Should overseas' degrees have global or national focus?

Or will the schools allow you to focus your research on small communities or towns in the U.S.?

Roscoe

 

Roscoe,

The answer to this question is likely to vary from overseas institution to overseas institution. In my case, the British and South African institutions with which I am affiliated have demonstrated a high comfort level toward my addressing parochial, localized foci in my research. However, two realities come to bear on this: 1) Such "contextualization" is an inherent component of research in my discipline; 2) The particular issues and questions I am addressing in relation to specific "contexts" happen to fall within the areas of expertise my research supervisors have cultivated. Thus, while neither my master's nor my doctoral supervisor has ever been to the upper Midwest, both of them are able to relate to the process of contextualization in which I am engaging, and to provide knowledgable oversight of the particular questions I am addressing.

It may be that, if the "localized" focus you would like to address lies entirely out of the realm of expertise and research interest represented by an overseas faculty in your discipline, you may encounter some difficulty in having your proposal approved. However, if your interest happens to resonate with a prospective supervisor, you may hit the jackpot.

Cory Seibel

 

This is somewhat related to my answer to your question in the other thread. My experience to date (not especially extensive) is that these overseas schools are interested in three main things: 1) the quality of the research, 2) whether someone on their faculty has enough knowledge of the general subject area to adequately act as your advisor, 3) the quality of the research. If you're planning on doing this as 100% non-residential DL research then you must realize that you're asking a faculty person to take you on without ever having met you and without the expectation of ever meeting you. You'll never appear at graduate seminars and you're unlikely to get to know the other faculty in any substantial sense. The quality of your research reflects on your advisor. Many won't want to take a chance with such a "wild card." If you ask them to stretch too far for comfort they may just say "No, thanks."
Jack

 

Just heard from Unv. of the Western Cape

School rep said her department is curious as to why I want to do research with UWC and not a U.S. School. Also, she noted, UWC's research generally focuses on S. Africa and not the U.S.

It so happens that my proposed research topic is on the media in the U.S. -- and not S. Africa.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Roscoe

P.S. How do you respond when asked about your reasons for choosing an overseas school? While cost is a major reason, somehow I don't think it would be wise to say that.