Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Speaking (again) of delivering bad news to students in the humanities...

...I wonder if the author of this little movie read the post below? Of course, it could just be because it's that time of year.

SO YOU WANT TO GET A PhD IN THE HUMANITIES



And yes, I *do* question the meaning of my existence.

6 comments:

Dr. Virago said...

Btw, my favorite part, especially given my MA students' strange obsession with the man, is this choice bit:

"Harold Bloom is a misogynistic narcissist! He is not even in their English department. They gave him his own department in humanities because no one could frakkin' stand him!"

Tom Elrod said...

Ha! That was my favorite line, too! Are your students fans of Bloom because he's probably the only "famous" literary scholar out there (i.e., the only one you'd likely find at Borders)?

Anyway, although that video hits a little too close to home, I think I'm going to have to watch it again. Too funny.

B said...

I'm sure it's probably more like 1-2 rather emphatic Bloom supporters whose voices are so loud and manly that they tend to overshadow the others.

Dr. Virago said...

Tom and B, you're probably *both* right!

J.Ro said...

There is a sign just outside our department door with a picture of a fast food worker saying "I got a bachelor's in psychology! Would you like fries with that?"

Every time I pass it I remember that my psych bachelor's didn't qualify me for anything I couldn't do before it. And now I'm finishing up a master's that will only qualify me for a bit more. Hopefully when I get a PhD, I can have a shot at an actual career, though I'm getting so used to being in school that I may just go get an accounting degree and have some practical skills . . .

stray said...

Ooh, SUNY Albany tag! Not only French and Italian but Russian and Classics also. But, iirc, there are only about 60 students in Latin I, so that's just a drop in the urinal. Anyway, why do we need language proficiency when we can have TINY MACHINES?