What is your college major?

[Schrödinger's Cat]

It appears the historical tradition of Western colleges focusing on liberal arts (and in particular the basic components like English and history) continues to this day when looking at department breakdowns for most schools. The few exceptions may be math and science institutions. I'm interested in seeing what the breakdown here is.

The poll can be used by...

- High school students who think they know what major(s) they want to pursue.
- College students.
- Post-grads.

I will also allow for multiple selections so that double/triple majors don't have to get uppity. As for me, I'm majoring in mathematics and social studies. As a side note, I'm thinking about minoring in physics and furthering my knowledge of the field in graduate school.

[#FF0000]

I'm going for secondary education: social studies, which includes psychology, economics, sociology, history, anthropology, sociology, and philosophy.

I'm pretty sure I have to get certified for all of them, so I"m pretty sure I"m going to

[Schrödinger's Cat]

I'm not sure where you live, but in Texas (and I believe most states in the union) there exists a composite secondary social studies certification that enables you to teach all of those subjects. I was on that plan until I decided I would be better off teaching math due to the never-ending labor scarcity. School districts are increasingly tired of getting applicants who are only certified in "history" or "geography," especially since there's a glut of social studies teachers in virtually every region.

I just wouldn't want you wasting all your money on seven different tests.

[Wanted Man]

I study English.

[RHIZOMES]

English and Sociology double major. Sociology because it's really the best department at my Uni if one wants to learn about Marxism and things Marxists should know about (class/gender/race divisions and how these relate to various facets of society etc and there are a few Marxist lecturers), and English because I'm gonna use my BA to do a Post-Grad Diploma in Secondary Teaching (With my two required teaching subjects being English and Social Sciences). With the diploma you get a scholarship if you're a male English teacher due to the massive shortage of them in NZ (and I'd presume elsewhere). I'm not doing that major purely for cynical reasons though, I seriously think English would be the best subject for me to teach. There's a lot more room for your own opinion than in say, History where it's pretty much just parroting the NZ state's opinion on communism etc. I may pursue post-graduate study in Sociology after a few years of teaching, however I want to be thoroughly prepared to be able to engage with and effectively debunk predominant post-modern thinking or otherwise I may be suckered into a bunch of gibberish.

[Angry Young Man]

How does the American HE system work?

I'm doing English and Drama.

Since I didn't vote, how far ahead are Philos. and History?

[Olerud]

Political Science or Government

[Il Medico]

I am currently majoring in English. I am thinking about double majoring in History/or Education and English, but right now just English.

[BobKKKindle$]

Ugh, I hate it how Americans often refer to politics as "Political Science" or "Government". In the UK and the rest of the world those terms are generally used as synonyms for comparative government, which, whilst being an important part of politics courses and the study of politics, is not the entirety of either of those things, because it leaves out political theory, political sociology, and so on. "Political Science" is especially problematic even when it's only applied to comparative government because it brings up all sorts of questions about whether you can extract causal laws from comparisons between countries, indeed whether it is even possible to compare countries.

I am doing modern history and politics. I hope that I'll be able to get funding and go on and do a masters and then a PHD in either political theory or modern Chinese history, but failing that I might do a one-year PGCE.

[Honggweilo]

i study Graphical Mediadesign

[NecroCommie]

We don't have your pansy college system. But the name of my eventual degree is: "bachelor of forest engineering" so I went with the engineering bit.

[Raúl Duke]

I'm studying history but I plan to get into journalism and even maybe get an MA on journalism...

But no Ph.D for me and I'll probably end up working for independent media, alternative weeklies, and other alternative media. I doubt it pays much.

[bcbm]

i majored in dropping out.


pansy

this is a homophobic slur, please don't use it.

[hugsandmarxism]

Sociology! :)

[johhy one two]

God i feel so stupid i haven't any and left school at 15:crying:

[Schrödinger's Cat]

We don't have your pansy college system. But the name of my eventual degree is: "bachelor of forest engineering" so I went with the engineering bit.
How are American universities cowardly?

[spiltteeth]

Currently I am enrolled in The London Institute of Pataphysics.
I'm majoring in general Pataphysics and Clinical Rhetoriconosis with a minor in Anabathmology.

[bcbm]

its 'pataphysics:closedeyes:

[NecroCommie]

this is a homophobic slur, please don't use it.
Is this for real? If it is then sorry. I always thought it meant something like "silly".

