Fw: H-ASIA: Pressures on Asian Studies, in Canada and elsewhere (comment)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Dunch" <ryan.dunch@UALBERTA.CA>
To: <H-ASIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 5:12 AM
Subject: H-ASIA: Pressures on Asian Studies, in Canada and elsewhere
(comment)


> H-ASIA
> December 16, 2012
>
> Pressures on Asian Studies, in Canada and elsewhere (comment)
> ************************************************************************
> From: Rands, David C. <randsd@apsu.edu>
>
> With all the changes going on in education and the pressures for
> departments to recruit students I have found it interesting to keep tabs
> on
> what online sources are saying about which degrees are most advantageous.
> The following link lists Area Ethnic or Civilization Studies (of which
> Asian Studies may be a part) as unwanted degree #4. It cautions students
> (and probably their parents) away from a degree in Asian Studies by
> suggesting that it is unwanted in the marketplace and that it will not be
> useful in gaining employment after graduation. Possibly, as experts in
> Asian Studies we should work a bit more on selling our expertise. Many of
> us speak multiple Asian languages, and understand the social, historical,
> and economic situations in the most populous and vibrant region of the
> world. Yet, we are some of the lowest-paid faculty and we have media
> suggesting that our degrees are unwanted by society. Could it be that we
> really need to be better salespeople of our specializations? Maybe people
> really do need to be told just how special we are. Those are just my
> impressions though.
>
> http://education.yahoo.net/articles/degrees_to_avoid2.htm?kid=1NQM0
>
> David Rands
> Department of History and Philosophy
> Austin Peay State University
>
> ----------------
> [Ed. note: Thanks to David Rands for these observations. One the other
> side
> of the coin, some reports list "a global outlook" among the qualities
> employers today value (e.g. see
> http://www.workopolis.com/content/advice/article/1991-what-employers-are-really-looking-for-the-top-in-demand-skills-and-degrees)
> -- without necessarily connecting that to humanities/social sciences, or
> language mastery. That suggests to me that there is potential to
> communicate better the value of an Asian studies education. RD]
>
>
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