There is life after an Arts degree

There is life after an Arts degree

Mumbai: "Asan bhasaha mein padhna ho toh Arts ya Commerce college mein jaiye. Yehan pass hona ho toh yehi definition likhna hoga"…remember the starch-faced professor yelling at "Rancho" at an engineering class? How many of us smirked at this statement while watching the movie, and said, "Oh yea?
Try explaining John Milton's-Paradise Lost or even one of Shakespeare's sonnets. Being a literature student, I definitely thought so.
Almost fifty years ago, the Arts stream was the most popular, students then, would want to learn the languages, get a degree in economics, study political science and go on to make careers in the field. "My sister and I both studied arts, I graduated in Sociology and she pursued commercial arts at JJ School of Arts," said Kalindi Arte, who studied up till MA in the mid 1950s. So why is it that for decades the attitude of our society has changed? And is there a life after an Arts degree? The answer is yes!
The society might have turned its back on the stream, but students must realise, that Arts offers more than what the other streams can give.
To begin with let us look at some of the popular subjects that students major in during their three years of degree course.

Literature
Literary studies, is basically the study, criticism and interpretation of literature. "I always wanted to study literature. As a teenager I would write poetry and read lots of books, and when in college, I wanted to know what more about how the great authors ended up writing all those classics," says Natasha Rodrigues who studied English literature and is today working as an editorial assistant. The study of various languages helps understand in depth the society of the time. Through literature, one can get to know the societal norms, customs, traditions, even the thought processes of the world at the time. For example reading Jane Austen or George Eliot gives a perspective into the society. Such a study can also lead many to become scholars on a particular genre of literature or encourage youngsters to take up writing novels as a career
Further study: After a BA in English literature, students can pursue a post-graduate (PG) course at the Mumbai University or the SNDT University, or even try going abroad. Post the masters if one wants to take the scholarly route, pursuing a PhD is always an option
Job options: A degree in English prepares graduates to enter many different careers. From being a full fledged writer to an editing freelancer, literature students can looks at a wide array of choices. Employment opportunities can be in the field of teaching, writing and even government service.
Psychology
The subject is defined as a science, an applied discipline that involves the scientific study of human or animal mental functions and behaviours. A person wanting to get an insight into other person's behaviour can be an eligible candidate to study the subject. It is also very popular for students who aspire to take up challenging jobs like law enforcement officers, doctors sometimes even teacher need to study child psychology.
Further study: A student of psychology can continue to complete his/ her Masters of Psychology programme and become a psychologist. The three streams that the post-graduate programme is forked into are: clinical psychology (clinical knowledge of the subject to help relieve psychologically related disorders), industrial psychology (applying to the functioning of organisations and work place) and social psychology (study of relations between people and groups)
Job options: A person with psychological knowledge can apply it to various spheres of human activity including family, education, employment and the treatment of mental health problem. Psychology includes many diverse sub-fields, such as developmental psychology, sport psychology, health psychology, industrial and organisational psychology; newer fields like media psychology, legal psychology and forensic psychology have also emerged.
Political Science
A branch of social science, thesubject studies the constitution of a country and different political aspects. It involves the study of governmental systems and operations. It also often studies the workings of trade unions, corporations or other forms of groups that need not be 'political' as far as law and administration are concerned but have similar complexities of governmental procedures. While studying Political Science one also learns about international relations, political theories, history, political economy, foreign policies and public administration.
Further study: After completing a graduate course, students can apply for post-graduate programme and also begin internship to gain experience in the field.
Job options: A bachelor's degree in political science can lead to exciting careers in federal, state and local governments, law, international organisations and non-profit associations. A graduate in the subject can take up careers like activist,advocate/administration, corporate, government, non-profit, archivist, online political data, budget analyst,corporate adviser for government and on.

Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_there-is-life-after-an-arts-degree_1390340