There are two basic routes to getting a PhD. One involves first getting a Masters degree and then moving on to a PhD. The other involves finding a MA/PhD combined program where you end up doing both, but if you fail to complete the PhD you are still awarded the Masters as a parting gift. The second method is called being fully-funded…getting paid to be a student.

I have never put serious thought into the combination MA/PhD, but I have sure looked at hundreds of Masters degrees.

I will spend some time today looking up combination MA/PhD degrees.

Wish me luck!

I have in my hand, a book that just screams out to me that I do a Masters Degree in History.

Domesday Book: A Complete Translation.

It is way more than just a Census done in 1086-7.

From the Introduction:

Domesday Book is unique. A survey of England made in 1086-7. It is unmatched in its age, its scope and the consistent detail of its contents. It has been in official custody ever since it was made, and is celebrated now as the first of the public records and an endlessly rich source of historical materiel.

You can get a used set of the Great Books of the Western World for around $300.

You can get a used set of the Gateway to the Great Books of the Western World for around $50.

The Wikipedia articles for Great Books, Great Books of the Western World, and Gateway to the Great Books of the Western World are very complete.

Other Books:

How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J Adler and Charles Van Doren. 1972

Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf and other Indestructible Writers of the Western World by David Denby. 2005

The Western Cannon: The Books and School of the Ages by Harold Bloom. 1994

Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds by Harold Bloom. 2002

The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A J Jacobs. 2004

I have called myself a Poet for a very long time.

Other people have called me a Writer.

I have struggled with ever wanting to be known as a Historian.

Being called a Philosopher would be considered high praise.

My choice at American Public University is between:

MA in History

Ancient and Classical History

American History

European History

OR

MA in Humanities based on the Great Books of the Western World

Help me decide.

I joined this today. It looks like something fun to do.

My Myers-Briggs type indicator recommends that I have a blog. Here I Am!

INTJ

Late Antiquity – 3rd to 7th Century.

Early Middle Ages – Late 5th Century to 10th Century.

High Middle Ages – AD 1000 to 1300.

Late Middle Ages – AD 1300 to 1500.

Early Modern Period – 1500 to 1800.

Hi David –

I can’t help you decide which field to pursue, but you gotta admit ancient history, the American Revolution, and the Civil War are pretty different things. Speaking from experience, the folks in ancient history have a rougher time when it comes to writing the thesis, basically because of the small number of primary sources. But the closer you get to the present, those sources more or less explode. In a perfect world primary sources drive the thesis. 

Email Response from Steve Kreis, PhD