What’s the Point of a Degree in Humanities?, Part I

Published by

Clarissa

March 19, 2012

Aaron Clarey, whose blog you can find here, sent me his book titled Worthless. The book’s title refers to the kind of college degrees that the writer deems to be worthless. Among them, are of course all of the Humanities and Liberal Arts degrees. Aaron is a talented guy with a really great sense of humor. Even if you disagree with what he has to say, you have to recognize that he is hilarious.

Here, for example, is Aaron’s explanation as to why Kinesiology is a useless degree:

Kinesiology is nothing more than a euphemism for “Advanced Gym Teacher” or “Overly-Educated Masseuse.”

And here is what he has to say about bankers:

Bankers are, in general, people who were too lazy to go into engineering, let alone accounting, but still wanted to make a ton of money. But since they have no tangible skills and were too intellectually lazy to go and develop some, they rely on corruption, nepotosm, cronyism, connections and “networking” to make money.

This is very well-said, in my opinion.

The reason why I’m discussing Aaron’s book is not that I simply want to share a couple of funny quotes, of course. Worthless raises a very important question that I want to address. Why should people get degrees in the Humanities, Aaron asks, if those degrees do not help them to make money?

As a scholar of the Humanities and a college professor, I can say the following to those who are asking themselves this question. A Bachelor’s degree in the Humanities is, in itself, definitely not aimed at helping anyone make significant amounts of money. Likewise for online masters degree programs in humanities. If your social, economic and class background are such that a house in the suburbs, a good car, three kids and a dog constitute the pinnacle of achievement for you, then, please, listen to Aaron Clarey and do not get a degree in the Humanities. Mind you, I’m not being critical of this dream. I’m just stating that there is a way to achieve it for people who start from scratch both economically and in terms of their class background, and that way is mapped out in Aaron’s book.

A degree in the Humanities becomes necessary when you have addressed the basic needs and are confronted with the two new ones that I will describe in the second part of this post.

[To be continued. . .]

Rate this:

20 responses to “What’s the Point of a Degree in Humanities?, Part I”

marc2020

March 19, 2012

Its seems odd to me people who have this negative view of the Humanities and believe it “worthless” when there have been a number of studies done into job satisfaction that have shown that those who work within the Humanities often report a very high level of job satisfaction along with those who work in the areas of Science/Engineering and Business.

Do you think allot of the flack that humanities majors get is from jealous people who are unhappy that their chosen carries don’t provide as much stimulation and satisfaction?

LikeLike

Reply
1. bloggerclarissa
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  I think there is a variety of reasons and you just named one of them, making it much easier for me to write this series of posts. 🙂
  
  I have very talented readers.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
2. Culture Club
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  Like Clarissa said there are a variety of reasons. I’ve seen everything ranging from STEM people who despise the subject in general, to people whose main beef is simply that in North American universities humanities degrees in general and English degrees in particular serve as catchall for people who did not have the grades to qualify to other programs.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
el

March 19, 2012

//who were too lazy to go into engineering

Not everybody can be an engineer or a programist, let alone a good one. Laziness most often has nothing to do with it.

//when you have addressed the basic needs

How? By getting another degree first or with help of the Degree in Humanities?

Addressing basic needs isn’t a given, especially in times of economic crisis. Besides, since degrees in US cost a lot (much more than in Israel f.e.), one has to be quite rich to get a degree “for the soul”.

LikeLike

Reply
1. bloggerclarissa
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  “Not everybody can be an engineer or a programist, let alone a good one. Laziness most often has nothing to do with it.”
  
  – Aaron is saying that often people choose easy degrees that require no hard work because they are too lazy to do hard work. I think he is right.
  
  “Addressing basic needs isn’t a given, especially in times of economic crisis. Besides, since degrees in US cost a lot (much more than in Israel f.e.), one has to be quite rich to get a degree “for the soul”.”
  
  – You’ve read my stories about my life, right? I made a lot of money back in Ukraine in times of a huge economic crisis. A crisis so huge that what is going on with the US economy at this time looks like a mosquito bite. I did that with no degree.
  
  Then, I got bored with that, left my high-paying career and all of my property behind and came to Canada to a penniless existence and to getting 5 degrees “for the soul.” And that made me happy. It is not a path for everybody, though, as I’m explaining in the second post in the series that I’m writing right now.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
  1. el
    
    March 19, 2012
    
    5 degrees, can I ask in what? I knew only about 3rd degree in Spanish studies.
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply
    1. bloggerclarissa
      
      March 19, 2012
      
      BA and MA in Hispanic Studies from McGill.
      MPhil from Yale.
      MA and PhD from Yale.
      
