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theyellowhobbitI talked to Ben about THE FUTURE today. I was a dork and wore my tel Safi shirt (which I realized has a rip in it) but I don't think he noticed.
I told him the situation, and we discussed grad schools. The list, in no particular order, is as follows:
PHD Programs:
Johns Hopkins:
I think their program is actually part of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. But it's Johns Hopkins. In Baltimore. Which means I could live in Baltimore/Silverspring/DC. And DC has the hip egal thing going on.
NYU:
I think their archaeology is more broad, like I would study the entire Middle East. NYU. In New York which is good for egalness, good for Celineness (assuming she doesn't run off to somewhere even more remote than India), good for kosher food, and yeah, a bunch of you all live in New York. The minus is that I sometimes feel claustrophobic in NY. But it's on the list.
UCLA:
LA is quite Jewish, and quite egal. It's also quite expensive. There are a bunch of good archaeological people in UCLA who Ben knows. And the weather there is nicer than here.
U Chicago:
Again, not so much focused on Israel. According to Ben all the grad students there are social misfits. There's a lot of pressure, as well. Ben also said that you come out of the program changed, but you might not like the person you become. It's still on the list at the moment, but I'm very apprehensive.
UNC:
Are there any Jews in North Carolina? This is only a possibility if I can make the commute work from there to DC-land, so I can spend Shabbats with Jews. But Jodi Magness is there. Unfortunately she's in the classics, and I don't know any Greek and Latin. Maybe she could take me on anyways, cross-departmentally.
U Tornoto:
Ben wasn't sure what was going on here either Jewishly or Academically, but he says it's a good program. I guess I can ask Tirza and Harry, since they live there and teach there. Or do you have anything to say about Toronto,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stone_?
Master's Programs:
Harvard Divinity School:
In America, I think this is my top choice. A 2 year's masters degree. The program isn't so competitive, it's really cheap (12,000$ a year, but then you get 40-60% paid for by scholarship, so it's really cheap. Perhaps cheaper than Israel [non-aliyah]. And you come out with a Harvard degree, which looks good no matter where you want to go afterwards (you can drop the "Harvard Bomb"). You can learn a lot. Like he started listing all the subjects and I was amazed. And it's only 2 years so I can put off making more of a decision. Plus, Brookline is all Jewishy, with kosher restaurants and egal minyans and the like. (I'd probably live in Brookline and not Cambridge) Isn't that great? What do you think,cynara_linnaea?
Bar Ilan:
I can probably get in. This is a plus. It's one of the best Biblical archaeology programs in the world. I would have to learn Hebrew in an intense ulpan before starting classes, and the commute from Jerusalem will be kind of tough. I still would do it, though.
Hebrew U Rothberg International School/Hebrew U normal program:
I think the normal program is more intense, but the Rothberg school is in English. Either way, I'm in Jerusalem. A definite plus. I'm not sure whether I would go here over Bar Ilan.
So what do you all think? Any votes?
And I intentionally left Penn off the list, because there's no way I could stay in Philly. Plus, right now there are no Middle Eastern archaeologists.
I told him the situation, and we discussed grad schools. The list, in no particular order, is as follows:
PHD Programs:
Johns Hopkins:
I think their program is actually part of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. But it's Johns Hopkins. In Baltimore. Which means I could live in Baltimore/Silverspring/DC. And DC has the hip egal thing going on.
NYU:
I think their archaeology is more broad, like I would study the entire Middle East. NYU. In New York which is good for egalness, good for Celineness (assuming she doesn't run off to somewhere even more remote than India), good for kosher food, and yeah, a bunch of you all live in New York. The minus is that I sometimes feel claustrophobic in NY. But it's on the list.
UCLA:
LA is quite Jewish, and quite egal. It's also quite expensive. There are a bunch of good archaeological people in UCLA who Ben knows. And the weather there is nicer than here.
U Chicago:
Again, not so much focused on Israel. According to Ben all the grad students there are social misfits. There's a lot of pressure, as well. Ben also said that you come out of the program changed, but you might not like the person you become. It's still on the list at the moment, but I'm very apprehensive.
UNC:
Are there any Jews in North Carolina? This is only a possibility if I can make the commute work from there to DC-land, so I can spend Shabbats with Jews. But Jodi Magness is there. Unfortunately she's in the classics, and I don't know any Greek and Latin. Maybe she could take me on anyways, cross-departmentally.