[black magick hustla]

physics, mathematics, alcoholism and a minor in psychotropes and nicotine

and a lot of fucking caffeine

[RHIZOMES]

Sociology! :)

~SOCIOLOGY BASE REPRESENT~


God i feel so stupid i haven't any and left school at 15:crying:

Nothing wrong with that comrade.

[bcbm]

Is this for real? If it is then sorry. I always thought it meant something like "silly".

no worries, that is why i was letting you know.

[hugsandmarxism]

~SOCIOLOGY BASE REPRESENT~

*high-five* :)

Anyway, it was in my intro sociology course that I read my first Marx (and got to talk to my first marxist, who was surprisingly, alot more awesome than your typical university marxist professors) and, yeah, I love it. :D

[Andrei Kuznetsov]

History, specializing the Middle East & Islam.

However, for my Masters' and PhD, I'm seriously considering either doing Russia & the former USSR, or East Asian Studies.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Political Science, with a minor in German, but i might change my minor to sociology and continue studying german anyways

[RHIZOMES]

*high-five* :)

Anyway, it was in my intro sociology course that I read my first Marx (and got to talk to my first marxist, who was surprisingly, alot more awesome than your typical university marxist professors) and, yeah, I love it. :D

I had a similiar experience. I was already a Marxist by the age of 16 and my intro socio course was awesome since I got an A+ in explaining shit about Marxism I already knew, but what really clinched Sociology for me was the paper I took in the second semester (the current one) where I had a really erudite Marxist British expat lecturer who I became good friends with.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

Looks like RevLeft represents the average; I'm surprised we don't have any biology majors, though.

[Invincible Summer]

I'm a Sociology major, and I've changed from doing an additional German double major, German minor, to a Atmospheric Science double major (which I'm doing right now and failing miserably).

I think I've settled on my degree though - Sociology/Cognitive Systems double major. Cog Sys is pretty cool - multidisciplinary degree based in Psychology, Linguistics, Philosophy, and Computer Sciences. It examines artificial and natural intelligent systems and tries to design new ones (AI, computer-human interface, etc). It's really awesome (you can probably tell I'm really excited about it haha :p).


I love learning languages, but German is really not practical for living in this part of Canada, and I don't plan on becoming a translator or anything. I'll probably study it outside of school.


English and Sociology double major.

[...]

I may pursue post-graduate study in Sociology after a few years of teaching, however I want to be thoroughly prepared to be able to engage with and effectively debunk predominant post-modern thinking or otherwise I may be suckered into a bunch of gibberish.
Post-modernism = epic fail.

But so many sociologists (at least in my experience) get sucked into it, so be careful!


Sociology! :)

Sociology! :cool:


Political Science, with a minor in German, but i might change my minor to sociology and continue studying german anyways
Wie lange lernst du Deutsch? Ich habe Deutsch seit 3 Jahren jetzt lernen aber meine gesprochenes deutsch nicht so gut ist :lol:

[Knight of Cydonia]

i don't have a college major..but still i wanna vote, so what?

[Comrade Gwydion]

i don't have a college major..but still i wanna vote, so what?
other!

[spiltteeth]

I honestly have no idea how people can afford to go to college - I guess just go into massive debt?
I can never figure this out.
I already have massive debt, court judgments against me etc and no one will lend me $$ for school, I've already tried.
Where does everyone get the money from....and how do I do it?

[Il Medico]

I honestly have no idea how people can afford to go to college - I guess just go into massive debt?
I can never figure this out.
I already have massive debt, court judgments against me etc and no one will lend me $$ for school, I've already tried.
Where does everyone get the money from....and how do I do it?
A man named Mr. Pell. (aka the government via the Pell grant). However, this won't cover my cost once I transfer to a 4 year university, so bad(well worse) times and debt are ahead. I also owe 11,00 in Medical Bills. I was in the hospital for an hour, with food poisoning. (thought it may have been appendicitis, because I could barley move and my stomach felt I like I had decided to munch on a grenade.)

[alfred j. kwak]

Archaeology :)

[Rusty Shackleford]

Wie lange lernst du Deutsch? Ich habe Deutsch seit 3 Jahren jetzt lernen aber meine gesprochenes deutsch nicht so gut ist :lol:

Ich lerne Deutsch auch seit 3 Jahren, und ich bin auch nicht so gut.

Ich wird nach Deutschland in 4 bis 6 Jahren gehen. (ist das richtig?)

[Pogue]

I proudly declare I am not doing any of these petit-bourgeoisie subjects.

