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

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

[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