Piloting the Worth It! newsletter April 2, '24
Robert McGuire
I build customized storytelling machines to engage audiences for higher ed, edtech and nonprofits. Message me for a client case study with measurable results.
Editing note: Below is an earlier vision for this newsletter, now renamed Worth It!.
Here’s this week's roundup of people with "useless" majors developing employment skills, rising to the top of their industry and making bank.
A Texas-Sized Push for Microcredentials (including in the humanities)
When [Jude] Okpala first learned of The University of Texas at San Antonio’s plans to embed microcredentials into existing courses and degree programs, he knew he wanted his humanities students to participate.
‘Connecting the humanities to the microcredential is a way, really, to not only take into consideration all of this critique of the humanities, but to create a bridge between the study of the humanities and employment,’ said Okpala, professor of instruction in the Department of Philosophy and Classics at UT at San Antonio.
Erica Ochs is currently the Vice President of Corporate Sales and Business Development at TASKING, a company that develops software for automotive supplies and car manufacturers.?
Ochs came to Lake Forest College in 1998 never imagining that she would spend her career working with mechanical and electrical engineers. Ochs is currently the Vice President of Corporate Sales and Business Development at TASKING, a company that develops software for automotive supplies and car manufacturers . . . .
Ochs already knew she wanted to study English, and after taking an elective politics class, she discovered a new passion and added a politics major to her plan . . . .
As her career has moved from task-oriented, entry-level roles to management-level positions that involve more critical thinking, her liberal arts education has continued to put her at an advantage among her peers.
English majors “were found to possess similar rates of life satisfaction, peak salary earnings and unemployment rates to non-English degree graduates, according to a recent report . . . ."
English literature and language majors were found to have comparable peak median earnings compared to many other majors, including business management and public policy. Those who earned a bachelor’s degree in English earned $76,000, while non-English majors earned $78,000 . . . .
The unemployment rate for English majors was 2.3%, which is near that of all college graduates and those on different academic paths.
Tomorrow’s humanities graduates: Trends around campus
领英推荐
The University of Southern Indiana College of Liberal Arts is launching two new minors — business humanities and medical humanities.
“I think especially in business, you have to be able to think globally and think about how other people, in other cultures, respond to things and how to communicate with them in the best way,” [Kristin LaFollette, assistant professor of English] said. “With medicine, you’re dealing with people who are at their most vulnerable moments, and you have to be able to connect with them on a human level to help them get through whatever it is that they’re dealing with and experiencing.”
A showcase of current research and creative projects in the humanities, “Visions 2024,” will be held on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 5–7:30 p.m. at the [University of Maine] Collins Center for the Arts . . . .
The evening’s programming aims to highlight the diverse interdisciplinary expertise and interests of UMaine faculty and staff involved in research and teaching on campus and outward-facing humanities work.
HumAInities: Artificial Intelligence In the Humanities
Archived recording of event on March 26, 2024
“This session delves into the real-world application of AI in the corequisite English classrooms, highlighting its potential pitfalls, such as algorithmic biases, and the subsequent equity issues.?Participants will learn from instructors that have embraced AI, gleaning insights from their real-world experiences and best practices for equitable implementation. ”
Personal notes
I saw The Penelopiad at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago a couple weeks ago, an adaption of a novella by Margaret Atwood. Highly recommended. I’m looking forward to getting familiar with the book. My takeaway: At a glance it’s about Penelope while she’s waiting and fending off assault, but the narrative arc is about her learning a hard lesson about intersectionality.
#HumanitiesMajorHeckYeah is a project of McGuire Editorial Content Marketing Agency , which specializes in clients in edtech, higher education and workforce development. It’s run by me, Robert McGuire, an English major who found some uses for his degree after all.
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