[Random Precision]

I am currently majoring in History. Most of my classes thus far have been on modern Latin America, South Asia and the Middle East. If I ever get my paperwork together, and get another adviser, I will be double majoring in that and Asian Studies. I am also minoring in Latin American and Latino/a Studies.

Since the poll doesn't have a culture major option, I voted for history and foreign languages- I have studied Spanish as part of my LALS minor and am studying Hindi for my Asian Studies major.

[Invincible Summer]

I honestly have no idea how people can afford to go to college - I guess just go into massive debt?
I can never figure this out.
I already have massive debt, court judgments against me etc and no one will lend me $$ for school, I've already tried.
Where does everyone get the money from....and how do I do it?

University in Canada is subsidized by the gov't and therefore far less expensive than in the US. I'm lucky in that my parents have the means to pay for my and most of my brother's post-secondary education for now - but if we lived in the US or went to US schools, I'm sure I'd have to take out a huge student loan.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Economics & Economic History - starting October 2010.:D

[#FF0000]

I'm not sure where you live, but in Texas (and I believe most states in the union) there exists a composite secondary social studies certification that enables you to teach all of those subjects.

Yeah that's what I'm gonna be doing.

Probably double-majoring though, but I don't know what in.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I proudly declare I am not doing any of these petit-bourgeoisie subjects.


why? education is good no matter the subject. i actually thought of taking a few business classes to larn how they worked. not for application but for understanding what i want to defeat. Same with PoliSci, i can learn about the political systems that are in play today and still have a parallel study of radical politics and theory in private.

[More Fire for the People]

History
African American Studies
Philosophy

[Jazzratt]

I proudly declare I am not doing any of these petit-bourgeoisie subjects.

Engineering is petit-bourgeois now?

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

I'm currently being trained to operate a reactor. After this is done i need a couple calc classes, and the basics (mostly humanities) to get my major in nuclear engineering. Also possibly a bachelors in electrical engineering and journeyman status in a few years.

[ellipsis]

Latin American Studies, undergraduate thesis was on the FLQ of Québec and their place in a larger transnational urban guerrilla movement that emerged after the Cuban revolution.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

thats badass

[RHIZOMES]

I honestly have no idea how people can afford to go to college - I guess just go into massive debt?
I can never figure this out.
I already have massive debt, court judgments against me etc and no one will lend me $$ for school, I've already tried.
Where does everyone get the money from....and how do I do it?

NZ has a very accessible loans system called Studylink. Basically if you have been accepted into an NZ university (which is also incredibly easy) you will get a loan and if you are from a "poor" family (been a lot of debate on what defines "poor") you get a weekly income without having to pay it back. I'm under the threshold, but not too far under, so I get a mixture of "Student Allowance" (which I don't need to pay back) and "Living Cost" (which I do).


I proudly declare I am not doing any of these petit-bourgeoisie subjects.

Nice attempt at shrouding your anti-intellectualism with class politics. Besides, NZ universities at least are quite accessible, I have had quite a few working-class classmates, who are more concerned with having some semblance of a comfortable living (and escape the situation they're in) than being a WORKERISTIST TR00 PROLETARIAN 4 LYFE.

[KC]

I graduated in May with a BS in Civil Engineering and am now going for a BA in Economics. I am also a registered Engineer In Training and am currently working towards AutoCAD 2010 certification. I'm also thinking about getting my master plumbers license. 8-)

After I finish my Econ degree (which will be May of next year if I continue to go full time next semester) I'm thinking about getting into development economics which will probably deal with developing infrastructure for underdeveloped communities/countries. I'm also planning on going for a MA and maybe PhD in History.

I might be designing affordable wind turbines for an electrification project in several communities in Israel/Palestine soon. I just contacted the person working on this project so there's no way to tell if I'll be able to get involved, but I'm really really really hoping I can.

[MarxSchmarx]

physics, mathematics, alcoholism and a minor in psychotropes and nicotine

and a lot of fucking caffeine


A mathematician is simply a vesicle for turning caffeine into proofs.

Ha ha yeah I was an applied maths major with a ton of informatics ("computer science") thrown in for good measure.

[More Fire for the People]

I honestly have no idea how people can afford to go to college - I guess just go into massive debt?
I can never figure this out.
I already have massive debt, court judgments against me etc and no one will lend me $$ for school, I've already tried.
Where does everyone get the money from....and how do I do it?
Financial aid and scholarships. I will graduate hopefully with less than $2500 in debt. Plus I went to a public university instead of a private one.

