What is the value of an MA in Humanities?

If I wanted to teach college level courses in both English and History, would it be better to earn an MA in Humanities -- with equal number of courses in both subjects?

Or would it be better to earn degrees in both subjects?

Thanks.

Roscoe

 

Are you sure you don't just want "English History?"

 

If you're talking about the community college level, it depends on your state. In mine, you probably couldn't teach either with that M.A.

If you're talking about as an adjunct, it depends on how hard up they are. My guess is that they would have to be fairly hard up.

Also, and most importantly, you can't turn around without bumping into folks that have MAs in either English or History. Why should they hire someone who doesn't fit the qualification, when they can just as easily hire someone who does?


Tom Nixon

 

As I've mentioned here, it seems to be local option. My wife can teach philosophy, ethics, and religion at the local community college (Berkeley) because she has an M.A. in humanities, since those subjects are in the humanities department. Her Ph.D. in philosophy does not qualify her to teach these subjects. And in her other part time job, same subjects, at the University of St. Francis, it is exactly the opposite: M.A. useless, Ph.D. essential.

 

It would be better to earn degrees in both subjects. Of course, the downside to that is obvious.

I think that people with a masters degree would most likely find themselves teaching at the two-year level, either in a community college or in one of those trade/vocational oriented colleges.

A large community college might have ten or twenty thousand students (or even more). It might have separate departments for English and history, and offer a lot of classes in each. Most likely they are going to be looking for specialists to teach those subjects.

What's more, if you are located in an area that is popular with academics, you will probably see Ph.D.s competing for these jobs. That's increasingly common here in the SF Bay Area.

On the other hand, a small rural community college might not have an English or a history department at all. They might roll these subjects together into a single department, along with perhaps a little introductory philosophy, a world religion survey, some kind of art history thing and the inevitable "arts and ideas" humanities survey class.

I've heard of cases where these kind of small schools didn't want to hire a separate instructor in each subject, when perhaps only a class or two was listed in the catalog for each one. So an individual with the flexibility to teach several as demand dictates might be attractive.

One place where you might see this is in those small trade and vocational colleges. If they are either RA or accredited by something like ACICS, they have to offer some general ed. But if they only have an enrollment of 150 or something, and if the school's emphasis is on a technical subject, the general ed will likely be the responsibility of one small department.

Of course, the available pool of adjuncts would be a factor too. That's most true in those popular locations that attract hordes of underemployed academics. They aren't swarming everywhere.

Bottom line is that it's probably best to get as much preparation as possible in any subject that you want to teach. But there is a place for flexibility.

 

I should add that some of the larger community colleges maintain dedicated humanities departments in addition to English and history departments.

An example that I am familiar with is City College of San Francisco. They are a very large community college that maintains specialized departments in almost everything.

http://www.ccsf.edu/Info/site_frame.html

Among these, they have a humanities department that offers the following classes:

Hum 7 Comparative Religions
Hum 8 Philosophies of Religion
Hum 11 Art, Music, Literature: Trditional Concepts
Hum 12 Art, Music, Literature: Modern Concepts
Hum 20 San Francisco Arts
Hum 25 Women in the Arts
Hum 35 N. Am. Indian Contemporary Music, Art and Literature
Hum 41A-41B Western Cultural Values
Hum 48 African Am. Music, Art and Lit.

I also know that this department is very tight with San Francisco State's humanities MA program.

 

When I looked at community college teaching gigs about a year ago (based on my own M.A. in Humanities), I found that the major area of concern was credit hours, not the actual degree major. So I could have technically had an M.S. in Computer Science and, if I still had at least 18 graduate hours of history credit, taught history classes as an adjunct.

I didn't look into any full-time professorships, and have no idea what's involved there--but I have been told by a number of people (who would be in a position to know) that an M.A. in Humanities ought to be enough, and that many community college professors don't even have a master's.

The Dominguez Hills HUX office semi-recently fired up a special online certificate program designed for folks who earned the HUX degree and want to teach at a community college; I don't recall the specifics, but if the wonderful Nicole Ballard is still lurking here, she could probably say more. I recall that the program was set up by Tom Giannotti, who served as first reader on my thesis.

When I first signed up for the HUX program, I saw it as a teaching credential and a stepping-stone to a doctorate; now I see it more as a writing credential, and in that capacity it has served me very, very well. (Just started on book #14 this week.)


Cheers,

 

Thanks to all of you for your excellent feedback. At one point, I considered a research M.A. in Humanities. But, as in Tom's case, a number of schools I contacted asked about the number of credits I had (or would have). So now I"m leaning toward Cal State Dominguez Hill unless I find one cheaper.

Somehow, I thought a double major (in English and History) was equivalent to having two different degrees on the same level. Is that not the case?

Thanks again for the input.

Dr. Bear: Just visited Amazon and ordered two of your books, including one by your daughter.

Tom: Hope yours are on Amazon, because that's where I'm now headed. Don't know if I can afford all 14 but I'll certainly purchase a few

Roscoe

 

Thanks, Roscoe--I'm always happy when folks buy my books! (Worth reiterating here to you and other folks reading this, though, that Modules and the Structures of Rings isn't my baby--that was written by a different Tom Head, who presumably is much more proficient in higher mathematics than I am.)

Most of my stuff is actually still on the forthcoming list--five books due out in Spring 2003, and the rest due out that Fall. There's also one extra-top-secret (non-DL-related) project due out in 2004.

If you're interested in a copy of Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead, I think it can still be had on Half.com for something like $1.50.


Cheers,

 

Since the issue of "number of credits" has been mentioned, I have another question: How do community colleges view research degrees where the credits, per se, are not involved?

Roscoe

 

That's a great question, and I really have no idea what the answer would be. Anyone wanna take a crack at it?


Cheers,