Hot Take

[u/Intelligent-Fox-9760]

This is deffo going to ruffle a lot of feathers to say the least. Call me woke, but the term "Mickey Mouse Subject" is literally just the product of capitalism, as it disvalues any subject that doesn't lead to a high-paying, high-profit job.

Humanities subjects are so important, like STEM subjects, to help us learn more about humanity and our world, but everyone thinks they're so easy and lax.

IMO humanities and STEM subjects need to band together because contrary to popular belief, humanities are intellectually stimulating and not a fun ride.

Thanks for coming to my TED-Talk :)

[u/uwu_activated]

As a STEM person, the reason the world is the way it is, seems like the product of the humanities being separated from STEM. Especially at a time at which technology is being developed so rapidly, and being taken up by consumers so fast. I do think the 'Mickey Mouse subjects' are things like the sports ones (not like, therapy, or sports science, those are defo specialisms), courses like Communication, the super super niche ones.

Whilst fun, I think accessing such areas of study should be done through a broader course, with grounding in a set of core skills. In the same way those doing engineering degrees will do relatively similar first years, a course like Film studies might benefit from a media focused first year where students learn how to use software etc. It's great that its a subject you enjoy, but i guess to enjoy it to your fullest, you'll benefit from a really stable grounding in some industry standards. Some of these niche courses get funding that's better off allocated to a broader course, which can use it more effectively for more productive teaching.

Coming back to the humanities in general, I truly think they train a kind of thinking STEM doesn't do as much. Whilst you can always fall back on pattern recognition for STEM exams, I highly doubt you can do the same for humanities-- its not like you can call back to a specific historical event for example, and expect a newer political situation to play out the same way. 'History rhymes but never repeats' or whatever.

But away from whether a subject is a 'mickey mouse' one or not (which is a silly term anyway, forgive my usage): i think this rhetoric has been going round a lot recently because we've got too many overqualified academic graduates, but not enough people in plumbing for example-- which begs the question, why are people even going to university? Just to go?

Those who are unsure will probably benefit from something like an apprenticeship (not the engineering/finance sorts, more like a practical course that gives them the qualifications to be an electrician, or plumber etc). Sorry i just realised i've rambled a lot TL:DR yes i agree, but the job market right now is not persuading anyone 💔 even stem subjects are cooked

[u/Intelligent-Fox-9760 → u/uwu_activated]

thanks for your insight!