“Fabio Rojas”:http://orgtheory.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/how-to-save-the-humanities/ proposes radical reforms to save the academic job market in the humanities.
Slash doctoral programs: Clearly, the persistent problem is a massive over supply of PhD’s in the humanities. … Increase masters programs: If we slash PhD programs, who will teach the masses? This is pretty easy – massively increase the MA programs. If people want to take an extra year or two learn some topic and “try out” academic life, why should we stop them? … Reclaim the Canon: Professional prestige is based on resources. What’s the one thing that the humanities is really, really good at and that no one else really does? The canon- and it should be what the humanities pushes on undergrads.
He then goes on to claim that this approach has more general application.
bq. any field that has a weak non-academic market could be helped [by] these recommendations (e.g., political theory): cut advanced training, get cheap labor in ways other than PhD programs, and focus on what’s absolutely vital.
So do we have any political theorists with opinions on this? Or non-political theorists? I hear that the market is pretty bad in theory – is it as bad as in the humanities? If it is, would measures along these lines help?
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