9 Liberal-Arts Majors Are on the Chopping Block at Marymount U.

[brooklynite]

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Marymount University, in Virginia, plans to make a sharp turn away from the humanities, eliminating nine liberal-arts majors for undergraduate students. The move highlights tough decisions that many colleges are making in a challenging financial environment, as well as a broader debate about the kind of education colleges should offer.

The plan, backed by Marymount President Irma Becerra, would sunset majors in English, history, math, economics, and the arts, among others. The cuts would affect one-sixth of all undergraduate majors offered at Marymount. Becerra submitted her plan on Wednesday to the university’s Board of Trustees, which will make a final decision on February 24, according to emails shared with The Chronicle

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[Karadeniz]

1. History? English? Not good news. Eliminating those lessens the number of people who help

navigate the world.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Math?

I can't read the article (paywall), but if Marymount is turning away from the humanities and toward STEM, then why drop math? Or is the turn toward business majors?

[LisaM]

3. This is terrible.

I never liked the shift to all STEM from the beginning, but we are going to be very sorry if we just turn out people who seek a degree solely for the money. We have already started erasing critical thinking. Our liberal arts schools will turn into vocational schools. We're also starting to lose the professions, teaching and medicine and social work.

This is ridiculous, frankly. You're supposed to get a well-rounded education at a four year college or university, not just go to some programming labs funded by Microsoft or Meta or Alphabet.

[misanthrope]

13. Sorry to break it to you

Even back in the 1980s, I could see colleges filling with "people who seek a degree solely for the money." The vocational school perspective is one of the things that has driven our institutions of higher learning into sketchy territory over the last half century. I knew plenty of folks who would have easily traded a lump sum equal to four years' tuition for the shot at a higher paying job, regardless of whether they learned anything or not.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. Less than a decade ago, Sweet Briar College, an independent women's

liberal arts college switched to a STEM orientation. It started with the elimination of Italian and German. Then French. Then the fine arts.

While I am grateful the college is still in existence, it isn't the haven for learning that it used to be.

I studied logic, European civilization, Italian, German, art history, music history, advanced harmony, all the eras of western music, theater history, photography, comedy in film, D. H. Lawrence, wrote a thesis, gave a music performance recital, and more. All that is gone now.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. So many overlap

I know a guy who was an electrical engineer, and got a MA in Philosophy. I asked him why philosophy majors seem to outperform. He said because they think clearly, from all perspectives, can interact and win arguments with most anyone, and yet they are also gregarious.

I can see that history, poli sci, and economics share common themes. You don't understand any of them without some knowledge common to all three. History brings a lot of reading and writing skills, but so does English. Of all of them, economics is the shortest on skills. Economics should be taught in a business major, not liberal arts.

In my view, colleges need to evaluate what they teach and focus on the skills. That's what employers look for. There are skills in the liberal arts, if you look for them. English and journalism for example, in addition to reading, have editing and proofreading skills. But then I never understand why everyone isn't taught the foundations of modern life or western civilization: political philosophy from 1500-2000 and American political thought, and extensive personal finance. So they really want to educate? Or are they in the business of producing drones for the workplace?

[Sympthsical]

7. Poly Sci majors enroll in it to do battle

Philosophy majors enroll in it to win them.

[WarGamer]

9. +1000 so true...

[CTyankee]

6. I loved my graduate level Liberal Studies program at a small college here in New Haven.

The program offered courses the faculty loved to teach, subjects dear to their hearts. That made it such a beautiful experience. The faculty taught with gusto and burst with pride and enthusiasm. I cried on graduation day and I still have my cap and gown somewhere. I couldn't bear to throw them out...

[WarGamer]

8. I got my Engineering Degree in the 80's... two more degrees in the 90's

And IMHO, you'd be crazy not to be in STEM if you're young nowadays.

In the tech heavy cities in the US... Silicon Valley, Austin, etc... there are software engineers, 5-7 years out of college making $300k a year...

[AndyS]

11. I spent the bulk of my sales carreer providing engineering support

to EEs and MEs in the telecom industry. I have two Liberal Arts degrees, one in Photography the other in English (emphasis in creative writing).

So one day the subject of education came up and I was 'outed' as a Liberal Arts Major. First response was,"You want fries with that?" Keep in mind I was making more $$ than they were. Next comment was "I learned to MAKE things," to which I replied, "I learned to think."

I could not do what they did but they depended on me to know my inventory and provide the bits and pieces to solve their engineering issues. To 'think outside the box' when needed. I brought something to the table that they didn't have.

Yes, STEM is important in an increasingly technological society but Liberal Arts in important to the soul of that society. It takes a blend.

[WarGamer]

14. If I had wealthy parents and a huge trust fund...

I would have studied History and Philosophy exclusively.

[Raftergirl]

10. It's not the major that matters

it’s the critical thinking skills and communication skills one acquires that is the most important thing and what companies value the most.

My kid was a Politics major/history minor. The most business-y thing he took was Intro to Stats.
Graduated from a Liberal Arts college.

He’s just 29 and recently promoted to Manager of Business Operations at an international cybersecurity software company headquartered in Boston. This is the third company he has worked for - getting hired away from each previous company he worked for.

If I recall correctly (it was a few years ago I read thus stat) more Wall Street firms hire Philosophy majors than any other major.

[multigraincracker]

12. A Freshman back in the 60s,

I had no idea what I wanted to do. I did enjoy those 4 basics that were required.

[MichMan]

15. My guess is that very few people were taking those majors

If there were, I seriously doubt if they would be dropping them. Doesn't make financial sense for a college to staff departments and majors that students aren't interested in taking.