I Don’t Regret Choosing to Study Liberal Arts… Yet

04Oct10

The Seven liberal arts: Music and Pythagoras. Image via Wikipedia

I think the credit card companies discovered I earned a degree in liberal arts. Since I graduated, I receive up to three credit card offers daily–an average of ten to twelve a week.

Their ruthless pursuit is a logical marketing strategy: I am most likely broke as a recent liberal arts graduate who faces a world which sees little value in the intangible analytical and critical thinking skills–the sacred worldliness!–I worked so hard to cultivate in college.

I studied arts studies in a tiny and under-funded interdisciplinary department at a university known for science and technology. This program allowed me to thrive; it allowed me freedom to tailor my degree to my interest in community and nonprofit arts, to complete a variety of internships and creative experiences, and to study a variety of subjects, each of which lit a fire within me: Irish Film and Literature, Darwinism and Christianity, and History of the Modern Middle East, among others.

At every turn on my beloved science and technology campus, I met this mildly-hostile demand to justify myself: “What are you going to do with that degree??” (Double question mark to emphasize doubters’ utter bewilderment.) An idealist, I chose to pursue the original role of classical university education: to cultivate general knowledge and rational discourse, developing overall intellectual capability.

In reality, the business, engineering and technology degrees which seem to be the “default” options are a recent development which reflect vocational and technical training systems more than the university education based upon liberal arts. Certainly there is a place for technical training, but I don’t believe it should be the “default,” an attitude that promotes and perpetuates a culture which fails to see the value of any skills other than creating and selling widgets to make X corporation more money.

In a defense of the humanities published in the NY Times, David Brooks writes that the humanities acquaint us with “The Big Shaggy”–the elusive thing that makes us human, that leads to unpredictable behavior and remarkable behavior. To study the humanities is to understand what is is to be human and how to perform and interact as a human.

I don’t regret studying liberal arts. Still, it isn’t easy being a liberal arts graduate. We all have to make a living and there is no direct career path for the liberal arts graduate as there is for engineers or business majors. Nor, in most cases, are companies offering liberal arts graduates positions paying $50K /year+ a $5K signing bonus.

No, as a liberal arts graduate, one does not fall into a career; one has to make a career happen. Of course, there are resources to help graduates frame their skills, which, as it turns out, are very valuable to many employers. Ten Ways to Market your Liberal Arts Degree is a good start.

To all my fellow liberal arts graduates, I salute you stand beside you in the struggle! For now, throw this zinger on your resume:

“The cultural awareness I’ve developed as a result of my solid liberal arts education prepares me to collaborate in a team-oriented and diverse workforce.”

Did you study the liberal arts? Have you surpassed my record of three credit card offers in one day? Comment below!

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Tags: Arts, Career, Job Search, Purposeful Career