Greetings brothers and sisters,
I have a question that I was hoping to get some peer counseling on. I am currently finishing up my M.A. My research area is Scandinavian Mercenaries during the Viking Age. More or less I am arguing that these hired swords played a much larger role in Medieval history than has been previously acknowledged. In addition to that, I'm also hoping to dispell some of the negative stigma that surrounds the term 'mercenary' while also discussing how the environment played a role in making mercenary work an attractive career choice during the Viking Age.
My question, however, is where do I go to study something like this at a Ph.D. level? Do I apply to History programs or Scandinavian Studies ones? I've sent a few e-mails around to schools like Aberdeen, Cornell, Washington, and Minnesota, but so far I haven't really heard a definitive answer.
Also, I know next to nothing about European and Scandinavian universities. What I know about Aberdeen I gathered from the last conference in Kalamazoo.
Does anybody have any experience or recommendations for me?
tldr: where does one go to study Vikings at a Ph.D. level?
Thanks in advance and sorry in advance if this isn't ask historians worthy.
*edited to include brothers of the female persuasion.
Greetings brothers,
Well, I'm a girl, so I guess you don't want my advice.
But if you did, I would say the following:
I would tell you that for a PhD program, the professor you work with is as important as the department/school, possibly more. Which professors' work inspires you? Who does things topically or methodologically that appeal to you for your own work? Find out where they teach.
If your research is taking you down the Varangian Guard route, it would be a nice bonus if the school also had a Byzantinist. They would be a useful guide to you in learning to navigate Greek sources
I would say that a school's resources are an important consideration, such as the Norse literature collection at Cornell
I would say if you want any chance of having an academic career, as small as that is in the best case scenario, you need to be in a straight-up discipline department. Period. In your case, history or possibly English lit (which generally handles Norse, although some schools have dedicated departments of "Germanic & Scandinavian Languages" or some such. Since Norse literary sources are later than you're thinking, probably not this option, but if you were asking women as well as men for advice, I would definitely mention it). The exceptions to the rule that I can think of are the medieval studies programs at Toronto and Notre Dame, which seem to still be producing graduates who land tenure track jobs. "Scandinavian studies" will get you nowhere, if an academic job is your goal.