tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post9039003295974291796..comments2023-06-11T02:19:27.429-07:00Comments on Academic Cog: Why Even Major in English?Sisyphushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-64142407581462828072009-02-12T20:53:00.000-08:002009-02-12T20:53:00.000-08:00Found my way here from Dr. Crazy's .... posting fr...Found my way here from Dr. Crazy's .... posting from the Physics side of a CC campus where some of my good friends teach comp. <BR/><BR/>Student X clearly went to HS, but did Student X take comp at a CC? The difference between teaching comp 1 at a CC and teaching comp in a HS is significant, but a CC is not a SLAC. We don't get the kids who were forced to attend HS, because no one makes them go to class in college, but we do get all of the ones who can't get over 500 on the SAT verbal. The middle third, who deserved a C but got a B or A for attendance. <BR/><BR/>BTW, someone should know where the grads got employed, but it won't be the English dept. It might be the alumni organization or some state bureaucrat who tracks that sort of thing for the unemployment office, if the career office doesn't know.Doctor Pionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12513786840852469648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-85991010713142873892009-02-11T07:40:00.000-08:002009-02-11T07:40:00.000-08:00The problem is that there is no one around who kno...The problem is that there is no one around who knows what good alternatives for English majors are. The professors went straight through graduate school. Their former students either went into professional programs such as law or they bummed around for a few years - temping, working for the local weekly - before coming back to get an MA and taking a job at the writing center or tutoring. The career office is too busy lining up yet another opportunity for the engineering and nursing students to think about the ones that aren't so easy to place.<BR/><BR/>At least, that's how it was in my English program. I had some wonderful professors, but they didn't do career advice.Eve Properhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04026926577142821030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-78947762750761328972009-02-05T22:23:00.000-08:002009-02-05T22:23:00.000-08:00I enjoyed reading this. I am writing my PhD in ant...I enjoyed reading this. I am writing my PhD in anthropology (filing in May) and am pretty depressed about my prospects. I am at a top tier school, have some publications out, and am realizing that this doesn't magically make it happen. Naive, I know. I have been spending the last few months mind mapping my employable skills, and trying to figure out what's next. But I have also been having conversations with folks in my cohort about pretty much the same thoughts that you express here. We are not being prepared for all those other options. And quite frankly, our entire department has blinders on. To top it off, I am writing letter of rec for undergraduates to go on to graduate school...keeping the cycle going.<BR/>Hmmm.bustahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07015174189981612569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-59184670634905337102009-02-04T07:50:00.000-08:002009-02-04T07:50:00.000-08:00Sis, I think you should propose yourself to the de...Sis, I think you should propose yourself to the department as a link between the Eng dept and Career services. As a job. Because the other folks who are not having an impact is the career services people, who are really supposed to help students with this. Now, you'd have to learn a lot of stuff from career services, but maybe it would be helpful to have someone who starts from the academic side.<BR/><BR/>Yes, I know, California is in a budget crisis and this will happen some time in the next millenium. But you can bet your last dollar that no one in the dept will take this on. <BR/><BR/>To be fair to your student, I was pretty much there when I finished college. The Peace Corps at that time wouldn't take a history major (they wanted agronomy skills), and it was law school, grad school, or being a secretary. We know what our parents do; we know the jobs we have had during vacations. Other than that, most graduating students know very little about the work world.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09716705206734059708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-41414123378367937092009-02-04T07:22:00.000-08:002009-02-04T07:22:00.000-08:00I think part of the problem too is that students a...I think part of the problem too is that students are so weirdly committed to "the major" being "career prep." It's the ethos that makes them major in business and accounting even though they hate it.<BR/><BR/>What I tell students is that whatever they are majoring in ultimately doesn't matter. It's having a BA that employers care about. They are startled.<BR/><BR/>Really good advice one of my former undergrad professors--who was a terrifying dragon lady, btw--ever gave a class of English majors was this:<BR/><BR/>"An English major makes a good therapist." And we all must have looked crazy at her, because then she said, "you understand narrative, and that is a useful skill."the rebel lettristehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08369013300190217105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-80086265065777974622009-02-04T05:48:00.000-08:002009-02-04T05:48:00.000-08:00No one ever talked about job stuff when I was an u...No one ever talked about job stuff when I was an undergrad, and I was seriously unprepared. I was lucky to find my way into the Peace Corps, which is actually pretty good about such things.<BR/><BR/>BUT, our dean here is really good at talking to students about how to frame the skills they've learned through their college education in ways that meet employers' needs, and I've learned a lot from him about it. He often references the AAC&U website, and it's really helpful for ways to talk to students about what employers look for in applicants, and how students can talk about their college work in ways that mean something to employers.<BR/><BR/>It's the difference between saying, hi, I'm an English major, and saying, hi, I've got well-developed writing skills; I can analyze written and numeric information to help make good decisions; I can organize and work in groups, leading when appropriate; I know how to learn complex information and skills, and how to apply them. I have solid ethics and understand why they're important. And so forth.<BR/><BR/>Learning this stuff has made me a whole lot better advisor. AND, I think we should talk to our graduate students about those skills, and how they can apply their very advanced skills in all sorts of fields. As a profession, we suck at that, especially.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.com