Is Georgetown University A Suitable University In Teaching Medieval Arms and Armour?

Question

I am a Ph D in medieval arms and armour; speciallized in swords and body armour. Would Georgetown University be the suitable University for me to teach my speciallization there; especially that the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution are very close (not to mention Dumbarton Oaks)? If not, what are the best universities where I could teach medieval arms and armour there? Would Yale or Princeton be more suitable for this field? What about Stanford and Columbia? What about Harvard? What about Public Ivy Universities like UT at Austin?

Thanks a lot in advance for any information you could help me with regarding my inquiry.

Answer 1

Your question is difficult to answer, because your assumption seems to be that you will be able to choose the university at which you would like to teach.

In the US, academics must seek out positions open in their fields and suitable for their areas of specialization, apply to as many of these positions as possible, and then hope to be hired. One cannot simply choose where one would like to teach, and apply for a position. Only the most fortunate candidates receive offers from more than one university, and are in a position to choose.

Having said that, the best medieval studies programs in the US (in my estimation) are at Brown, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, U Wisconsin, Catholic University of America, Notre Dame, Fordham, U Michigan, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Harvard and Georgetown also have good programs.

I have no idea if any of these programs are hiring. In order to find open positions, you must look carefully at the listings in the Chronicle of Higher Education, as well as the openings listed by the academic associations to which you must belong (such as the American Historical Association, the Medieval Academy of America, and De Re Militari). I also suggest that you subscribe to H-War and any other appropriate listserves on H-net, so that you might converse with other specialists in your field. They will be perhaps your best resources in finding a position in medieval studies in the US.

Here is the H-net discussion list website:
http://www.h-net.org/lists/

In fact, since the top programs are already so well-staffed, you might have much better luck looking for positions at univerisities without well-established medieval studies programs, as they are more likely to be seeking medievalists. Most US universities do not have free-standing departments of medieval studies, and therefore hire medievalists through their departments of history, art history, or religious studies. Since your specialization is in arms and armour, I would think that only history departments would be appropriate for you to investigate.

I wish you every success.