So, no surprises here, but loved the "chance of working retail" number.
_XC
Ha, I did my undergrad in anthropology and philosophy. I'm screwed.
How much course time do you think someone would have to put in to have a 'solid education' in the humanities? For my degree I have to have 6 credits each (two classes each) of social sciences and humanities courses as well as 6 credits of miscellaneous courses. Would expanding those credit requirements help?
Just MHO, but personally, I doubt it. I think you need to take the 400+ level courses to get into the depth of things, and from what you garner from a couple more miscellaneous courses probably isn't worth it. But, luckily its easier to become well-read than it is to become proficient at math, engineering, or physics. If you make a list of 40 books or so, say two dozen classics of literature, a handful of political treatise and several historical books, you can probably get what most 4 year liberal arts majors retain. That said, I'm only moderately well-read. It's still a work in process for me. On a related note, tonight I just finished a book of short stories by Hemingway called In Our Time. I've read A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea, and this is my favorite Hemingway by quite a bit.Would expanding those credit requirements help?
Have you read Hemingway's Nick Adams Stories? I'm pretty sure some of them came to comprise In Our Time. They all take place in Northern Michigan and I'm sure you'd be familiar with the areas. They're a must read when up at a cabin in Northern Michigan. We keep a copy up there for new recruits.
There's a few of them in there. It actually made me sad that I hadn't discovered them before my dad passed. I would have loved to introduce them to him. Some of my fondest memories are trout fishing with him and my grandfather in the UP. Big Two-Hearted River starts in Seney. My father had a good friend there that we would usually visit on our way up or down.
Precisely the reason I switched my major from Philosophy so many years ago and got a degree in Information Systems. But I have to say, had I stuck with it, I'd have a tenured position somewhere by now. I really don't think it would have been so bad. I would have had more debt though, due to the fact that I almost certainly would have to have done a Master's then a PHD in order to secure one of the competitive few openings. Slightly worse ROI, money-wise, but much higher job security, which has a real value. Strictly financially speaking, my best bet would probably have been to just take the Nuclear Power School track in the US Navy that was offered to me by my recruiter. Unfortunately for him, I hadn't switched my major from Philosophy yet, and was able to put into so many words why I wasn't interested :)