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I have a bachelor's degree in marketing and a minor in psychology.
I've liked psychology ever since I took my first psych course in high school. I think marketing was a nice choice for a major because the program focuses on consumer psychology/behavior, which I find very compelling. And, of course, the minor complemented my major nicely. I also opted for a marketing degree rather than a psych degree because I felt it would give me access to more job opportunities.
Since graduating from college, though, I've become passionate about U.S. history. I read both psych and history books for leisure, but find myself delving more into the latter lately. My friends and wife now consider me a full-fledged history nerd. I wish I had appreciated my history classes more in high school and college; back then, I couldn't care less about the subject, even though I excelled greatly at it.
So, I continue asking myself this: I already work in marketing (copywriting), so that takes care of the psychology end of it. But if I also wanted to make money in something history-related, what could I possibly do?
The only thing I can think of is getting a master's degree in history and teaching adjunct courses on the side. A master's is the farthest I would go, though. With all the problems facing professors in academia (budget cuts, limited job opportunities, publish or perish, etc.), I would never attempt to get a Ph.D. Besides, I like the field I currently work in.
I know I can continue to indulge my passion for history by reading books on the side, which I'll continue to do regardless. I also manage a blog on which I submit posts pertaining to psychology and history. Still, I can't help but feel that a master's in history would make a nice addition to my resume, and that the piece of paper would certainly look good on my wall in my home office. I figure the master's could always come in handy for adjunct positions, especially if I ever decided to scale back the hours spent at the office.
I love reading, writing, and learning. I miss the intellectual stimulation of the college environment, which is why I've resorted to diving into psychology and history on my own time.
Has anyone taught classes on the side? Would it be too time consuming to juggle, say, one adjunct course and a full-time job? Or do you think I'm better off keeping history as a hobby? I'm trying to be as pragmatic as possible.
Last edited by Wordsmith12; 02-13-2016 at 12:11 PM..
I turn 31 next month, and love writing as well. Getting a job that couples history and writing would be ideal, but I'm not sure that even exists. I suppose one can write for a history-based publication or museum, but how common are those jobs, really?
If you love to write and write well you do not need the PhD or MA. Although an MA help establish credentialing and does instruct one on how to assess material and write professionally. Hopefully you are able to research locally or have funds for extended research. (Once published you receive a royalty advance which funds future research.)
The age question is because there is an unofficial barrier to older PhDs in tenure track positions.
My brother is/was/will return to an adjunct position. It works for him career wise- Gov't employee. But not ideal in terms if income main source.
I think the OP was very clear that he's not interested in getting a PhD.
AFAIK, OP, you have to have a PhD to be an adjunct. This makes sense, because universities are already full of MA's among their PhD students, and those students teach as a form of financial aid. What you would be qualified to do, though, is teach at the community college level, though that may not interest you, because research and publishing aren't usually involved. And some instructors get frustrated with the quality of the students, or lack of interest in the subject being taught, but that happens at universities, too.
Even without an MA you could do freelance writing for a variety of publications, periodicals, and the like, though I imagine having an MA would get you into a higher level of publication; something oriented more toward specialists in the field rather than the average popular reader.
It sounds like you made some good choices in college, and now have a good job/career. It sounds to me like the MA would be more for personal enrichment; if you can afford that, knowing that it may not give you a significant monetary return, then go for it.
MountainHi, you hit the nail on the head. I'm not interested in getting a Ph.D., and, yes, I want the master's degree for personal enrichment. I know most people view the degree as a way to move up in an organization -- that's why they stress it should be something practical (e.g., MBA). However, I am not looking to become a VP or CEO at my company, so, to me, the appeal of grad school boils down to the opportunity it would provide to soak as much theory on the subject of interest as possible. (I should also add that positions in my field, marketing communications, hardly ever require a master's.) Since history tends to be more theoretical than practical in nature, I think it'd make a good choice.
I get enough "practicality" in my day job. I would want the master's to be in something unrelated to my career. I've definitely thought about freelance writing. The only issue is that writing jobs for educational publishing companies often require teaching experience.