      Sadly, I can’t hang those five diplomas in my office because the walls have metal sheeting and you can’t hang anything other than a sheet of paper on sellotape. 😦
      
      LikeLike
      
      Reply
  2. Culture Club
    
    March 19, 2012
    
    Sadly, I can’t hang those five diplomas in my office because the walls have metal sheeting
    
    You need a few of these:
    
    http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/page.aspx?p=42359&cat=3,42363
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply
Cpt. Capitalism

March 19, 2012

“Jealousy” is certainly part of it, but not because of job satisfaction, but usually humanities majors end up in government positions that are both (usually) unnecessary and overpaid (at my expense). I want people to pull their weight in this society, not get their “Masters in Fluffy Bunnies” with a minor in “Unicorn Studies” and then lobby for government programs to create make-work jobs for them, replete with bloated pensions, driving up my tax bill. If you can get through the second chapter this is highlighted/explained by comparing what people want with what they’re willing to do for work.

LikeLike

Reply
1. bloggerclarissa
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  ” I want people to pull their weight in this society, not get their “Masters in Fluffy Bunnies” with a minor in “Unicorn Studies” and then lobby for government programs to create make-work jobs for them, replete with bloated pensions, driving up my tax bill”
  
  – This is a very good point. Social Studies majors are especially known for this. The discipline is always a butt of every joke at every university because it addresses non-existent needs that it tries to manufacture. They try very hard to pretend like they are actually doing something in those programs but the course titles are just hilarious.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
2. Culture Club
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  I want people to pull their weight in this society, not get their “Masters in Fluffy Bunnies” with a minor in “Unicorn Studies” and then lobby for government programs to create make-work jobs for them, replete with bloated pensions, driving up my tax bill.
  
  I think there is more to it than that. Theoretical physics majors (particularly particle physics) have hardly pulled their weight for the last couple of decades while, and the latter have been particularly successful in creating make-work jobs for them (SSC, LHC), yet you don’t hear people rallying against them.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Miriam

March 19, 2012

I’m glad you’re taking on this question. It’ll definitely be worthwhile to read about it from the perspective of an actual professor, rather than a shill for the finance sector.

Oops, my cynicism is showing.

But in all seriousness, I took a walk down Fifth Avenue when I was in New York a few weeks ago and realized that all the things in those stores could be mine if I declared the right major and got the right job. And then I realized that I could choose between that, and doing something I love that helps other people for the rest of my life.

I choose the latter every day, and I’ll continue to do so.

LikeLike

Reply
1. bloggerclarissa
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  “But in all seriousness, I took a walk down Fifth Avenue when I was in New York a few weeks ago and realized that all the things in those stores could be mine if I declared the right major and got the right job. And then I realized that I could choose between that, and doing something I love that helps other people for the rest of my life.”
  
  – I just wrote a mile-long post to express this idea that you transmitted in such a succinct and brilliant way. 🙂
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
2. Cpt. Capitalism
  
  March 19, 2012
  
  Ouch, Miriam, you hurt me! 😉 I’ll have you know I actually am very much against the banking industry. I exposed the industry and got black listed back in 2008 when I wrote this book:
  
  Trust me, I’m no shill.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
  1. bloggerclarissa
    
    March 19, 2012
    
    “Ouch, Miriam, you hurt me! I’ll have you know I actually am very much against the banking industry.”
    
    – I really loved the part of your book where you bash the banking industry.
    
    I also really appreciated the part where you addressed the pernicious “1 in 3 women get raped on campus” myth. Mountains of studies have disproved this idiotic statement. Yet, I come into a classroom where I teach my class and I see printouts that still provide this idiotic “data” left there by another prof. I was so angry, i could barely teach!
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply
    1. bloggerclarissa
      
      March 19, 2012
      
      In case people don’t realize, Cpt. Capitalism and Aaron are the same person. 🙂
      
      LikeLike
      
      Reply
  2. Miriam
    
    March 19, 2012
    
    Aaron, I’m sorry, I wasn’t actually referring to you when I said that! I didn’t realize it would seem that way. I was talking about the people who usually make these arguments, who are usually very supportive of the finance sector. 🙂
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply
David Bellamy

March 19, 2012

As I recall, a humanities major followed (perhaps) by an MBA is the best way to position oneself to get to the top of the business world. A business major is better for getting an entry-level job, but not better for advancement.

Humanities majors are in considerable demand, as I recall, in advertising, although when I was a student we would have called that “selling out” and despised such a path.

I suppose I have to confess that I studied mathematics because it was the easiest subject the college taught. I loved literature classes, but I never did as well in them as in math classes.

LikeLike

Reply
Hattie

March 19, 2012

Both of my daughters are doing very well for themselves with humanities degrees. They have extra skills too, such as languages and a solid understanding of human nature, politics, and so on. The major assets in our family have always been education and competence, which have themselves led to material comforts. But in our family’s case at any rate the education came first.
Whenever I read a novel and can appreciate how it is structured and can pick up nuances like humor, irony and so on, I feel that these are perhaps my most important possessions, and I am so thankful for my excellent education in literature.

LikeLike

Reply
1. bloggerclarissa
  
  March 20, 2012
  
  This comment just made this literature prof very happy. 🙂
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply