[历史] 历史系（中国社会文化史）申请PS文稿展示与求助~ [复制链接]

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电梯直达

楼主

发表于 2014-12-6 16:38:48 |只看该作者 |正序浏览

先说说楼主的条件吧，楼主北京某重点高校历史系本科，做过两个国家级本科创新训练项目，总计五个月时间的田野调查经历。大三上学期去了美国Arkansas State University交换了一个学期。因为决定研究生出国太晚，急着刷两门考试，托福只有94:L :L ,GRE309(V149+160)。实在拿不上台面。推荐信有一封伯克利的，一封阿肯色州立的，一封国内大佬的。在老师和同学的鼓励下，今年还是打算好好做一下申请，试一试，有个MASTER也可以先出去读着先了。12月1日的乱投了几个学校，也投了伯克利叶文心老师的PHD，但不抱希望。希望在1月的申请时好好努力一下，再刷一下英语成绩，并完善一下文书

我的PS帮我写推荐信的美国两个老师都帮改过，也请了一个我的一个欧洲朋友学英语专业的润色了一下（但还不是English native-speaker）。我担心两个美国老师可能没什么空，看得不太细，欧洲朋友也不是Native，怕改过后还是中式英语太明显。文本可能还是拖沓了，想再删减精练一些。所以我这里将部分PS的内容（除去了研究计划的部分）贴出来向大家请教一下，大家觉得这份PS写得如何？

我接下来的申请过程中的经验也都会在论坛里发出来给大家做贡献的，服务后来人嘛~~PS. 楼主虽然英语成绩考得烂，但基础还行，英文书刷得比较多，对英语圈历史学、人类学学界还算比较了解，大家有疑问的也可以问问~~就是现在还在刷托福，时间紧，回复不了太快。

Personal Statement

My interest is the modernization process in China, which I approach via history and sociocultural anthropology. I ultimately want to pursue a PhD in History (East Asian Studies) and eventually became a professor at a university. Undergraduate study provides me with a solid base in academic reading and fieldwork experience. Previous American study experience makes me have no difficulty in English-teaching graduate studies. I believe I will complete my study in your department successfully.

I come from a family of educators. My grandfather was an assistant researcher of economics at a local acadamic insitution in South China. My father taught tourism management in a technical high school. They influenced my lifetime interest in the humanities. Since I was a child, I was wondering about how China became such a "special" state. That is why after various studies experience stated below, I make sure that my principal interest is to understand the issue of modernity in China.

My college professors also greatly influenced my love of research. The Chinese anthropologist XXX, who I have known since high school, has been especially influential on me. Because of his advice, I chose to attend XXX University and studied rigorously in both history courses and anthropology courses.

During the undergraduate period, I try my best to improve my research ability. I finished a series of fieldworks of the Dong and Hmong people of Southwest China in 2012 and 2013. Because of my outstanding research proposals, I got funding resource from some very competitive state-level scholarships. My first one-month-fieldwork report investigated the lineage system in a Dong village. My second two-month-fieldwork paper discusses the flux of a local Hmong Shamanism deity. During my fieldwork, encouraged by Professor XXX, I read books on South China’s local societies and religions, including the works of David Faure, Helen Siu, and Maurice Freedman. My hard work paid off. One paper was published and another one won the famous XXX Prize.

In addition, influenced by the multiethnic environment of China, I read some books on global and Chinese nationalism written by Benedict Anderson, Prasenjit Duara, Anthony Smith, Katherine Kaup, Ming-ke Wang and so on. Accidentally, I mentioned the impact of a Zhuang anthropologist XXX on the Ethnic Classification Project and Chinese ethnic policy. To delve into this, I finished a two-month fieldwork in my hometown, Guangxi. Finally, my paper revises some fundamental views of Katherine Kaup’s famous work, Creating the Zhuang: Ethnic Politics in China. Besides, the paper provides a new perspective on the establishment of the Zhuang’s autonomous region.

In 2013, I had the opportunity to study in the United States at Arkansas State University under the instruction of historians XXX and XX. Professor XX taught me about the welfare system contemporary China. Professor XXX introduced me to studies on nationalism and global history. Thankfully, I also had the opportunity to visit with XXX at Berkeley, consulting with him about Chinese anthropology. My American learning experience significantly improved my English reading and writing abilities. Because I prepare for the English tests a little late, my score may not be excellent. But my previous successful learning experience could prove my study ability.

For academic conferences, I gain recognition of historians and anthropologists. In October 2012, I made a presentation on the 11th Chinese Advanced Forum of Anthropology. My academic potential are highly commended by anthropologists Ming-ke Wang, Zhou Daming, Zhao Xudong and Fan Ke. In July, 2014, I got the admission of the Second Seminar of China History. In the conference, Professor Fan-sen Wang, Professor Liu Yonghua gave high appraisals to my research on Zhuang people.

My research proposal for graduate period is a study of the development of modernity and its attachment tourism in china, tentatively titled "Individual Awareness and Power Discipline: Modernity, Tourism and Social Change in Modern China (1900s-1990s)". It would focus on three to four significant tourist destinations in modern China, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Guilin based on a mixing of historical and ethnographic perspectives.

.......（研究计划中略）

To sum up, tourism reflects the development and interaction of power, self-view, impact of modernity in China. It still need a profound and intellectual analysis. That attracts me considerably.

University of California, Berkeley has a world-leading department of history. I visited Berkeley and the C. V. Starr East Asian Library in December, 2013. The wonderful research environment greatly impressed me. There are abundant books that would benefit my study on tourism and modern China.  For the faculty of Berkeley, Professor Wen-hsin Yeh has outstanding works on Chinese urban studies and modern women. A significant part of my study concentrates on landscapes remolding in urban areas.  So If I could work with Professor Yeh, it would certainly benefit my academic career. In addition, Professor Alexander C. Cook's scholarship focus on the Mao-era. It is the summit-era of the state's restriction on tourism. I am sure Professor Cook knowledge would help me significantly as well.

As a final point, Berkeley also has a first-rate department of anthropology as well. The department with the Tourism Studies Working Group of Berkeley would provide a good environment for interdisciplinary studies on tourism. It gave me the chance to get direct instruction from Professor Graburn.
To conclude, as a hardworking learner with passion, my strong academic background makes me well prepared for the graduate study. I would appreciate it very much if you accept me as your student.

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[历史] 历史系（中国社会文化史）申请PS文稿展示与求助~ [复制链接]

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