dawso said:
hm....despite the fact that ur mod powers do not extend to this forum....i will however rephrase what i said to confirm to my freedom of speech, whilst not being straight out flaming of arts people
so here we go...
whilst i understand that some people wish to study a bachelor of arts, i do not beleive that with the freedom and range of options provided by this course, it should be the type of course offered by universities, and funded by our tax payers....
most people doing a bachelor of arts are simply doing this because they felt the need to go to university but werent sure of which career path to take, and/or are doing it for a little while with the plan to change degrees in the near future, hence in my opinion, i do not bel;eive that such courses should be offered at a university, and more career oriented ones should be focused on
are you serious?
i thought you were better than to make generalisations that only serve to make you seem ignorant.
sorry to drift off topic and rehashing an old thread, but in exercising my own right of freedom of speech, i'd like to offer an reply.
a bachelor of arts degree can serve a distinct and valuable purpose. if it didn't, it wouldn't be offered. to say that it isn't 'career specific' is just plain wrong. the structure of a ba can be manipulated to serve specific career prerequisites, whether it be by concentrating on a single major or combining it with other related disciplines. careers such as historians, librarians, sociologists, publishers, interpreters, editors, translators (the list goes on) eventuate from the ba. whether you hold these careers to esteem or not, the fact of the matter is that these jobs play a societal role and (arguably more importantly) satiate the interests of an individual in a given field.
i come from a perspective within the structure, as i CHOSE to do a ba. the ba (psych) degree offers a psych structure close to that of the BSc or BPsych and allows me to combine it with sociology whilst still acting as a pathway towards psychology postgraduate studies. combining the two allows me to be critically informed and constantly reaffirms knowledge. i am not alone in this pursuit. the ba's ability to combine various disciplines acts not to generalise knowledge but rather diversify capabilities, enhancing employablilty in both knowledge base and ability to display rigour. dawson you yourself are familiar with the advantages of diversifying interests, given the nature of your chosen course. given the interrelated nature of humanities, within the ba, students are able to combine related disciplines that reinforce knowledge and credibility in other areas, such as politics and sociology, english literature and linguistics, or languages.. and anything. it also can help diversify the skills of those enrolled in arts double degrees.
whats wrong with people intending to change degrees later on? in order to do so you have to work
HARD to get the transfer. and i think that if you get the marks in order to transfer, you deserve to be there. it isn't easy. not everyone is as smart as you or does as well in the hsc. some people struggle with the structure of school but find they thrive in the educational environment provided by uni. there is a plethora of reasons why people don't do well in the hsc. when these people enrol in a ba it gives them an opportunity to do what they truly want, with their own level of application determining their success.
without wings is right. it is incredibly offensive to dismiss arts degrees as you do, not to mention patronising. it is unfair to generalise arts students as indecisive or only there for 'something to do'. if you talk to some arts students you would find that the 'typical arts student' is naught but a minority and many people actually have career goals or personal aims that they are fulfilling.
all i'm saying is that arts degrees fulfil a function and you have no right to dismiss or discredit their goals and/or the institutionalised means of attaining them.
and i'm interested to hear any manner of a reply.
but back on topic: i heard on the radio a couple of weeks ago that a girl got assaulted by three guys when she was walking from uni to the train station, they demanded her backpack, took it and ran off. sad thing is, it was at 6:30 in the afternoon. saaaaaaaad sad sad.