Would you major in History or Political Science again? (bachelor, PhD, master)
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Originally Posted by senecaman Here is a past college experience that I get a kick out of. I would be curious to know if anyone had the same experience. I went to a university for 2 semesters before I transferred to the college I graduated from. I was taking both history and poli sci classes and what struck me and I get a laugh out of this to this day was the personality differences between the 2 departments at the university.
Now this was over 20 years ago and it's different now but at the time the Political Science Department was very conservative (suits and ties, all guys on the faculty, largely conservative political views).It was a good department though and the prof that I had for American Gov was very good.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was the History Department which was across the quad from the Polic Sci Department (seemed appropriate given their differences lol). Instead of suits and ties they were more corduroy jackets with elbow patches.There were several women on the faculty and they were more liberal in their political views.
There was definitely a rivalry between the 2 departments which I attributed to their different political outlooks. One history prof told me outright that the poli sci profs were watered down historians and he wasn't shy about expressing that to me. Now was all this appropriate? , probably not .(lol) A lot of students probably could have cared less to hear about the 2 departments' differences but since I was not too long out of high school (where I had been bored to tears ! ) the drama was interesting and it didn't affect me and both departments had good profs. I just took it as a sign that the boring days of HS were over and that I was in a more adult situation.
Amelorn:You're dating yourself. Now political scientists, having gone more quantitative (in the US), are considered watered-down economists.
I have a bad habit of dating myself.
As for the remark by the History prof about Political Scientists I didn't agree with him but it was the sort of unguarded adult conversation that you never or rarely had in high school.
Regarding the study of Political Science one of the most valuable things I think you get from studying it is an understanding of how interdisciplinary Economics is. Over the last several years I have enjoyed studying the interrelationship between Politics and Economics. IMO such study makes both disciplines better and more interesting. Robert Reich and Paul Krugman both study Economics from an interdisciplinary approach. Reich refers to himself as a Political Economist and Krugman studies a lot of Politics and History.
Here is a past college experience that I get a kick out of. I would be curious to know if anyone had the same experience. I went to a university for 2 semesters before I transferred to the college I graduated from. I was taking both history and poli sci classes and what struck me and I get a laugh out of this to this day was the personality differences between the 2 departments at the university.
Now this was over 20 years ago and it's different now but at the time the Political Science Department was very conservative (suits and ties, all guys on the faculty, largely conservative political views).It was a good department though and the prof that I had for American Gov was very good.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was the History Department which was across the quad from the Polic Sci Department (seemed appropriate given their differences lol). Instead of suits and ties they were more corduroy jackets with elbow patches.There were several women on the faculty and they were more liberal in their political views.
There was definitely a rivalry between the 2 departments which I attributed to their different political outlooks. One history prof told me outright that the poli sci profs were watered down historians and he wasn't shy about expressing that to me. Now was all this appropriate? , probably not .(lol) A lot of students probably could have cared less to hear about the 2 departments' differences but since I was not too long out of high school (where I had been bored to tears ! ) the drama was interesting and it didn't affect me and both departments had good profs. I just took it as a sign that the boring days of HS were over and that I was in a more adult situation.
Hi senecaman, I recall your posts here from time to time. Your post reminded me at one of my colleges the ideological division of the department was similar within the polysci dept itself.
At one of my colleges, the dsyfunction within the political science department spoke volumes. A few of the profs could not even acknowledge each other in the same room or hold meetings because of the internal strife that seemed to have its core problem with differing political views. From my own recollection, the professors who taught law tended to be conservative, while most of the other polysci profs were leftist in ideological outlook for the most part.
Looking back, I saw the largely ideological division in academia as childish and immature from a bunch of men and a few women who were mostly over 40 years of age. Once you get tenure, it seems you can go off the rails and keep your job for the most part. That part of academia that I saw soured me from wanting to work in such an environment. So instead of teaching or working somewhere else in academia, I eventually wound up working in IT a few years later.
With my choice as a major (even now vs. then), I liked both history and polysci quite a bit, but the courses in international relations are mostly what steered me towards polysci over history.
Hi senecaman, I recall your posts here from time to time. Your post reminded me at one of my colleges the ideological division of the department was similar within the polysci dept itself.
At one of my colleges, the dsyfunction within the political science department spoke volumes. A few of the profs could not even acknowledge each other in the same room or hold meetings because of the internal strife that seemed to have its core problem with differing political views. From my own recollection, the professors who taught law tended to be conservative, while most of the other polysci profs were leftist in ideological outlook for the most part.
Looking back, I saw the largely ideological division in academia as childish and immature from a bunch of men and a few women who were mostly over 40 years of age. Once you get tenure, it seems you can go off the rails and keep your job for the most part. That part of academia that I saw soured me from wanting to work in such an environment. So instead of teaching or working somewhere else in academia, I eventually wound up working in IT a few years later.
With my choice as a major (even now vs. then), I liked both history and polysci quite a bit, but the courses in international relations are mostly what steered me towards polysci over history.
Good to hear from you. It's interesting that at your university/ college that there was an ideological divide within your Political Science Department. At the university I started at they mostly had conservative views and the History Department was pretty liberal. Later on when I transferred to the smaller college I graduated from History and Political Science were in the same department and the profs got along for the most part.Some were liberal and some were conservative but being a smaller school I assume they made an effort to keep the peace so to say.
And I love History too but it was a very good American Government prof as well as courses in International Relations and Comparative Politics that made me choose Poli Sci.
Re: 'ideological division in academia as childish and immature..'
Whoa...if that is true then I wonder about the 'history' that's being made in papers, research and books with attitudes like that from those who say they are professors. Sure doesn't bode well for the care of feeding of historiography!...;-)...kind of irresponsible and dangerous in a democracy if you ask me.
I don't see anything wrong with majoring in History or any basic humanities discipline like Lit, Language, performance, etc (PolSci is a different matter). Just make sure you have a way to enter the job market. For example, a friend who went to a liberal arts college went for her RN shortly after and is now a nurse at one of the North Shore facilities. Some people go to med school or even transition to engineering after taking remedial courses.
Ultimately, one's major isn't all that important today. What is important, however, is that one is making oneself competitive both within and outside of their major. For instance, if one's major if feminist, gender and sexuality studies, and one is interested in going into the workforce immediately after graduation and earning a decent salary (as opposed to going to graduate school with the goal of becoming a professor, counselor, etc.), I'd encourage one to supplement one's major course list with a solid number of math, finance, science, and other courses that will make one more competitive with other applicants applying to jobs that pay well. Simply put, one doesn't have to give up one's passions to make oneself more competitive for entering the work force.
I will only major in Computer Technology
or in Education ( Teaching)
I need flexibility in which jobs im capable of doing and jobs that have futures too
Like teaching for its great interaction with kids
and computer tech for its awesome problem solving jobs with customers
they both have futures too
teachers and computer techs are always needed
I went the POLS route then topped it off with a Masters in Public Administration. 4 years later I still have nothing to show for it. I regret even going to college at this point. Glad I didn't graduate without any debt.
Think an interview 101, and good technical degree would have been more beneficial.
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Now political scientists, having gone more quantitative (in the US), are considered watered-down economists.