U Tornoto:
Ben wasn't sure what was going on here either Jewishly or Academically, but he says it's a good program. I guess I can ask Tirza and Harry, since they live there and teach there. Or do you have anything to say about Toronto,
stone_?Master's Programs:
Harvard Divinity School:
In America, I think this is my top choice. A 2 year's masters degree. The program isn't so competitive, it's really cheap (12,000$ a year, but then you get 40-60% paid for by scholarship, so it's really cheap. Perhaps cheaper than Israel [non-aliyah]. And you come out with a Harvard degree, which looks good no matter where you want to go afterwards (you can drop the "Harvard Bomb"). You can learn a lot. Like he started listing all the subjects and I was amazed. And it's only 2 years so I can put off making more of a decision. Plus, Brookline is all Jewishy, with kosher restaurants and egal minyans and the like. (I'd probably live in Brookline and not Cambridge) Isn't that great? What do you think,
cynara_linnaea?Bar Ilan:
I can probably get in. This is a plus. It's one of the best Biblical archaeology programs in the world. I would have to learn Hebrew in an intense ulpan before starting classes, and the commute from Jerusalem will be kind of tough. I still would do it, though.
Hebrew U Rothberg International School/Hebrew U normal program:
I think the normal program is more intense, but the Rothberg school is in English. Either way, I'm in Jerusalem. A definite plus. I'm not sure whether I would go here over Bar Ilan.
So what do you all think? Any votes?
And I intentionally left Penn off the list, because there's no way I could stay in Philly. Plus, right now there are no Middle Eastern archaeologists.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 11:04 pm (UTC)I think there might be summer programs at Brandeis with intensive Hebrew, though I'm not sure.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 12:42 pm (UTC)Chapel Hill's a nice place, and the area in general is quite nice - but if you're wanting to go to DC, you're going to want to fly, as that would be a 5 hour drive (it's 2.5 from CH to where I am in Richmond, and another 2 on from there to Washington).
Do you know what you want with regards to Masters vs. PhD?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 05:32 pm (UTC)Truth of the matter is though, when it comes down to it, unless you have a topic you're really focused on, apply to them all, meet the fac at all of em, and see who is willing to pay the way for you. I assume the MAs are all prelude for a PhD elsewhere, which raises the question of 'why?' (there are certainly valid answers, but there should be an answer.) In any case, apply to a bunch, pay attention to the financial situations. Its not a field where you'll be happy to be paying off extra loans if you can help it, and while research and teaching assistant-ships are nice, well... they take a lot of time, and drastically slow you down. You may also want to look into the mean, median and range on times to finish each program. (I spent three years on a two year MA... last check there was a person on her 4th in it.)
[Please disregard/delete the double post.]
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 01:53 am (UTC)The MAs precede PhDs. Obviously the Israel ones speak for themselves- you can't get a PhD there w/o a master's. Harvard Divinity is so I can study a broad range of stuff, and also avoid making a decision where to live for the next 2 years.
The PhDs would require a commitment of living there, and I know that. That's why I'm so afraid to go into a PhD program in the first place. I have NO CLUE where I want to live after graduation, because I do want to make aliyah (if possible) but I don't want to go alone. But I don't want to be stuck somewhere else and not like living there.
Hopefully if I daven enough, I'll get into whatever school I'm meant to be at, and I don't have to make the decision myself. Or I'll know where I should be. But right now I'm just lost.
(As for financial aid- the Israel master's are cheap, as is Harvard divinity, and the PhDs probably offer fellowships. I'd go for one even if it did slow me down. And I would love to be a TA. It would be so much fun to corrupt young minds...)
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 07:41 pm (UTC)Just make sure that you'll not be committed to too much teaching. Well and good if you have an option, but if its basically assumed that you'll supplement the $$ by teaching or being a grad slave (research asst), it may well take a fair length longer than you plan, depnding on who you wind up working for.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-03 11:03 pm (UTC)If you were me, which program would you study in?
no subject
Date: 2006-09-04 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-04 05:31 am (UTC)*curls up into an archaeological hobbity ball*
no subject
Date: 2006-09-04 11:34 pm (UTC)