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[abdgrad2007]

A handful of threads in the past two weeks have gotten me thinking (again) about my bleak prospects for academic employment. Yes, I am one of those poor unfortunate souls who went for a PhD in American Studies. I am ABD at one of the top public universities for this field and will defend my dissertation in a couple of months.  I started reading the CHE forums about a year ago. It has been a valuable education since I was quite ignorant about the inner-workings and politics of academia and the realties of the job market.  While I am proud of my time spent at my university and the work I have done in my field, I was not previously aware of the poor perception and dismal academic job prospects for American Studies folks. This is my second year on the market with not even a request for more materials or a phone interview. The paucity of American Studies jobs is scary.  And based on what others on this forum have posted, I realize, sadly, that I am not being and will not be seriously considered for jobs in history departments.  So I’ve been thinking about what I can do to make myself a more competitive candidate for history jobs at research universities, teaching colleges, SLACs, and even community colleges.  Since my time at the University of X is almost up and since I anticipate at least two more years on the market, I’ve been thinking about whether or not it would be smart to obtain a masters degree in history elsewhere. My primary goal would be to pick up a non-U.S. teaching field or maybe even a field in world / global history.  Second, I want to enhance my graduate transcript, which is filled with many courses in 20th century U.S. social and cultural history, with courses in pre-1865 U.S. and maybe a few courses in U.S. foreign relations, diplomacy, military, etc.

Of course, in the meantime, I will be trying to publish a couple of articles from my dissertation, as well as shop for publishers and revise it for book publication. (My chair thinks it is good enough.)
I understand that the job market for history/ humanities is hyper competitive regardless of what I do to boost my credentials. My hope, though, is that by adding a second field in Non-U.S. and by adding more history courses, I will at least have a fighting chance.  I do have six history courses on my transcript, but one of these six was audited and the other was a non-graded history pedagogy seminar. So, I am looking to add more history credit hours to meet the “18 hour minimum" required at many colleges and especially at community colleges.

Some more information about my qualifications for history jobs:  My dissertation is historical; I have two committee members from the history department (a department that is regularly ranked in the top 10), one of whom is my chair. My field exams were in post-1865 U.S. social and cultural history and the history of minority group X.

My primary questions are:

-Is this plan a good idea?
-Do you think this would make me more competitive?
-What will history admission committees think of an MA applicant who already holds a PhD?
-I am restricted to schools that offer a terminal masters, and most of the top-tier history departments only admit for the PhD track, although there are a few exceptions. If I decide to do this, how much importance should I place on the department’s overall reputation?

Of course, I will seek counsel from my advisors, but I wanted to get feedback here first. I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions. And folks in similar predicaments please feel free to vent!

[larryc]

I would not bother with the MA. 

I am one of the historians who has said here that we routinely turn down American Studies PhDs. But that is mostly because their transcripts and work seem more literary or theory driven. If you applied to my department and fit our needs, we might interview you as you are right now.

Ways to improve your prospects: More graduate history classes, and especially a non-western field, are good ideas.  Better would be to get some experience teaching the American history surveys. Your application packet should look like that of a historian. Refer to yourself as a historian in your cover letter.  And make sure your references do the same in their letters. In fact, I would not write the phrase "American Studies" anywhere in your application packet, except your transcripts. (Or am I going too far there?)

Publishing is good as well, especially in a journal that has the word history in the title.  Good luck.

[dundee]

A friend of mine has an American Studies PhD and has had several phone interviews with History Depts. in some pretty big name schools this year. I think that the main reason is that hu has taught history survey courses and demonstrated in the cover letter how hu can meet the dept.'s teaching needs. An American Studies PhD is not necessarily a disadvantage - the trick is to show how you fit the job opening.

[sunshine12]

Do you have to have a non-Western background if your dissertation or areas of industry are more Americanist?

[abdgrad2007]

Thanks for the advice, larryc. I was hoping you would answer. LOL. I always pay close attention to your posts. Also, thank you dundee for that hopeful counter-example.

sunhopeful08, my sudden desire to get a non-Western background was prompted by the "posting in disparate fields" thread at the job-seeking experiences forum. It's still active. You should read it, if you haven't already. I would have definitely constructed a non-Western/non-U.S. teaching field if I had it to do over again. Being a strict Americanist has eliminated me from a number of potential jobs. I reviewed your previous posts and learned that you won't be that disappointed if you never landed an academic job. If that is the case, then, by all means construct fields in the areas of your interest and passion. For other American Studies or American history grads in their first or second year of study or undergrads thinking about these fields, I would strongly advise constructing one teaching field that will make you more marketable.

[americanist]

I don't think the MA will do much good. I would suggest teaching history courses and publishing in history journals. Make it evident on your CV that you can do and teach history.

Also, you might not want to limit yourself to history departments. An interdisciplinary PhD is an asset in interdisciplinary programs--the problem is that not many of them have tenure lines. But there are hires being made in Ethnic Studies, among other fields, and American Studies PhDs are more welcome there than they seem to be in History or English departments.

My American Studies PhD hasn't been especially useful for getting jobs in disciplinary departments, but I did find a spot in an interdisciplinary program where I love working.

[averylwhite]

Hey,
I am an undergraduate women's studies major and art history minor at the university of georgia. I am seriously considering getting my PhD in American Studies, but the responses on this site seem to suggest that would be a foolish decision?? If i want to be a professor, most likely one associated with the women's studies department, would an American Studies PhD interrupt my ability to get hired?
thanks
avery

[whiteknight]

Hey,
I am an undergraduate women's studies major and art history minor at the university of georgia. I am seriously considering getting my PhD in American Studies, but the responses on this site seem to suggest that would be a foolish decision?? If i want to be a professor, most likely one associated with the women's studies department, would an American Studies PhD interrupt my ability to get hired?
thanks
avery

Two pieces of advice:

1. Get a Ph.D. in women's history.

2. Don't use your real name as a username.

[t_r_b]

Hey,
I am an undergraduate women's studies major and art history minor at the university of georgia. I am seriously considering getting my PhD in American Studies, but the responses on this site seem to suggest that would be a foolish decision?? If i want to be a professor, most likely one associated with the women's studies department, would an American Studies PhD interrupt my ability to get hired?
thanks
avery

1. Get a Ph.D. in women's history.

And build your CV so that you can plausibly market yourself to teach women's studies AND the standard history surveys AND non-western women's history. If you have or can acquire the linguistic chops to get your PhD in Latin American, African, Middle Eastern, or Asian women's history, do that. If you are dead set on studying American women, develop a teaching field in something non-western, comparative, or transnational.

If you manage some variation on the above, you will be well-positioned to apply for jobs in both women's studies and in history. The non-western and comparative stuff will make you especially attractive in a market that is pretty glutted with people studying women & gender in America.

Incidentally, if you pick the right PhD program, your training (and dissertation) in women's history will look a whole lot like it would have in an American Studies program, except that you'll be much more marketable at the end.