INSIDE JoongAng Daily: "Putting the ��liberal' in liberal arts



November 25, 2005 ��

If majoring in philosophy gives a student all the skills he needs to cope with his impending poverty, what kind of skills does a student majoring in pure love learn? How about a major in magic? Mixed martial arts? Motor sports, health diets, 'make-up coordinator' or barrista sciences?"

College is indeed getting weird, and for good reason: weird majors attract students. Unconventional departments not only allow schools to offer their students more choices, but also enable the schools to build reputations for themselves in educational niches. Doing so might attract criticism ¡ª students do, after all, face a tough job market ¡ª but Lee Seung-ju, the spokesman of the Korean Council for College Education, said that majors that appear frivolous might be needed sooner than people realize.
It might be that the tough job market is encouraging students to look into more eccentric professions. The youth unemployment rate stood at 7.2 percent as of last month, and the Federation of Korean Industries has issued statements decrying the difficulty of finding talented college graduates who can immediately enter the workforce.
But if there's a pure love industry, it must be ecstatic.