This cup of joe is for you jobless art-history majors

USA Today (via Yahoo) ^ | 06/11/03 | Craig Wilson

[Drew68]

This cup of joe is for you jobless art-history majors

Wed Jun 11, 7:50 AM ET

Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

Years ago -- I don't need to say how many -- when I was a freshman in college, the first week on campus was filled with seminars and lectures and orientation meetings.

Upperclassmen set up tables on Syracuse's quad and dispensed the kind of knowledge only upperclassmen can dispense.

I remember chatting with one senior who proudly announced, ''I'm an anthro major myself.''

Maybe I didn't react fast enough, or act impressed enough, because she was quick with the follow-up.

''Anthropology?'' she asked as if introducing me to a brand-new world. ''Like Margaret Mead?''

''But doesn't Margaret Mead have the only job there is in anthropology?'' I naively asked.

She didn't like my question very much and didn't respond, turning instead to another freshman who had just strolled up to her table.

I often wonder whatever happened to her. What does happen to anthro majors? Or philosophy majors? Or art history majors, for that matter?

I came from a practical family. My parents were happy to send me to college, but they expected me to be employed in the end. A crazy notion, I know, but they were farmers, used to planting things in the spring and then getting a harvest in the fall. Even I thought it a fair exchange.

Kierkegaard and Caravaggio were all very well and good, but my dad had never heard of either, and he was damn well sure they weren't going to be very good references when the time came to hand over my résumé at a job interview.

I read the other day that this is the worst job market for recent college graduates in 40 years. The market for summer jobs is even worse, because the jobs usually taken by high school kids are now being taken by college grads who can't find jobs in, or out, of their fields.

So what's an art history major to do these days? Other than Prince William, an art history major with a somewhat secure job in sight, most everyone else will have to scramble.

The good news about a bad economy is that you have better-educated people working in the service industry. The bad news about a bad economy is that you have better-educated people working in the service industry.

I mean, do we need the woman at Home Depot telling us we're making a big mistake choosing the Ionic column over the Doric for the front porch?

There's a new radio commercial for Bud Light that salutes those out there working in the trenches, pursuing what seems to be the increasingly elusive American dream. The ad campaign is called Real Men of Genius, and it celebrates the common man, each with his own mini-bio, ending up with the not-too-surprising conclusion that we all need a cold beer at the end of a hard day.

The commercials celebrate everyone from the Mr. Wedding Band Guitar Player to Mr. Nudist Colony Activity Coordinator to Mr. Supermarket Free Sample Guy. All fictional, presumably.

Among the Real Men of Genius is Mr. Fancy Coffee Shop Coffee Pourer. And yes, you guessed it: He holds a degree in art history. A master's, in fact.

My dad would not have thought this fiction at all.

[Drew68]

Among the Real Men of Genius is Mr. Fancy Coffee Shop Coffee Pourer. And yes, you guessed it: He holds a degree in art history. A master's, in fact.

I have a bachelor's degree in History. I also have a Class A CDL. Guess which one pays me more money?

[conservativeinbflo.]

awwww yeeeaaah! finally! an article that pertains to me! i graduated 3 years ago with a degree in art history... 3 months after college, i was a cashier at Jo Ann Fabrics. Today, I sit as a secretary in a totally unrelated field, just trying to pay off my student loans. What a WASTE of time! and what a pretentious major. There's no room for conservatives in the art world, what can I say?

[Krafty123]

What is a CDL?

[B-Chan]

My wife has a B.A. in Art History. She manages her family's delivery business.

I dropped out of art school in my second year. I have been a professional artist since 1988.

Face it: the world just doesn't make sense.

PS - She still earns more than I do...

[B-Chan]

Commercial Driving License, as in "Learn to drive the big rigs"!

[Oberon]

I have a bachelor's degree in History. I also have a Class A CDL.

I have a Bachelor's degree in English and a Class B CDL. With me it's probably a wash, but the English degree allows me to work from home.

[FroedrickVonFreepenstein]

What does happen to anthro majors?

An aquaintance of mine with an anthropology degree works in the public health department as a sexually transmitted disease investigator.

[Drew68]

What is a CDL?

A Commercial Driver's License. I have my doubles-triples, haz-mat and tanker endorsements.

I'll never have trouble finding a good-paying job.

[Koblenz]

While I majored in Mathematics and have an MBA (and now work in finance, but don't do anything beyond high school math in my job), liberal arts majors often find good jobs that aren't in their fields. Hopefully, a liberal (not politically liberal!) education can teach students how to read something and comprehend it, how to write, how to think objectively, etc. While there are certain jobs -- chemical engineers, accountants, pilots, for instance -- that require a specific skill set, there are other jobs that really can only be learned on the job. Working as an editor in a publishing compnay, for instance, or even journalism. Sure, internships in journalism would be helpful, but knowing how to write is obviously the most important skill.

[Leisler]

Wake the F up. Don't you know you are a victim of Chinese hegemony and anti-liberty Bilderbergers who are but moments from pouring out of countless sipping containers at every major port?< sarcasm/off >

[saminfl]

In 1964 I was working as a volunteer at Barry Goldwater's Tucson headquarters. There was a couple also volunteering there who had history of art degrees. They drove the library bookmobile.

[jalisco555]

An aquaintance of mine with an anthropology degree works in the public health department as a sexually transmitted disease investigator.

Now there's a job that makes you want to leap out of bed in the morning!

[Leisler]

sipping=shipping. D'oh!

[Drew68]

I have a Bachelor's degree in English and a Class B CDL. With me it's probably a wash, but the English degree allows me to work from home.

I'll never look back at my college years as a waste of time or a regret. They were the best time of my life --and I love the subject of history.

I did the "college grad office job" for a while and it just wasn't for me.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

The Physics Major trys to determine why the earth spins

The Engineering major trys to determine the rate the earth spins

The art history major trys to determine what on earth you want with your burger order

[Billthedrill]

I have yet to find direct employment in the area in which I got my Bachelor's. College, after all, is a place where one develops tools for living and for making a living, not where one acquires a lifetime meal ticket. That said, the jobs available in art history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, etc, etc, are largely in academia, teaching another generation art history, sociology...if these folks seem divorced from the exigencies of digging ditches to make the mortgage payments, that's why.

For those hyperliberal types lamenting the fact that society doesn't seem to recognize its obligation to keep Women's Studies grads in employment remunerating them in the style to which they'd like to become accustomed, I have one stock reply "well, there's always the Army." Strangely, they don't seem to appreciate that very sound advice...

[Oberon]

Q: How do you get an Art History major off your porch?

A: Pay him for the pizza.

[RightWhale]

What is a CDL?

It's the kind of driver's license that says you really have to obey the laws of the road. No more flitting from lane to lane and ignoring stop signs. Serious and responsible people only.

[Ford Fairlane]

I'm confused - my sister has a doctorate in art history, she is a professor at a private university & publishes regularly, and makes more money than I do

Are these other art history majors unmotivated & lazy or something? The last time my sister switched jobs she had universities fighting over her