[RHIZOMES]

Post-modernism = epic fail.

But so many sociologists (at least in my experience) get sucked into it, so be careful!

Oh yeah, with this, I actually had a Marxist professor who also specializes in a lot of po-mo theory like poststructuralism, critical theory, psychoanalysis, etc. But he is able to effectively filter all the shit out, like when we had lectures on a lot of po-mo theory he was really good at communicating what the failures of such theories were (ultrarelativistic, reduces everything to culture when there's still concrete economic issues, etc) to the class while still thinking of it's good points (Example would be how Baudrillard still made an interesting point about the Gulf War even if you can't apply that Hyperreal shit to the majority of the world).

[Yazman]

HAHAHAHA somebody has a business degree! At REVLEFT?

[RHIZOMES]

HAHAHAHA somebody has a business degree! At REVLEFT?

They don't necessarily need to be taking Business. They could be a radical leftist accountant, like this guy:
http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2007/06/sap-15-pala-molisa-boshevik-beancounter.html
:lol:

[Raúl Duke]

Maybe they have that degree so they can be the treasurer of their party or organization or something...?
lol, but really I didn't expect that someone outside of OI is studying a business degree.

[LeninBalls]

Francais and Espanol

[Wanted Man]

Maybe they have that degree so they can be the treasurer of their party or organization or something...?
lol, but really I didn't expect that someone outside of OI is studying a business degree.

Why? I don't think it's that crazy. There are all sorts of studies which you would not expect from communists, yet they still do them. Besides academic studies, there are also "professional schools" with courses like business, or something related to management, and I know a few good comrades who take them and learn useful skills there. I don't think any studies are particularly "good" or "bad" politically.

In fact, and I might be shooting myself in the foot here, I think that it's better if a left group doesn't just consist of artsy types with liberal arts majors, but also of people who learn more practical skills. Of course, we're only talking about students here, and I don't think a group should just consist of students either.

[RHIZOMES]

In fact, and I might be shooting myself in the foot here, I think that it's better if a left group doesn't just consist of artsy types with liberal arts majors, but also of people who learn more practical skills. Of course, we're only talking about students here, and I don't think a group should just consist of students either.

Yeah, I agree. A lot of people who take Arts (and I take Arts so this isn't an attack from the outside) tend to be uber middle-class white people who take Arts because their mummy and daddy can afford it. A comrade in the WP noted how you're actually more likely to find people who are solid materialists in say... engineering.

[Искра]

I study Political science.
I'm most interested in political history and ideologies.
I wrote first work about Kronstadt in Croatia ;)

[Steve_j]

A lot of people who take Arts (and I take Arts so this isn't an attack from the outside) tend to be uber middle-class white people who take Arts because their mummy and daddy can afford it.

I study arts, most are liberals or individualists but what does the subject have to do with mummy and daddy? Costs the same as any other degree (atleast from my experience)

[RHIZOMES]

I study arts, most are liberals or individualists but what does the subject have to do with mummy and daddy? Costs the same as any other degree (atleast from my experience)

Because other degrees tend to be more vocational/practical, meaning they're more likely to result in jobs that can pay off the debt quicker. There is a bigger uncertainty of possible future employment with BAs.

[Invincible Summer]

Because other degrees tend to be more vocational/practical, meaning they're more likely to result in jobs that can pay off the debt quicker. There is a bigger uncertainty of possible future employment with BAs.

Ain't that the truth. Almost every person in my sociology classes that I've talked to has no fucking clue what they're going to do w/ their degree.

[ellipsis]

Ain't that the truth. Almost every person in my sociology classes that I've talked to has no fucking clue what they're going to do w/ their degree.
After college, I used my degree to collect scrap metal and work as a bouncer! Now I use it to be a gardener! When I move to a place where spanish (semi)fluency is useful I hope to work at some sort of immigrant's rights NGO! Or teach high school. Or live in my car eating out of dumpsters.

[FreeFocus]

My majors will be Political Science/IR and psychology.

[black magick hustla]

where are all the amthematicians, physicists, chemists and all the other degenerate souls that day after day get kicked up by a binge of caffeine and the laws ofthe universe?????????????

[Comrade B]

isn't decided yet... but looking at politics and government
might switch to Spanish...
or anthropology
or history

[The Red Next Door]

I am still in High school but this is my final year, but i am planing to major in Art and foreign languages.

[Catbus]

I'm surprised we don't have any biology majors, though.

I plan on it when I head off to college.