How does a person who loves everything pick what to study for a masters degree? At one point in my life, I wanted five or six masters degrees. I wanted to study myriad things in detail. And then I researched their costs. To be brief, I realized that unless your last name is Astor, you can’t have as many degrees as you have ties. Or shoes. For this reason, after my masters this year, I will put formal education to the periphery for a little while. I will save money and travel. I will work either domestically or internationally; wherever opportunity manifests itself. I am thrilled for the chance to do something beyond school for a while.
However, at this point in time I am hitting the books. I am studying cultural history, which, like one of my undergraduate degrees—American studies—many outside of academia have never heard of. American studies is similar to American history. Often it has a focus on cultural and ethnic history. During my undergraduate time, I studied lots of African American and Indigenous American literature. Cultural history is similar to American studies in that it aims to revive stories from the margins. It foregrounds history by the common man or woman. It is a stupendous program and is in its first year at Utrecht University. I’m guessing that only a handful of programs like it exist throughout the world.
Cultural history is holistic. I am learning about contemporary philosophers and historical theorists. The Cold War. WWII. Dutch resistance during WWII. I read articles daily on both international and domestic affairs. Lately I have been given articles to read on Paul Robeson, the House of Un-American Activities, J.Edgar Hoover, soap manufacturing and advertisement in 18th century England, fashion at the turn of the century, water management in the Netherlands and philosophers who speculate and mull over it all. History is the study of the world; I could not have chosen a more suitable and gratifying program.
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