There has been much discussion of U.S. general ed. oriented B.A.s vs. single subject British B.A.s in the DL forum. I was just wondering how many of my fellow Americans felt they benifited from the 90 units of general ed. normally required. Do you think you would have better benifited from more units in your major?
I would answer Yes to both of your questions. I continually amaze myself at being able to recall quite obscure bits of information from memory that I learned in one of my general ed classes. I have a good understanding of general science, math, and art, (and others) but I was a history major. This has helped out enormously. I have a close friend who is an electrical engineer and I can have a quite intelligent conversation with him about the very large Laser that he works on at one of the US military labs. I can't do the math he does, or do the job he does, but I can understand the basics of how it all works. I am continually asked questions by students that are related/unrelated to my subject of study, and I am generally able to answer all of their questions. I also felt that I wanted to know more about history after completing an BA. That is why I went back and earned an MA afterward.
