Hey there,

Are you casting around for a paper topic or a potential grad school focus? I can offer some advice that will be a heck of a lot better than a list of Things I Want To Read Because I Don't Have Time To Research Myself. ;)

(1) Don't go to grad school. Really. Don't. Do literally anything else.

(2) Asking strangers on the Internet what topics are hot is the worst way to pick an area of focus

(3) The best projects arise organically out of what you're interested in

(4) The way to find a gap in scholarship is to dive deep into the existing scholarship on a topic you're deeply invested in

(5) Trust me, holes WILL appear. People are still writing dissertations on Margery Kempe and on Joan of Arc.

(6) If you try to pick a topic based on other people's opinions instead of your own love, you will have a really bad time, and have a much lower chance of finishing. Never, ever, ever underestimate (or think you can estimate in advance) how hard a PhD is, and sometimes a master's thesis as well.

(7) Finding a research hole is actually a skill you need to develop for grad school. In fact, part of the application process--the statement of purpose--IS the demonstration that you have the rudimentary skills to find a basic hole in scholarship. (Your dissertation/thesis topic probably won't be the informal research proposal you set out in your SOP, but it should indicate to the admissions committee that you know how to go about forming a coherent project.)

(8) A really, REALLY easy way to identify hot topics in the field is to look at what people are actually publishing and presenting right now. Look through the tables of contents in top journals in the specific topics that interest you. (i.e. any medievalist can look in Viator or whatever, but if you're a medieval Germanist, look in JEGP &c). Look through the 2018 publication catalogue of the VIP university/academic presses for medieval and early modern. You can figure out the important journals and presses by looking through the bibliographies of your favorite academic books.

(9) You can also subscribe to academic listservs and follow the CFPs, not just for overall conferences but for individual panels. A lot of times they'll say something like "We especially encourage submissions from/about..." That's a pretty clear giveaway that there's a desire for scholarship along those lines.

(10) If all this sounds like a lot of work, just give up now. Even if grad school were still a viable option in terms of having a future, which it's not, it's definitely not for you.