Emma Watson, B.A. (Brown University, 2014) This is part of an ongoing series on people who seem to succeed despite having a degree in the Humanities. (If you had a degree in the Humanities you’d know whether that was irony or sarcasm.) […]
Tag: Humanities
“Nobody’s Gonna Go Out With Me…”
This blog was started in our Department back in May 2012, anticipating the 2012-13 academic year’s lecture series that had four different guests all focus on the relevance of the Humanities — a national debate here in the US for decades but one that was obviously heightened in the face of the 2008 economic collapse both here and abroad. The Department, under then Chair Ted Trost, decided to tackle this head on. And so I started posting periodically on why […]
Where Are They Now?
Now there’s a rag-tag group of undergraduate liberal arts majors, if ever I saw one. Samuel Alito, B.A. in Public & International Affairs (Princeton University 1972) Stephen Breyer, B.A. in Philosophy (Stanford University, 1959) Ruth Bader Ginzburg, B.A. in Government (Cornell University, 1954) Elena Kagan, B.A. in History (Princeton University, 1981) Anthony Kennedy, B.A. in Political Science (Stanford University, 1958) John Roberts, A.B. in History (Harvard College, 1976) Antonin Scalia, B.A. in History (Georgetown University, 1957) Sonia Sotomayor, B.A. in […]
Study the Humanities and Save America
Jack Bauer has a BA in English Lit, so don't say the liberal arts can't get you anywhere pic.twitter.com/QhHTNePKN1 — Chris Becker (@crsbecker) May 6, 2014 I came across the above tweet last week and it made me smile. Jack Bauer, the main character in the FOX television show 24, earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from UCLA. On one level, it became an interesting answer to, “what can you do with a humanities degree?” You can save the […]
No One Has a Monopoly on Teaching Critical Thinking
Yesterday my colleague Steven Ramey posted about a recent study of those who took the 2013 Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) — their undergraduate GPA, their undergraduate major, and their LSAT score. The means for each major were then graphed (above), with undergrad GPA on the vertical axis and LSAT score on the horizontal, making Classics majors (far top right corner) the highest preforming by both measures. But you may notice that Religious Studies majors are also near the front […]
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Who is the smartest?
Does it even make sense to generalize about students who major in a discipline, using statistics such as test scores and GPAs? Probably not, as each student’s success depends on her own abilities and hard work, strategic choices and realistic advice. Plus, programs at each university have their own character, and those who major in that program often have a significant self-selection bias. […]
The Humanities, the UK, and Southern Food
Prof. Richard King, professor of Buddhist and Asian Studies at the University of Kent, sits down to discuss his work, as well as the Humanities, higher education in the United Kingdom, and even veggie corndogs. Dr. King delivered the 12th annual Aronov Lecture, titled “From Mysticism to Spirituality: Colonial Legacies and the Reformulation of ‘the Mystic East,’” so be on the lookout for the posting of the lecture video. Also, check out this lecture getting some press in the UK. […]
The Liberal Arts and the Job Market
Have you seen the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ report, “How Liberal Arts and Science Majors Fare in Employment“? Released near the end of January 2014, it’s conclusion states: […]
“They Engage in … Clarification”
Thanks to Amanda Anderson, in 15 minutes or less you can think a little more clearly about challenges to the Humanities in the modern university — and come up with a few possible answers to those challenges. They help one to develop and integrate a fundamental practice into one’s life. If the dinner table question was not “But what will you do with an English major?”… but rather “What kind of life do you find meaningful or valuable and what […]
But Was It Worth It?
A new report has just been released by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAUP) — the press release opens as follows: […]