Full Time Grad Student at UT Tyler

This coming fall semester I will embark on a rigorous journey. I will be taking a full load of 9 hours of graduate courses here at the University of Texas at Tyler. I will be taking Renaissance Europe with Dr. Tabri, 20^th Century Europe with Dr. Gajda, and a Seminar Course with Dr. Koster. I have had Dr. Gajda for classes as both an undergrad and as a provisional grad student last Spring. I've also had classes with Dr. Tabri as an undergrad but I've never had Dr. Koster so I’m looking forward to seeing what a class with her is like.

I’ll be taking each of these courses once a week for 3 hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. This may not seem like much, but take into account on average the workload is about 1 book and review a week, in addition to a short research paper in each class (short being about 15-20 pages). Along with this, I plan on lecturing a 1945 to present history course on the shift of American politics to the right since World War II. However, the great challenge is presenting the material in a completely unbiased manner.
I may have a lot coming up this semester but I plan on enjoying every minute of it as I did last semester.

A graduate degree has the potential to take you places a Bachelors cannot. However, going for a graduate degree is not for everyone. If you are interested in pursuing such a degree here at UT Tyler it important to first figure out your goals for grad school and what you plan on doing with your degree. Second, discuss these goals with an academic advisor to see what the University can offer you. You'd be surprised at the wide array of graduate programs UT Tyler offers.  Go ahead and take a look for yourself. There might just be something there for you!

Fully Admitted Graduate Student at UT Tyler

Last week I received email confirmation from the Office of Graduate Studies regarding my full admission into the M.A. History program at the University of Texas at Tyler. This however was after Dr. Gajda the admissions adviser for the program personally emailed me about my acceptance. She also sent me the graduate school handbook so I can thoroughly look it over before I meet with her to make my degree plan. For the M.A. History program there are 2 degree plan options. Option I is the thesis route which along with the thesis courses I would also have to take some foreign language. This course is for those who are looking to go directly into a doctorate program as soon as they receive their Masters degree. However, option 2 is the non-thesis route which requires no foreign language. Needless to say I am going with option 2 since I would like to join the work force for a few years before attempting to pursue a PhD.

As I have already took 6 hours of graduate classes last semester I have a total of 30 hour to take before I receive my M.A. in History. As a graduate student you are given a maximum of 6 years to complete but I have found a way to complete it in 2 years (1 1/2 if I go full time for the upcoming Fall and Spring semesters). Taking 9 hours in a semester is full time for a graduate student. That's about 3 books a week and depending on the professors 3 book reviews a week as well. For some this can seem like quite the work load.However, as a quasi-historian that really is not a lot of reading for me. Especially since I greatly enjoy reading these types of books.

The type of writing and study I'm talking about is revisionist history. In a general sense, revisionism in history is the reinterpretation of orthodox views on the reasoning, causes, and solid evidence concerning certain historical events and ideas. If you want to know more about grad school check out my blog on historiography.

In the end, my dear readers, I will most likely graduating with my M.A. History degree in either Fall of 2014 or Spring of 2015. this all depends on how well I can handle the 9 hours I'm already enrolled in for this coming Fall semester.

Life Lessons from Grad School at UT Tyler

About a month ago I posted about the Final Frontier for those interested in an M.A.in History from the University of Texas at Tyler. The Frontier is full of reading books, writing reviews on them, discussing their relevance and importance, and finally constructing a complete historiography on the gathered information. But why do you care? Why do I care? Is anyone honestly still reading this or am I beating a dead horse?

To be perfectly honest I am not the least bit offended if you are bored. Most people are when it comes to history. For most there is a general disregard of important facts that may bore but still are of vital importance. We are a society of which lives on LEGEND and MYTH.

What does this mean? Well, I take this from Robert Wuhl and his “Assume the Position with Mr.Wuhl” film in which he lectures a freshman 1301 course and debunks several myths and fallacies concerning American history. Such as the legend of Paul Revere and his midnight ride. In high school classrooms we base our entire understanding of this event through a poem written nearly 100 years after the fact. If that was the way historians critically analyzed historical events we would be using the musical 1776 to better understand what Thomas Jefferson sounded like when he spoke.

Historiography: The Final Frontier

I've recently discovered the ultimate truth for a History Graduate student at the University of Texas at Tyler. It's all about the Historiography. What's a historiography you ask? Well it's kind of complected.

A historiography can either refer to a historical work on a specific topic or the study and development of history as a discipline if you will. So as a grad student I'm not only studying history I'm also looking into its development and doing some constructing of it on my own. Pretty interesting huh?

NO!!!! Well foo to you! I don't feel I should have to impress you.... But I guess I'm going to anyway so you better get ready.