Going to College: Arts and Humanities

It's common for students to go back to college without considering their career path or interests. In fact, according to The Enquirer, students that select "undecided" for their major make up over eight percent of incoming freshman; this is a staggering leap from the one percent documented back in 1966. More than half of college students also change their major at least once within their academic career.

The Arts and Humanities, especially a Liberal Arts degree, used to act as the catch-all for the undecided populace that remained unknowing of their educational pursuits throughout their stay at their university or school. It was the last resort, the bottom line, with seemingly no job opportunities in sight.

But times have changed for the liberal arts and humanities majors.

The strength of the liberal arts and humanities degree lies in versatility. Like a business degree, it is accepted as a strong educational background for a variety of jobs, many that are eccentric and unheard of without the proper research. Students from the liberal arts and humanities still have to face the daunting question of, "Okay, but what will you do with your degree?" but the future is much brighter than most people think.

Some of the job opportunities for a liberal arts degree include:

• Museum jobs; a museum curator makes over $45,000 a year, and an archivist makes over $45,000 a year
• Business jobs; marketing research analysts make over $60,000 a year
• Government jobs; political scientists make over $100,000 a year
• Writing jobs; authors make over $50,000 a year
• Linguistic jobs; interpreters make over $38,000 a year
• Educational jobs; elementary school teachers benefit the most from liberal arts and humanities

A degree in fine arts, visual arts, or other aspects of the "Arts" field may open doors to creative careers like visual design, advertising, graphic design, video game design, and comic book design.

What can I expect from an Arts and Humanities degree program?

Arts and Humanities teach students about the world. Rather than focusing on one topic, students learn knowledge from several different disciplines to develop their overall intellectual ability. Arts and Humanities students learn how to express their opinions, evaluate their surroundings, and explore the richness of other arts and humanistic aspects found in all cultures, locations, and points in history.

Classes are grounded in the following subjects:

• Arts
• Foreign language, communication, and public speaking
• Literature
• Mathematics
• Nature and physical sciences, including biology, geology, physics, etcetera
• Social sciences, including anthropology, communication, political science, psychology, sociology, etcetera
• Classics, history, philosophy, and religion

A student that is attracted to this palette of classes typically is artistic, creative, and curious. While logic and "left-brain" aspects of learning are found in mathematics and philosophy, the student will also deal with "right-brain" topics such as aesthetics and feelings. The Arts and Humanities major graduates as a "whole-brained" individual, prepared for exciting careers in industries throughout the world.