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Given the dearth of historian jobs I have decided to go back to school. I start a program next week at UMASS Lowell to get a second Bachelor's in IT. I figure there is way more in being an IT Geek than in being a historian. I think I will still try to write history though. History will always be my greatest passion, I just don't think there is much of a living to be made at it.
I need to get back to school and finish my BA. I needed a break and it's now ended being more than a year. Also kind of ran out of money (I'm NOT getting a student loan), but it's also stupid to pay what I already did for 1/2 a BA. That would be a waste. At least I'm reading a lot more than I ever have, but it's not the same as taking a class.PLus if I ever finish my BA, I could go to grad school and study and concentrate on something I really want to like British or Greek history.
I am using my GI Bill. I figure I paid for it when I first joined and its available so I should use it.
Scout, I wish you well in your endeavor. I think it is especially difficult to make a living in any of the humanities now, given the economy. Once the global economy picks up, I would expect more opportunities and funding to be available in historical fields. Of course, jobs in the information technology field will always be numerous, so you have more room for potential there. Perhaps one day you find a way to combine the two.
For what it's worth, I find that part of the value in being educated and trained as a historian (or at least the more marketable part) is that we have learned how to think as historians. That means that: 1) we are naturally skeptical of the material presented2) we know how to wade through massive amounts of material and find what is important, as well as identifying threads and themes3) we know how to analyze4) we know how to write (some more succinctly than others)5) we know something about the human condition and how people will act and react in certain situations6) we know how to ask questions7) we know how to researchSo, while we may not necessarily be able to make our living as a historian, we can put those skills to use in the business world. We just need to be able to sell them to our future employers, but THAT is a whole 'nother kettle of fish!Good luck!
I need to get back to school and finish my BA. I needed a break and it's now ended being more than a year. Also kind of ran out of money (I'm NOT getting a student loan), but it's also stupid to pay what I already did for 1/2 a BA. That would be a waste. At least I'm reading a lot more than I ever have, but it's not the same as taking a class.PLus if I ever finish my BA, I could go to grad school and study and concentrate on something I really want to like British or Greek history.
Damn I didn't realize you were not in school anymore. I've been out since 2006, but I'm getting things in order to return.
For what it's worth, I find that part of the value in being educated and trained as a historian (or at least the more marketable part) is that we have learned how to think as historians. That means that: 1) we are naturally skeptical of the material presented2) we know how to wade through massive amounts of material and find what is important, as well as identifying threads and themes3) we know how to analyze4) we know how to write (some more succinctly than others)5) we know something about the human condition and how people will act and react in certain situations6) we know how to ask questions7) we know how to researchSo, while we may not necessarily be able to make our living as a historian, we can put those skills to use in the business world. We just need to be able to sell them to our future employers, but THAT is a whole 'nother kettle of fish!Good luck!
That is a very good assessment, and I will have to refer to your post in the future. I think that one of the reasons why humanities funding gets cut ahead of funding to math and the sciences is because we don't sell the usefulness or practical nature of our fields very well. This is unfortunate. I have thought it might be good for me to devote some time on the last day of class to telling my students how to use what they have learned during the semester in the "real world". Perhaps I will borrow some of the points above when I work on my final lecture in the fall.
I don't have my notes handy, since I am currently on the road, but there is a quote that I like that comes to mind here. This is a paraphrase, but I think it carries the meat of the message. Admiral James Bond Stockdale, medal of honor recipient, was once asked about the value of officers with an engineering degree from the Naval Academy vs. those officers with a liberal arts degree, and he replied with something along the lines of: “What does a destroyer skipper need to know about Kant? I say that an officer educated in the liberal arts and humanities approaches the unknown with curiosity and reason, while those with an illiberal education (I love that term) approaches the unknown with fear and trepidation.”Now, like I said, that is a paraphrase, and the Admiral is no longer around to defend his words, but the gist is that we "social scientists" know more of the human condition, and how people think, live, and react than do those who know the harder sciences. And, personally, I think that the Admiral nailed it. A world without the humanities, is a sterile and lifeless world - a world without reason, imagination, or for that matter, faith. A college education isn't intended to train us for a job, no matter what the small brained pundits say - a college education is to teach us to think, to think critically, to examine other points of view, to question, and to research and draw conclusions... and to admit that we don't know everything.But that's just my two cents...
This thread has inspired me to sign up for a class. Renaissance, starting in Sept. (hope the instructor lets me do a paper on the Dutch)
Vulture has a point. The humanities teach us methods of approaching problems and the human condition differently than do folks with hard science degrees. The fact remains though that a Humanities degree is harder to get a job with than one in something “useful.” That last is my motivation for getting a second Bachelors. However, in a new development, I have a job interview next week to teach history and English at a private school here in Germany. We will see how that works out.
