Did you know that Classics is the 2nd most lucrative humanities major?

The great secret in universities and the national press is that the Humanities train students in exactly what employers are looking for: reading comprehension, proficiency in writing in English, and foreign language acquisition.

This from a 2018 survey of 431 employers from across America (2018 American Academy of Arts and Sciences “The State of the Humanities 2018: Graduates in the Workforce and Beyond.” Also the Oxford Global Talent report).

  • A pilot program at the famed Mt Sinai School of Medicine in NYC seeks out students from the humanities – with only a minimal science background. They do this on the premise that the doctors at Mt. Sinai can teach their students the science they need but what they cannot teach them is the quality of mind and the sensitivity to the human condition that comes with a Humanities degree.

What better place than to hone these skills than in the Department of Classical Studies? The skills that you learn in our courses are the very ones that companies, government, law school, even medical schools desire.

Some recent alums are: software developer; private equity investment officer; pharmaceutical statistician; nurse; editor; aerial dancer; sports writer; staff member at Sotheby’s auction house; medical device engineer; dentist; physician; TV writer for CSI New York; Marine Corps aviator; National Parks Service worker; first female commander of a US Navy warship; founder of an innovative clinic for eating disorders and metabolic medicine. You get the picture. The range is almost limitless.

Only a few majors make a career out of Classics, whether that is to teach Latin in high school or to pursue the PhD to seek university employment – some do go on, of course, and they do well.

Still worried?

If you still have hesitations about majoring in the Humanities, Aaron Hanlon, Eric Hayot, and Anna Kornbluh created a project called Humanities Work that dispels common myths about majoring in the Humanities.