#47 Arts Degrees
February 1, 2008 by clander
When white people go away to college, they tend to study what are knowns as the Arts. This includes actual Art, English, History, Classics, and Philosophy. These can of course be broken down further into Film, Womyn’s Studies (yes the spelling is correct), Communications, Gender Studies, and so forth. It is important to note that a high percentage of white people also get degrees in Political Science, which is pretty much like arts, and only seems to have the word “science” in it to make white people feel better about themselves.
These degrees enable white people to spend four yeas of their lives reading books, writing papers and feeling great about themselves. It is a known fact that Arts students firmly believe that they are doing you/society a favor by not getting a job and reading Proust. They use this to protest for reduced tuition, more money for the arts, and special reduced student rates on things like bus passes.
But what about the white people who study Science, Engineering or Business? Unless they become doctors, they essentially lose white person status (and can only be regained by working at a non-profit).
So why would white people spend all that time studying and working to get into college if they are just going to read books that they might have read in their free time? Because white people have it made. They can take that degree and easily parlay it into a non profit job, an art gallery job, or work in publishing. If the pay is low, no problem, their parents will happily help out with rent until they magically start making six figures or non-magically turn 40.
White people can also take that degree and go to graduate school (future post) and eventually become a professor or adjunct professor where they will still require parental support.
If they are REALLY ambitious and need to make money, they can take that degree and go to Law School.
But the real reason white people need these degrees is so that they can sound smart at parties. Of course it trickles down to making connections, getting hired, knowing rich people, and so forth. But ultimately it all begins by saying “reading Henry James was the most rewarding part of undergrad.”
Using this to your advantage can be very difficult as attempts to talk about the books they skimmed while hungover can expose you. It is best to say that you were a first generation college student and your parents demanded that you study math, chemistry, economics or computer science. You had to read Joyce on your own.
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Going to law school through a Political Science degree is hard but worth it. I know you write some of this stuff in jest, but it is false to assume every arts student or white student has wealthy parents and connections. The fastest demographic growth of poverty in the US and Canada consists of white people. I would argue affirmative action gives other groups the upper hand. Many people use arts as a stepping stone to their career. PS: arts students score the best out of all faculties on GMAT, LSAT and other professional school aptitude tests. Maybe I’m taking this to personally. have a nice day!
Maybe they score the best because they don’t have a job, and therefore have the most time to study, or perhaps they score they best because you just made that statistic up.
hey all, in today’s economy if you are not from an upper-class background and do not have connections then majoring in the sciences, I think, is truly the way to go. I have a deep interest in film, psychology, and philosophy yet I am not majoring in this. Why?
Because I would have to go on to grad school to find a decent job.
But mainly because I spend enough time on my own learning about these subjects.
I am majoring in environmental science because I want to work for a non-profit, overseas, doing environmental work. This is very altruistic I know; it is the only thing really keeping me in school.
I have yet to do a study abroad, and this is where I will tie in my arts education… in Paris.
But that is all the formalized liberal arts education I am getting.
Do music majors and theatre majors (which is the correct spelling, NEVER “theater”) fall into this category? I know a lot of music and theatre majors who did 6+ years in college only to get jobs as wait staff in NYC/L.A./Chicago waiting to “make it big.” All the music majors I know past 40 work in insurance or some other mindless job and maybe gig on the weekends. What do you all think?
Many white people with “arts” degrees end up in insurance. Generally this low-paying, tedious industry is happy to employ smart, well educated ninnies like me. I have a B.A. and an M.A., I speak one other language fluently, and read two others. I have encountered majors in English, Spanish, Art History, History, Political Science, Math, French, Art, and a spate of other majors among insurance workers. We tend to look askance at anyone with a business degree or, heaven forbid, an insurance degree.
one should never pay for items at Michaels
or “tag” on canvases
Being an art major myself, this one is particularly close to my deep troubled heart. I love the kids that grew up playing football and wearing skechers. The kids that have suddenly become deeply aware of their roots and can only release the termoil of an adolesence on the streets in Compton by tagging a canvas they bought at Michael’s….
This is especially so!
Look at what one is trying to do at http://creativepassword.wordpress.com/
http://www.edwardsharper.com
OMG!! I have an art degree!!!!! Finally, something that applies to me! Yes, I am a stuck-up, whine-swilling, elitist liberal white chick after all. Thank God. Oops, I mean The Goddess.
All you can really do is follow your heart, ya know? I was in grad school for an English lit masters, but I hated it so much that I left the program. All the snobbery, back stabbing and viciousness was too much.
I love to read. I love art. I don’t like the snottiness and the mean spirited bullshit that can come with that.
I changed academic focus on a vocational type job and now all my snotty grad school friends hate my guts. *shrugs* Oh well. They weren’t real friends any way.
What I hate is that these arts departments will lie to students saying that there’s so much out there for them. However, research told me otherwise. They just want cheap labor from the graduate students to teach the introduction classes that the professors are too lazy to teach or think they’re too much of a big shot to teach intro classes.
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