I have a bachelor's degree in marketing and a minor in psychology.
I've liked psychology ever since I took my first psych course in high school. I think marketing was a nice choice for a major because the program focuses on consumer psychology/behavior, which I find very compelling. And, of course, the minor complemented my major nicely. I also opted for a marketing degree rather than a psych degree because I felt it would give me access to more job opportunities.
Since graduating from college, though, I've become passionate about U.S. history. I read both psych and history books for leisure, but find myself delving more into the latter lately. My friends and wife now consider me a full-fledged history nerd. I wish I had appreciated my history classes more in high school and college; back then, I couldn't care less about the subject, even though I excelled greatly at it.
So, I continue asking myself this: I already work in marketing (copywriting), so that takes care of the psychology end of it. But if I also wanted to make money in something history-related, what could I possibly do?
The only thing I can think of is getting a master's degree in history and teaching adjunct courses on the side. A master's is the farthest I would go, though. With all the problems facing professors in academia (budget cuts, limited job opportunities, publish or perish, etc.), I would never attempt to get a Ph.D. Besides, I like the field I currently work in.
I know I can continue to indulge my passion for history by reading books on the side, which I'll continue to do regardless. I also manage a blog on which I submit posts pertaining to psychology and history. Still, I can't help but feel that a master's in history would make a nice addition to my resume, and that the piece of paper would certainly look good on my wall in my home office. I figure the master's could always come in handy for adjunct positions, especially if I ever decided to scale back the hours spent at the office.
I love reading, writing, and learning. I miss the intellectual stimulation of the college environment, which is why I've resorted to diving into psychology and history on my own time.
Has anyone taught classes on the side? Would it be too time consuming to juggle, say, one adjunct course and a full-time job? Or do you think I'm better off keeping history as a hobby? I'm trying to be as pragmatic as possible.
Well, first make sure you CAN teach as an adjunct. Most of the history adjuncts in my school have PhD's or at least some PhD coursework. The job market for history PhDs is bad enough that they have to resort to that.
But as long as you aren't going into debt or thinking you will get a career out of a history degree, I can't see any reason why you can't go and get one. Think of it like you would any expensive purchase - it's basically a luxury, so if you can afford the luxury, then go for it.
But yes, I do think that time-wise it is possible to teach history on the side as a hobby, even with a full-time job. The great thing about being an adjunct is that the hours are flexible, and you are not obligated for more than a semester.
in the past at least, some of the intelligence agencies would hire people with masters, even those in history. As was passed on to me of one CIA recruiter, he wanted people with masters, didn't matter in what, but having a masters showed a higher level of thinking.
So, conceivably, one those agencies or a think tank might be a source of employment. If so, be sure you can, especially with the latter, write EXCELLENTLY. When I completed my MSCJ final project in antiquities theft, one of my committee told me that this was the kind of work that a Foundation might want me for, such as writing the proposal to preserve the antiquities of a country like Costa Rica.
I do teach and I teach in a method that might be the equivalent of an adjunct.....but it isn't. I'm a diver, I work with a dive shop, they are contracted to a university to teach scuba, and I work in that program. I work full time and I work part time for them. My pay is nice but it isn't much but it is more a labor of love. Indeed, for many years, I was not paid at all and properly, it was volunteerism but I romantically view it as an apprenticeship.
If you are going to be an adjunct, please be an excellent teacher. Recalling the ones I had in my first undergrad, I do not recall them fondly. For this or that class, they would bring in an engineer from this or that company who could not gift us with the knowledge and who worked during the day in another city which made getting a hold of them practically impossible. Now, in the decades later, I've had excellent ones in my second Masters, I can't recall any like that in my undergrad, but please do remember that at the university level, you are there for the student first. In the hours when you are an adjunct, you are not working a second job but rather, you are teaching students.
Only go for the Masters in History if you want to teach (at whatever level)-- that's become the modern-day purpose of getting a Masters in the Social Sciences or Liberal Arts. Masters degrees can be important in certain fields: business, health care, engineering, etc., but most see the degree as a minimum ticket of academic competence in a subject (doctorate denotes academic specialization).
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