<p>So I know that to get into grad school in math/science you need research experience, but what would the couterpart be for someone thinking about grad school in English or history? published stories? extra-cirriculars in those areas? related internships? I doubt English professors would need assisstants in writing a novel or the like. Just curious, something I've been thinking about.</p>
<p>I don't know how strongly the "need" is in the sciences and mathematics, but that doesn't really matter at the moment. What is the counterpart to research in the humanities? Research, of course! Well, what does that mean, you might ask? I'm not really sure! But here's what I would imagine. Professors who write usually have assistants. They get willing students, both graduates and undergraduates, to do some dirty work for them. They ask for you to things for their research, such as find books they need, or to read through articles looking for something on a certain subject, perhaps in history compiling and summarizing primary source documents. I think it depends on the professor and the project. Also, one can do projects on one's own. Yes, creating your own research project, and doint (essentially) what professors in English in History do, with respect to research. You can do internships with various people in the field, if you are able to get these sorts of internships, or publish academic papers. These things most likely won't be phenomenal, considering you'd be starting out and most academics have done them for years. They were once new to these things as well. Get involved in projects which interest you, and if you can't find them, start a few on your own and get the guidance and advising of a professor. It's a great way to learn from professors, get to know professors, utilize professors, and get more personal recs.</p>
<p>Probably the equivalent of research in the sciences is scholarship in the humanities. As DRab points out this can be working with a professor on some scholarly work of theirs, but it can also be doing scholarly research of your own in areas that interest you, developing proficiency in a foreign language, contributing to a school literary journal etc. My D was involved in a scholarly project over the summer with a faculty member who was interested in interviewing Chinese women who had lived through some atrocities during WWII and whose experiences had not been recorded. There is some ongoing research in some philosophy departments looking at the use of the Socratic method. It might take a little more looking, but these opportunities do exist in the humanities.</p>