madjoy

Yeah... as far as I can tell, as a Wesleyan senior, we don't have a socio-cultural studies major? I'm not sure where that came from. We do have a sociology major and an anthropology major, however. This list seems fishy.

franglish

One B.A. in French linguistics (not all Romance lang.s, but does one count??)
(Another B.A. in Fine Arts. An M.F.A. in ceramics and art history)

Teaching French and Spanish

shawbridge

What about Classics in general? Not exactly sure, other than teaching jobs, what practical substance gets covered.

I'm not sure what they cover in Peace and Conflict Studies, but there are loads of things happening outside the Bush administration. Community mediation, international mediation, community organizing, lots of international stuff done for the UN to facilitate negotiation in lots of conflict-ridden places. So, depending upon what they cover, that degree need not be impractical at all.

Professor X

Medieval and Renaissance Studies (Vassar)
Victorian Studies (Vassar)

These two concentrations both require upper-level courses in English, Economics, History, Art History, and Religion, among others. These are hardly "fluffy" areas of study.

I knew many people whose concentration (major) or correlate (minor) were in Med/Ren or in Vic Studies at Vassar. Among them are three lawyers, five scholars (in depts. of Religion, History, English and Art History), two museum curators, one playwright, and one opera singer.

Characterizing these concentrations as impractical is just as patently offensive as describing the study of the humanities as pointless. A liberal arts education is not vocational training -- nor should it be construed as such. However, I do relish the fact that many people who focused in these fields as undergrads have indeed established successful careers in related areas.

atrophicwhisper

@shawbridge That's what I thought too. In comparison to Agrarian Studies, Latin seems kind of pointless, considering that nobody speaks it anymore. The only time I could see it being used if you want to be a Catholic priest (do they even know Latin anymore?). Or maybe study literature from way back when, but even then, that's not much of a skill.

How depressing to know that reading literature cannot be a skill.

VegasSommelier

My major for my undergrad was sociology. During my senior year I picked up Political Science as a double major because I realized that it alone was pretty useless.

anxiousmom

BFA in Dance. School librarian for 9 years, now teach Kinder in low-income school. I'm very glad I was a dance major for 4 years and wouldn't have traded it for the world!

lollybo

That's like saying you got tired of a crappy ford, so you picked up a dodge.

woody

"And I hope you at least enjoyed learning the subject!"

Quite frankly, I loved it! My children's bedtime stories were from Ovid and Aristophenes!

entrancestone

At least with a sociology degree you can do research if you're in to that kind of thing.

brieb08

my psych teacher was a sociocultural studies major.

NY_Democrat

If you're dumb enough to major in something like Celtic Languages and Literature, you deserve the homelessness you're going to get for the rest of your life - if you're smart enough to make something of your life with that major, you deserve to be recognized as a genius.

AirUpThere

Has anyone else cared to explore the site that the article was posted on?

Here are their Goals:
"We think that fewer high school graduates should go to college. And for those that do perhaps they should wait a year or so before heading off for school. Then they should first select a major and finally a college. We think it is absolutely crazy to go deep into debt to go to college. To read more on this visit our Introduction, and Our Goals."

Probably started by some late 20's male wallowing in self-pity due to sucking at life.

NorCalDad

Dave,

Before you start having the incoming college freshmen thinking too hard, consider that the History of Consciousness program at U.C., Santa Cruz is a Ph.D. level graduate program, with many of the students already possessing graduate degrees. Perhaps in a few years time, they can pick up on the thought.

If I had the time and money, this would be a program I would relish... and so it seems would many others as applicants number upwards of 150 each year, with offers of acceptance going out to only 10-12 students.

In an age where inter-disciplinary is the norm and spheres of modern thought are continually cross-pollinating, it's encouraging to know that needed intellectual discourse can find both refuge and value -- far from the purpose of your referenced website, whose goals appear to cast aspersions on intellectual discovery as a worthy pursuit.

Yes, proud to be a Banana Slug ~

Cyclista2009

"Probably started by some late 20's male wallowing in self-pity due to sucking at life."

Yeah, agree 100%. Many of these articles/websites lambasting college in one way or another are put together by apparently very bitter people whose college experience did not live up to their astronomical expectations. Then "these people" extrapolate their experience and apply it to all colleges and all college students. (Thinking of this and "Disadvantages of an Elite Education" article.) Give me a break. The vast majority of people who go into these majors do it because they love their chosen subject and their life goal is not to amass extraordinary wealth and live in Beverly Hills or Malibu (CA). Those who do not love the subject and yet go into such majors are, honestly, very ignorant. It isn't a mystery on college campuses that Celtic studies won't make you a millionaire.
Those that do love the subjects, acquire the corresponding degrees, and are successful in doing so (make good connections/get good recs) most often (from my experience) go on to graduate school to spend the rest of the foreseeable future doing research and teaching.