Mytholgy/Folklore online degree

I have a friend who works at a college, he has his certificate in computer science but he's not happy. I told him "well do something that makes you happy" he was wondering if anyone knew of an online degree in mythology/folklore? Preferably a Bachelors or Associates. I told him about job possibilities (or maybe lack there of) but he doesnt care I think he's at the point in his life were he just wants to pursue his passion.

 

I think that your friend may need to do a bit of preliminary studying before he can begin to specialize in an area such as mythology. I'd suggest a Bachelors degree in History and if a concentration in Ancient History is available then he should jump on it. Beyond that he's looking at Pacifica:

Pacifica Graduate Institute - M.A./Ph.D. in Mythological Studies

 

Thank you. I'll let him know, I did find a college called Empire State College that seems to allow him to create his own degree. I'll tell him about the ancient history specification. Thanks again

 

Does anyone know of a Bachelors degree with an emphasis on Ancient History? I have attended APU in the past but did not enjoy it much, maybe its my distate of writing papers

 

Pretty much any degree a person does in history will involve writing a lot of papers! So no matter where your friend attended, that would likely be a requirement, whether it's online or offline.

A brief search for bachelors programs in history turned up these:
History - Undergraduate Degrees - Regional Campuses & Distance Education - distance.usu.edu
Curriculum - History - University of Illinois at Springfield - UIS
eCampus :: Online Bachelor of Arts in History :: University of Memphis
History Online Degrees & Certificates at American Military University
History Degree - Regent University

There are probably plenty more options available. If he plans to each or something with it he will probably need a master's degree, so he should check the requirements of potential master's programs to see what kind of degree they require. If the future master's programs he's interested in all require a "bachelor of arts in history" degree then a "bachelor of interdisciplinary studies" may not be accepted.

In terms of a master's program, if he has a lot of money or happens to live in Europe, then University of Wales Trinity Saint David offers several masters degrees via distance that he might want to consider:
Postgraduate Courses, Courses; University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Also, he may want to check out the book "Short Guide to Writing about History" by Richard A. Marius & Mel Page, it's a good intro to writing about the subject, and a required text for one of the introductory courses at APUS anyways.

 

ahhh papers the bane of my existence :yuck: LOL actually I think its more so the amount of pages.

Thank you so much for you help, he's taken online classes before at the college he works but he wasnt to happy with them. He's shocked by all the responses

 

Recommendations from a guy with a lot of friends and more than one family member that's done this stuff.

Most eminent faculty that I'm aware of that specialize in mythology or folklore approach it from a bunch of different angles, but history is NOT the best approach in my opinion.

When looking at mythology you're really looking at a field firmly in the intersections of sociology, linguistics, literature, philosophy and theology. Sure, history tells the story of who, what, and when.. and on occasion why.. but it will rarely delve into texts or the literature of the time save as a "look at the result.. here it is."

Your friend needs to figure out what angle he'll be approaching his passion from. If he's interested in the role of mythology as a basis of religious practice.. it's probably a theological approach (and if he's faithful it's divinity instead).. if he's interested in the sense of the progression of rational thought, it's likely philosophy. If it's purely historical, it's probably literature.. interpretations, it's probably linguistics.. sociology falls into the role of civilization in myth..

Regardless, the above puts you on an undergraduate path and as electives are taken or as a capstone is done, the time comes to focus on what he's into.. find a myth or series of inter-related myths that key into the basis of the undergrad degree. Do it and move on to graduate work. If he goes directly into a doctoral program, the capstone becomes really key to prove research interests. If he goes into a masters program, find another of the approaches not taken.. ex: I choose literature and break down a theory about the authorship of the Iliad based on an alternate interpretation. I then take a Masters in linguistics, focus on Ancient Greek and further work the theory. My thesis makes an argument that now requires further work..

I move to a doctoral program in Sociology or maybe Archaeological Theology and do the field work that galvanizes a dissertation on the topic. I now have specialized in mythology while gaining expertise in a bunch of different areas and regardless of my passion, I will always be employable as an expert on the Iliad and Ancient Greek with more than a little work in museum studies or a variety of other things.

Sorry for being verbose, but the passion of mythology is one thing and the practice of obtaining useful education in the field is another. Your friend should determine answers to the following two questions.

1. Is my passion a hobby worthy of reading or a passion worthy of practice?
2. Am I willing to do the work required to make that passion marketable as any time and effort I put in will not return on my investment unless I become an authority and will take money away from future retirement funds.

If he is determined, curious and passionate about his learning and potential research.. do it. Otherwise, pick up Joseph Campbell and read, read, read because there are many people that have already sacrificed their lives so that others can be enlightened in their spare time.

