Preparing Humanities Degrees for the Job Market

A college education used to be synonymous with ‘liberal arts’, back in a time when only the very upper echelons of society would (or could) pursue a degree at university. Philosophy, linguistics, history, and literature would prepare the young men (and they were almost always men) to be engaged and thoughtful members of society. A college education, in other words, was rarely a springboard into a specific vocation—a student could study the classics all he wanted and not worry about getting a job in that field.  Today’s job market not only often demands a college education but also requires technical or professional degrees for an ever-increasing proportion of careers.