allows me to add 1-2 committee members from different departments, though, which has been very helpful.
OK, thanks, that's really helpful, especially re: area studies funding. I'll keep that in mind and go over the faculty I've been looking at really closely.