 

University of Wales Trinity Saint David offers a MA in Ancient Myth and Society:
MA Ancient Myth and Society, Postgraduate Courses, Courses, Home; University of Wales Trinity Saint David

 

He might also take a look at the University of London BA in Classical Studies, offered through the International Programme - Classical Studies - Royal Holloway - University of London International Programmes - Key points

 

What ITJD said. Another angle is psychology. Religious Studies or Psych BS, Mythology masters, Clinical Psych PhD with an Archetypal or Jung bent such as that offered by Pacifica. This was a road I elected not to take because while I love the scholarship, I'm not that compassionate, plus the helping professions are over-represented in my town. Could be someone else's bliss, however.

Phillip

 

Thank you all so much! I told him your responses and he's thinking of going the Literature rout (he would love to be a professor one day) What's held him back in Math. We live in Texas and have to pass the TASP to go onto a Associate/Bachelors and up. After failing the Math portion for the 3rd time I think his heart was just not into it, he was afraid of failing again so he just was content with a Certificate (30 credits) the highest you can get without passing the TASP (or whatever its called now)

I did find a college called LSU they have independent study for college credits. I was thinking he could take some of those and then transfer them to a bigger college. Would this be a good idea? They have a Classics class and Greek/Roman mythology. Or should he just enroll somewhere for his Associates then Bachelors? Sorry for asking so many questions I think he's just afraid of choosing the wrong direction. Thank you all so much

 

Moving from the strategic to the tactical..

If your friend is concerned about the rigor involved with coursework, I recommend taking a course here and there at whatever school you have available that's accredited properly just so he can get into the swing of being in school again. Start with one course and go from there.

Here's the catch. Look at schools he wants to eventually attend and make sure that the courses that are taken can and will transfer into whatever program he's looking at, otherwise you may be taking classes just as a primer. Some schools won't accept credits over five years old and others won't accept credits from another school simply "because."

Back to strategic, if he's going to follow the literature route, know that as you delve deeper into the meanings of myth he's going to find it very necessary as a researcher to be able to translate older versions (as the newer versions are inevitably modified to speak to the current audience). It will be helpful to take some language courses over time. Not needed right away, but certainly by the time graduate work is attempted.

 

Thank you, I think his main concern is Math. He is very smart in just about everything else. He actually loves school and working at one. LSU also offers Latin language courses. He tried to take a course or two at the college he works at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens TX but if he signed up for a course that wasn't "continued education" aka if it was for college credit, he had to take math it was a requirement.

Do you know of any good quality, less expensive online college's that will let you just take a course or two here or there? Other than LSU of course? I believe most of their courses come to $364 in all. Except for Latin which is $487.

 

I'm sorry to say that I don't.

This said I might be able to offer a workaround. When you say "he had to take math as a requirement" was that to simply get the college credit or was that to be a part of a college program?

Here's the catch, I know of no college undergraduate program anywhere that does not have as a requirement at some point in the program, some math for quantitative grounding, even if it's just glorified algebra.

However, I know many places that will let you sign up for a degree program, state "you need to take math as a requirement" then let you go off and take your courses in any order you see fit so long as you don't take anything out of sequence.. (i.e don't take math 6 before math 5 etc.)..

In this way you could get some college credit, avoiding math.
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Putting in the dotted line to represent a completely different line of thought.

- When I got my first undergrad (history degree from Northeastern) I needed to take three math courses and was encouraged to take a seminar in historical research methods - which had some minor math even though history research is a qualitative field. When my wife got her psych degrees, she needed to take calculus.

I'd prepare your friend for the reality that if he wants a degree of any kind from a "good" school - and by that I mean any school of repute, he's going to need to take a math course at some point.

This said, I used to be math-phobic. I got over it pretty quick by reading the various dummies guides to mathematics.. at this point I've aced stats three times. Effort overcomes weakness.

Best of luck

 

I'm not sure, I know that if you are pursuing an associate's degree you must take the remedial math before you can actually move on to College Algebra, if you take it three times and fail like he has, he has to pay for that class out of pocket. Now I don't know about just taking one or two courses without actually pursuing a degree. I'll have him look into that thank you

He's not afraid of the College Algebra, he would just like to get to it basically this one math class is holding him back and every time he fails, he has to pay out of pocket to retake it. This was just really disheartening to him eventually he just gave up all together, took a job at the college with his Certificate and put college on hold he's been miserable ever since.

 

You're welcome.

Only advice I can offer (and I'm sure that others here would agree with) is that nearly every one of us with any form of degree and especially those of us with advanced degrees have failed courses at some point. In my case, I went to school before I was ready to really commit myself to learning and sure enough, I failed two of three courses my first semester. (Going back some two decades now).

Only solution is to keep taking the course until it's passed. Maybe take it with another instructor or with another school if it's not a matter of understanding the material.

Best,
ITJD

 

Thank you for the words of wisdom I'll pass them along to him.

I do wonder if he were to take college level math at say Clovis, and passed it, if they would accept that credit, then allow him to move past TASP Math. He said he does best when not testing around so many people (social or test anxiety)