Classics. Mickey Mouse Subject?

[Disco Boy]

No more Mickey Mouse than history.

 

[semi-pro waster]

So, a conversation at work was sparked by a tweet from a friend who has just turned down a PhD place from Cambridge. Skeeter has suggested that Classics is a mickey mouse subject with no particular use in the real world.

My argument is that is a very established subject with wide reaching implications. You learn about philosophy, languages, history, art, literature and others that although may not be directly applicable to a job, does make you a more articulate, scholarly and overall more able to comprehend big questions.

So who do you agree with?

While I wouldn't call classics a Mickey Mouse degree it is probably fair to point out that compared to many degrees it doesn't have such a direct application after academia.

Most of the benefits listed there for classics are ones that you'd expect (hope) would apply to almost any degree although the learning itself may be different. For my money unless you're aiming for certain specific career paths the actual degree itself isn't necessarily of much relevance, it just shows that you can learn up to a certain level - that is of course useful but it's what you do after it that really counts.

 

[Sefirosu]

The Ancient Greek/Latin language and translation side of it is pointless, but then it's a necessary part of studying Classics I suppose. Apart from that, it's about the same level as Philosophy or PPE.

 

[estebanrey]

A pretentious degree maybe, not Mickey Mouse though.

 

[spudbynight]

While I wouldn't call classics a Mickey Mouse degree it is probably fair to point out that compared to many degrees it doesn't have such a direct application after academia.

You could say the same about a lot of disciplines. How useful is a degree in English for example? I don't think academic study should be purely vocational.

I wish I had read Classics past secondary school - I think it would have helped me a lot more than Computer Science!

 

[estebanrey]

How useful is a degree in English for example?

Proof readers
Journalist
Writer
Personal Assistant

There's 4 vocations English would be a direct match with...

 

[estebanrey]

Lol. Why does an English degree prepare someone for those, better than any arts degree? Why's it a direct match?

A classics grad could be better suited, arguably... given the roots of loads of language (Greek and Latin)...

Because those vocations require a knowledge of modern English spelling, grammar and punctuation not etymology.

 

[Castiel]

degree in Klingon? not that useful

classics is a weird one. greek mythology is a pretty cool subject. they got up to all kinds of weird ****

In fact a degree in Klingon is very useful....as it forms part of a linguistics program.

Classics also has a wide range of skills associated with it and as such cannot be considered Mickey Mouse.

As is often the case, it is the application of the skills learned in any given degree that decide whether that degree was of use to the individual or not.

 

[stockhausen]

Land Economy - now there IS a Mickey Mouse degree.

PP&E and Classics are in the same league - degrees either invented or retained for the sole purpose of allowing the intellectually inferior to attend Oxbridge for three or four years to network and party before walking into a job provided by Pater or his pals

 

[G-MAN2004]

Why did she reject the offer?

 

[Nitefly]

The only people to call any traditional subjects mickey mouse are the unduly overzealous and snobby naive students.

 

[estebanrey]

Any degree should furnish a student/graduate with those skills, though :shrug:.

Take a random sample of 100 graduate CVs and you'll soon find that isn't the case. Why would someone doing computer science for example have a module on the correct use of an apostrophe?

PP&E and Classics are in the same league - degrees either invented or retained for the sole purpose of allowing the intellectually inferior to attend Oxbridge for three or four years to network and party before walking into a job provided by Pater or his pals

This is basically true (although people will make up loads of reasons to the contrary).

 

[Castiel]

Doesn't sound like great career prospects tbh. IMO you're much better off doing a degree subject that you enjoy than just doing one because it's at a prestigious university.

I think you missed the point of the article and this:

possibly a reflection that administrative roles tend to be the entry-level route for graduates wanting to work in creative, cultural and heritage-related positions.........

As a classics graduate, you are attractive to recruiters from all sectors, including law, finance and consultancy.

In any case it is about the skills that a Classics degree imbues and the ultimate profession that an individual attains on the back of those skills and how the subject is seen by prospective employers, especially for someone who had little idea of the ultimate direction they wish to take.

 

[spudbynight]

Because those vocations require a knowledge of modern English spelling, grammar and punctuation not etymology.

Do you think an English degree focuses on those things? At a decent university it is required that an English undergraduate is able to spell before being accepted.

 

[UncleRuckus]

From my experience, People who have a degree in the classics conduct themselves very eloquently in their speech, gestures and writing and general conduction; these are very useful skills in any industry.

 

[Castiel]

Does that mean especially attractive, or do they just mean that recruiters from those fields accept classics grads?

It means that the degree is well thought of by prospective employers.....essentially Classics is held in high esteem and as such cannot be considered as worthless or mickey mouse.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I did classics at school, it does have no real value in the real world but it's interesting to learn. I wouldn't call it 'micky mouse' though, its hardly media studies is it?

 

[jumpy]

A-level classics (classical civilisation) was what gave me my love of homer and greek tragedy... to quote borris (have I got news for you) 'like aeschylus, dining at the rich banquet of homer...'.

Classical greek literature and philosophy is great, if a little abstract at times.
One of the best things about the literature, the epic poems and the plays, is that they all relate to each other, narrating parts of a greater history - start with the iliad and the odyssey and you can move on to the three theban plays, and other works by sophocles, euripidies, aeschylus etc.

I'd guess you'd have to have an interest to read them as they require a little bit of focus and concentration, not like your average novel today, for sure.

Whilst I've covered the literature mostly, the philosophy and exercises in thought and logic of plato and socrates offer something quite different than knowing about zeus and the fall of troy etc. An understanding of these is a boon to anyone, whatever they may do.

If I could have done a degree in classics I would have done, just for the sake of it. But as usual these things come to us too late to act upon.

 

[Castiel]

See my edit (if you haven't!)

I think it depends on what you are comparing it with....I suspect, and in my experience as far as non field specific degrees go, Classics is one of the more attractive.

 

[w11tho]

PP&E and Classics are in the same league - degrees either invented or retained for the sole purpose of allowing the intellectually inferior to attend Oxbridge for three or four years to network and party before walking into a job provided by Pater or his pals.

This is basically true (although people will make up loads of reasons to the contrary).

I'm not expecting to get much from this, but here goes... what on earth makes you think it's "basically true"?