Clarkson University is cutting 9 majors.

"The nine majors being phased out — social documentation, history, literature, sociology, film, political science, digital arts and sciences, communications and media, and interdisciplinary liberal studies and humanities — represent less than 2% of students."

A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

College was a hard (and late) realization that all my favorite subjects - many listed above - were a poor investment for a degree. And all the subjects I didn’t like were where the value of a degree was.

(12-24-2023 09:54 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

Yes, seems pretty strange for the liberal arts college to cut those majors

They say they’re going to add more stem majors, which is always been an emphasis there

(12-24-2023 10:12 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  Yes, seems pretty strange for the liberal arts college to cut those majors

Clarkson is an engineering school. For anyone who wants to major in basket weaving, St. Lawrence is right down the road.

But this does bring up the question of what their hockey players going to major in now.

(12-24-2023 09:56 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  College was a hard (and late) realization that all my favorite subjects - many listed above - were a poor investment for a degree. And all the subjects I didn’t like were where the value of a degree was.

History, while not particularly useful to most careers, is very useful as citizen of a democracy.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.

(12-24-2023 10:27 AM)zibby Wrote:  

(12-24-2023 10:12 AM)dbackjon Wrote:  Yes, seems pretty strange for the liberal arts college to cut those majors

Clarkson is an engineering school. For anyone who wants to major in basket weaving, St. Lawrence is right down the road.

But this does bring up the question of what their hockey players going to major in now.

Yes, I did a little reading up on them and see that they do have a stem emphasis.

And good point on their division, one hockey players

(12-24-2023 09:54 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

It was Clarkson Memorial College of Technology until 1984.

23% of graduates in 2022 were mechanical engineering majors.

Among the Top 10 majors (accounting for 75% of graduates), 7 were engineering degrees (63% of graduates). The other 3 were Biology (6%), Entrepreneurship (3%), and Computer Science (3%).

If you were serious about a degree in history, literature, or sociology it is unlikely that you would be going to Clarkson. Those fields might attract students who bombed out of their calculus or physics classes.

The article said only 2% of their grads got these degrees.

Are there any colleges offering majors in reality?

A lot of colleges that we see dropping lots of majors have very few people graduating in them. And they often continue to offer coursework in those areas, so it’s not always an “all is lost” situation.

I think it makes the news more lately as well, when it may have gone by unnoticed in the past.

It's a tech school.

(12-24-2023 09:54 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

They ended the majors. That doesn't mean the departments totally went away.

(12-24-2023 09:54 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

Right?! My BA is in PolSci, ANOTHER Major they’re nuking!

I was an American Studies major back in the day. Half the time the professors running the program have moved on and no one is hired to replace them, killing the department with little savings. Some of these majors (digital media, film, documentation) were never hoing to succeed in a state where there are several better options in warmer places with better access to jobs and internships.,

(12-25-2023 12:54 PM)Erictelevision Wrote:  

(12-24-2023 09:54 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

Right?! My BA is in PolSci, ANOTHER Major they’re nuking!

Not to mention killing the Interdisciplinary major that involved coursework from all of these departments.

Correct -- schools will likely keep teaching the lower level courses in many of the subjects. But can hire cheap, nontenured contract instructors instead of keeping the more expensive professors.

(12-24-2023 09:54 AM)Yosef Himself Wrote:  A University is killing their History, Literature, and sociology departments? Might as well have toilet paper rather than sheep's skin coming out of Clarkson.

Not the only one making cuts:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/facu...ut-faculty