…of how self-obsessed you are.

Recently, I went to the pictures in Liverpool ONE with my Mum and my sister. During the adverts at the beginning, I found myself sliding down in my chair and hiding my face behind my double scoop of Ben and Jerry’s. Not because my sister was already (loudly) taking the piss out of the chick flick we were about to indulge in, but because an advert for the university I’d graduated from less than 6 months ago had appeared on the big screen. Don’t worry, it wasn’t the Liverpool Hope advert* and I wasn’t dying of cheese exposure. It was for the University of Central Lancashire and it made me embarrassed to be an alumni. 

Now, UCLan doesn’t have the best reputation; it used to be a polytechnic, which means that when I tell people who’ve attended ‘better’ universities that I went there, I’m often greeted with a smug look that perfectly balances sympathy and superiority. In fact, I’ve come up against the attitude from a couple of upper-middle class supercilious twits at my partner’s postgraduate university that my BA is worth less than theirs because they studied at Durham, dahhling. I don’t feel that way.  That’s not why I was ashamed. 

I spent three years at UCLan studying for a combined honours degree titled ‘BA (Hons) Philosophy with English Language and Linguistics’. It doesn’t exactly scream career path. But then, I never wanted it to. I wanted an education. I didn’t pick my subjects based on a possible career; I based my decision on what I thought I would enjoy studying. I was right. I finished my degree with a first class honours and it was easily the best three years of my life so far.

Unfortunately, this method of choosing one’s degree is something that is not as easy at the moment. When the tuition fee cap rose to £9,000 last year, I told anyone who would listen about my fear (which was by no means mine alone) that non-vocational subjects and those that have no clear career path after them would suffer as potential students would spend their hefty amounts of cash on subjects they perceive as career gateways, and not on getting an education. Many used the phrase “nation of accountants”; exaggerative but to the point. Now, I’m not criticising students that want to choose their degree that way; I just don’t think it’s fair that students feel they have no alternative**. I am, however, criticising UCLan for pandering to this. 

I’m sure they’d say they’re being sensible. They’re advertising to help students who have been victims of the fee rise to still attend university and get an education, just in a subject that will get them a job.  Fair enough. In fact, they’ve put their money where their mouth is and just spent a wad of cash on a new forensic science building for all those budding forensic scientists. This is a subject that has become increasingly popular thanks to CSI, so much so, in fact, that the UK now has nowhere near enough jobs to cope with the number of graduates in this field. Thus, I should not have to stress the point that humanities subjects are valuable degrees in terms of adaptability. It’s possible that the rigidity of these career degrees will only serve as hindrances to their students. Yet, UCLan’s advert not only excludes the humanities, but refers to them as ‘just a degree’.

Here’s the video –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lgqWhRuXwZA#!

It was hard enough for most of us philosophy students to try and explain the merit of studying it to certain family members in the first place, I’ve heard funny anecdotes of one student trying to justify studying philosophy to his ex-miner grandfather and it’s easy to see why we might face difficulty. However, to have the very institution that provided me with my degree publicly belittle it? Well, that was a kick in the cogito. 

The advert says things like

Want to be inspired by someone that’s done it…Not just read about it?

Well, that’s an interesting distinction. How exactly is one supposed to do that in history or philosophy, for example? How does one ‘do’ those subjects without reading about them? 

Want to be guaranteed work experience…Not just given the theory? ***

Again, making the link that one’s degree has to directly relate to their work. For me, ‘the theory’ was my degree. I wanted education, not training.

and

Want to be given an advantage…Not just a degree?

As far as I’m concerned, a degree is an advantage and for many more reasons than career prospects.

UCLan, you appear to have chosen a direction and an attitude with which I am not comfortable. I wonder whether the people who came up with this dreadful ad campaign considered graduates and students like me when they came up with it. I also wonder whether this blind eye to an entire type of discipline bothers them now. Alas, this attitude seems to be the future of universities under this government. End the New Labour free for all; let the povs think they have equality when really they’re getting what we’ve always wanted them to have: a skill that can be utilised by the educated classes. 

I’m trying not to digress into politics so I’ll leave it at this. The TV advert doesn’t feature the one of the worst slogans in this campaign. This can be seen on buses and buildings around Preston -  

Want to learn in the real world and not just the lecture theatre?

So that’s where they keep the vats? Somebody call Hilary Putnam. 

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyPPQzsAYOI

** This doesn’t apply to everyone; poorer students are much more likely to be forced into this decision

***Funnily enough, I’ve met a couple of fashion and textiles students whose subject had to renege on their promise to get them work experience in the field they wanted due to lack of availability.