Editor’s note – First published 2013/09/21. I am quite proud of this post. If you look below I composed a course description for taking the classics in college. I suppose reading Rush Limbaugh’s response to a person that obtained a classics degree got me a bit angry. So I typed in angry mode and the results are below. For my efforts I received two emails that I posted below. One is from an admissions officer at Oxford University, and the other from a student that finished her dream with a classics degree. The two emails I would tattoo on my arm if I had enough room.
From Mai Musie, Oxford University: I would love to use this for our potential students, or just converting people from all walks of life to Classics! Let me know if I can 🙂
From Nicole: I loved reading this. I too have been defending my Classics degree since before I actually received it. I’ve basically been saying what you wrote, but haven’t seen many others do the same; perhaps because I had already finished college with a diploma in a “useful” subject (accounting) which I absolutely despise. My decision to return to school to do what I loved-what I had previously turned down to do the “practical” education…well, the only ‘justification’ I’ve ever put on it is that I live and breathe Roman history and life is far too short to not do what you love. And comparing my “practical” education with my “frivolous” one…you nailed it better than I did–not only did I lose myself in the wonder of the past, but I understand how we are where we are now, and most importantly, I learned how to think for myself-critically, with every possible fact and from every possible direction. Nothing else comes even close to teaching and reinforcing these skills.
Thank you!
(My blogpost begins here).
Why Pursue a Classics Degree.
Surfing the net I found posts and articles on why one should obtain a classics degree. Most are small arguments on how a classics degree prepares you for other careers. I have yet to see a reason, a REAL reason, why it is a good idea.
From the University of Cincinnati web site:
-quote-
Classics majors go on to graduate school to earn advanced degrees in classics or related fields such as archaeology, history or philosophy. Classics students receive a strong liberal arts education that enables them to pursue a graduate degree in many other fields of study including law, medicine and the ministry, and allows them to move into a great variety of careers in industry, business and public services, as shown under Success Factors. Classics students develop high-level critical thinking, communication, reading and writing skills. Such competence and precision are highly valued in both the private and public spheres.
-end quote-
This argument winds on website after website. It always seems to be an attempt to convince the individual that a classics degree will lead to something else. The schools themselves seem hard pressed to make a coherent argument why its a good idea. They usually run along the lines of: study it so that you can be a lawyer, doctor, or enter the clergy. I would like to hear an argument more on target, more to the point, more realistic in its delivery. The current arguments sounds like a stretch, for the argument stands now as “study the classics for it will lead to something else that will pay more…” That’s it? That’s all they got?
Rush Limbaugh cut through the standard academic argument with his response to a woman who was disappointed on what a classics degree meant for her future:
“…somebody at the university ought to say, “Babe, you are wasting your time in a nothing major. We are stealing your money. You’re gonna be qualified for jack excrement when you get outta here.” But they don’t [the universities]. Now, this is part of the trick, this is the ruse, and it’s actually clever.”
I have to be an idiot not to recognize Limbaugh’s ability to ‘cut through’ and present the ‘cogent’ argument to the academia’s inability to present a plausible reason other than: “…a liberal arts education…” or it will help you “…pursue a graduate degree…in law, medicine and the ministry…” however, I disagree that a classics degree has no merit.
So what do we say? What would be more honest and to the point? It is my opinion that schools must appeal to a student’s imagination, to his or her sense of wonder. This consistent argument to ‘justify’ a classics degree in an ever growing world where the ‘all-mighty dollar’ is the only bottom line for any pursuit of man is a game that academia will consistently lose. So, as in the great tradition of the movie ‘War Games’ where we learn the “only way to win a nuclear war is not to play” let us attack this from a different angle. Let’s not argue and try to convince students that a classics degree has anything to do with money at all. Let’s just tell it honestly and let the student make up his or her own mind – for one of the greatest philosophical principles of all time is, “Do what you love to do, and the money will follow.”
So I have made an attempt.
The following is what the course description should read:
-Rob Cain’s course description-
“Do not study this major to make money. Do not study the classics to lead to other degrees, though it would help and provide a great foundation for many careers and pursuits. Study the classics for knowledge, to transport yourself to another world. Study the classics to see how western civilization rose up, and how modern day institutions base their concepts and principles. There was a time when the world was new. Other people will walk through the world and think the world is set in stone, but you will see it for what it really is…a flowing river that goes back into the past. Other people will quote TV shows and laugh and claim it original, and you will see the present day of entertainment as sitting on the backs of Pindar and Menander. Other people will see the world like children, and argue as children without thought or consequence, and ‘pundit’ themselves in their own ego, but your teacher will be Cicero – the great debater. You will expand your mind under the tutelage of Plato, Zeno and Socrates, and see the world from many directions and from many sides. As a classics major you are a time traveler, unfettered by space and time, and you will see civilizations rise and fall. You will weigh their actions and the consequences of human folly. Others will moan and cry and think their actions in the present day all original, but you shall know that nothing is new under the sun. When your parents ask, “Why are you doing this?” When they ask, “Shouldn’t you study something more practical?” Think about replying in the following manner: “What is more practical than learning how to think?” A classics education will walk with you for the rest of your life. It will not age. It will not sour. It will remain fresh and relevant for you as it has remained for scholars over the generations. This path will not be easy. Turn back before it’s too late, but if you decide to take the first step and have the spine to complete the instruction, the 4 years devoted will stay with you for a lifetime…NO MATTER WHAT YOU WIND UP DOING.”
Footnote 1
How did I do? Do you have a better one? Send your comments to: rob@ancientromerefocused.org.
