Name

Ben Chinn

School

Ohio State University

Degree Program

Seventh year PhD student in History with a specialization in Medieval and Modern Jewish History

Previous Degrees

Master of Arts in History from Yeshiva University; Bachelor of Arts in History from Yeshiva University, 2004

Dissertation Topic

The politics of messianism in the medieval early modern period

Research Interests

Jewish messianism; religion and politics

Advisor

Dr. Matt Goldish

Advisor’s Research Focus

17th century Judaism

Hobbies

Blogging, reading science fiction and fantasy

Graduate School – Application Process

How did you select your graduate school and program?

I selected Ohio State University because there wasn’t room for me in the Jewish Studies department at Penn State University, which was my first choice. After I interviewed with Dr. David Ruderman at Penn, he suggested that I work with the man who eventually became my advisor, Dr. Matt Goldish, at Ohio State University. I had already met him and I liked him, so it seemed like a good fit.

Did your application requirements include standardized test scores?

Yes, I was required to take the GRE in order to apply for admission to my doctoral program in history at Ohio State University. I didn’t feel the need to join any study groups to prepare. Instead, I bought a study book and took a few practice tests, and that was enough.

How did you choose faculty to approach for letters of recommendation?

To choose faculty to write my letters of recommendation, I created a mental list of the faculty members from whom I had taken classes who also met 2 important criteria. First, obviously, I needed to have established a good relationship with him or her. Second, that person had to be relatively well known throughout academia so that their recommendation would hold weight.

What types of questions were asked in your admissions interview?

I didn’t have an official admissions interview at Ohio State University, but I did meet with my advisor informally before I was admitted to my program. We corresponded by e-mail before meeting in person, and I had given him a sample paper I had written about Isaac Abarbanel, a medieval Jewish philosopher. Most of our conversation revolved around his critique of my paper.

Do you have any other tips for a student who is considering applying to graduate school in history?

What I would tell students is that while you are applying to a particular school on paper, what you are actually doing is applying to work with a certain advisor. So I will pass on the advice that I was given, which is to think of your relationship with your advisor as a 10-year marriage, because you will be in school for at least 5 years and then it will take another 5 years or so to get a job. You will need to pick an advisor that will commit to helping you get through all of that. Find someone who actually cares about you, not someone who sees you as just a research helper.

Graduate School – The Program

How long is your program and how is the curriculum distributed?

My program takes as long as it takes, but we are funded for 5 years. The first 2 years are spent completing coursework, which culminates in general exams. After you have demonstrated competency through those exams, your focus switches to researching and writing your dissertation.

What is the focus of your dissertation research?

I am writing my dissertation about the politics of messianism in the medieval early modern period, which deals with many different ideas relating to the ways that religious conflict affected politics during that time. I thought it would be interesting to write a purposely controversial dissertation about the Jewish people awaiting the apocalypse, which Christians claim will be the second coming of Jesus Christ, at which time sinners will be destroyed. It is a risky dissertation topic because it definitely violates modern standards of political correctness.

Can you describe the process of researching for and writing your dissertation?

My style of writing is to take notes while I read and research in order to get my initial ideas on paper. My hope is that all of my ideas will eventually be forged into a coherent whole for my dissertation, but it can be frustrating to deal with writer’s block.

The best advice I can give to students looking to skirt that sense of frustration is to choose a dissertation topic that you genuinely love, because you have to spend years with your topic. No matter what, the process of writing a dissertation will bore you at times and you will have to keep pushing through. And even though any topic will take years, I suggest choosing a somewhat narrow topic that you can finish while you are funded.

How is the dissertation process different from working on a masters thesis?

The difference between a masters thesis and a dissertation is in the length and scope. A thesis gives you a good start on your dissertation, but you need to develop a dissertation more thoroughly than a standard research paper.

Does your doctoral program require comprehensive exams prior to graduation?

Yes, my program required me to take a series of written exams before I was qualified to write my dissertation. I had a major topic and 2 minor topics. For my major topic, European Jewish History, I had 48 hours to write about 5,000 words about that subject. My minor topics were Medieval European History and Early Modern European History. For both of those topics, I had 24 hours to write about 2,500 words on each. The questions I was asked to address in those exams were based on a reading list I had prepared with the approval of my committee.

Graduate School – Paying for It

How are you funding your education?

While I was on campus at Ohio State University, I was required to be a teaching assistant, which helped to offset the costs of my doctorate program somewhat. Now that I am living in California while I finish my dissertation, I am working part time at an antique bookstore. Graduate school definitely presents a financial hardship if you run out of funding.

Graduate School – Living Life

What are the time commitments for a PhD in history?

The time commitment that my PhD program requires is the same as a full-time job. It is kind of like being salaried in that it doesn’t matter when I work, as long as I get the job done. But I don’t have a lot of free time, since I have so much to do that I am expected to be working whenever I do have time.

How has graduate school affected your personal life?

One way that graduate school affected my personal life is that for many years I found that I didn’t have the time to date. The fact that I was single without a strong social life was extremely frustrating to me, and I know that negatively affected my work ethic. However, I got married 2 months ago, so that isn’t an issue now.

Graduate School – After Graduation

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

In 5 years, I hope to either hold a teaching job or find work with a think tank. I certainly intend to finish my doctorate program before then. Hopefully, I will graduate this year.

Graduate School - Advice

What insights can you offer a student who is interested in pursuing a PhD in history?

The advice I would like to pass on to others is something I was told by another teacher: You don’t become a dancer if you can think of yourself doing anything else in life. So, too, with history. If you can imagine yourself becoming a lawyer who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, do that. There are few financial or tangible rewards to a degree in history, so you should only go this route if you truly love what you will be doing.