B.A. in Martial Arts Studies.

[arnisador]

http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp


The University of Bridgeport is proud to be the first American institution of higher learning to offer a B.A. in Martial Arts Studies. While martial arts study at the university level has long been a part of academic life in Asia, UB's program differs in having a liberal arts focus as well as practice of martial arts disciplines.

[mj-hi-yah]

That is most awesome! I wish they had offered that when I was a college student...I hope it's a trend that catches on. :ultracool

[RRouuselot]

http://www.bridgeport.edu/pages/3868.asp
Sorry to be a “kill joy” but these martial arts degree programs always make me a bit nervous. This is for several reasons…..I often see biased historical information being propagated and I am wondering how much of that will carry over into academia.

I notice one of the Profs teaching is Korean and a 7th dan in TKD…..are we going to get the “TKD is a 2000 year old MA” lesson? Hopefully not.



I would love to see some sort of martial arts studies in university but not at the expense of having people learn a lot of inaccurate information. By doing that it would give more power to some of the myths and fantasies that are common in the MA.

[mj-hi-yah]

Sorry to be a “kill joy” but these martial arts degree programs always make me a bit nervous. This is for several reasons…..I often see biased historical information being propagated and I am wondering how much of that will carry over into academia.

I notice one of the Profs teaching is Korean and a 7th dan in TKD…..are we going to get the “TKD is a 2000 year old MA” lesson? Hopefully not.



I would love to see some sort of martial arts studies in university but not at the expense of having people learn a lot of inaccurate information. By doing that it would give more power to some of the myths and fantasies that are common in the MA.You may be right to have some skepticism, but the wheels of change turn slowly and this is a step in the right direction. It looks as though they plan to be developing and adding other arts as they go along, and the different perspectives will hopefully help to shape more accurate historical information. To me it is better to have something that can grow over time than nothing at all - leaving much of it to Hollywood.

[arnisador]

That is most awesome! I wish they had offered that when I was a college student...
Me too! I wouldn't have majored in it, but I would have taken a few courses for sure!

[BrandiJo]

i hope it catches on soon :)

[arnisador]

Sorry to be a “kill joy” but these martial arts degree programs always make me a bit nervous. This is for several reasons…..I often see biased historical information being propagated and I am wondering how much of that will carry over into academia.
If I recall correectly, the U. of Bridgeport has something of a 'checkered' past. But I think a good school could give a good course of study in this. Just like one need not be female to be a professor of Women's Studies, or European to study European History, one should not need to be a martial artist to study it academically. Having a trained historian check some of the exaggerated claims would be interesting.

I think a major could be put together that would be well-regarded. I can't say whether this is one.

[terryl965]

Please anybody with no talent and are able to pay there money can earn a degree in a Art that teaches people self defense and other aspects to go along with training. Would you like to be tought by someone who just study books and was able to do very little else NOT ME. The school say a B.A. in MArtial Arts but yet it is geared toward TKD is this the only Art no-way no how, call a spade a spade it's a degree like in Korea for the benefit of TKD Not Martial Arts. I know I'm in TKD but I have to laugh when I see this so in the near future will have people with really not much experience in the Art of TKD teaching TKD what a JOKE. I would travel around the world and in the darkest corner of the globe for training before I train with some one with a B.A. in B.S. MA. Sorry just how I feel about this kind of crap.

[arnisador]

Do you think it cannot be done well?

I think they have Tai Chi too.

I think the idea is good. Whether this implementation is good is impossible to say at this point. As for the employment prospects...I wouldn't count on it.

[terryl965]

Do you think it cannot be done well?
Maybe it can be done well but not in this format.

I think they have Tai Chi too.
Have nothing to say about Tai Chi never tried it.

I think the idea is good. Whether this implementation is good is impossible to say at this point. As for the employment prospects...I wouldn't count on it.Maybe the Idea is but employment will come from it along with overcharging for now they have a degree, sorry I cannot see how this will help with the MA that I know and love.,

[Andrew Green]

Woohoo!

A degree less useful then Philosophy!

[arnisador]

Woohoo!

A degree less useful then Philosophy!
Heh. Yeah, that's a real concern for the students.

[Andrew Green]

Heh. Yeah, that's a real concern for the students.
Having studied Philosophy, I was being serious :D

Good to not be at the bottom of the "percieved value" end of the degree scale :D

[Lisa]

Woohoo!

A degree less useful then Philosophy!
this coming from the philosophy major himself, LMAO... ;)

[masherdong]

Cool!! Tell them to implement that program here at the University of Houston!

[RRouuselot]

Do you think it cannot be done well?

I think they have Tai Chi too.

I think the idea is good. Whether this implementation is good is impossible to say at this point. As for the employment prospects...I wouldn't count on it.
I think if it were taken to a school like Berkley and put in the Asian Lang/Culture Dept it might do fairly well, maybe even get some respect. Or maybe not…There is one University in CA. that offers degrees in surfing…..it has yet to get a lot of respect either.


On another note……If we have trained in MAs and studied martial history/ Asian culture for some time I wonder how much we can “quiz out” on if we want to take the courses.

[Miles]

There are universities in Korea in which various martial arts are the major field of study ( for examply Yong In U. which was formerly the "Korea Judo College." The graduates generally look for post-graduate employment teaching martial arts in schools (elementary/middle/high school).

If this is something the U of Bridgeport is seeking to imitate, I think it is fine, though frankly don't think there are enough employment opportunities to justify it.

Miles

[Chronuss]

great picture of the two sparring...especially the guy that's kicking...with his lead hand dropped behind his leg...gotta love it.

[arnisador]

I saw an ad for an instructor in the BRidgeport program in the Chronicle of Higher Education (chronicle.com):


Assistant Professor of Martial Arts Studies
Full-time, tenure-track position beginning in Spring 2005. Teach Taekwondo, Taiji, Judo and other Asian martial arts courses. Terminal degree in the Martial Arts and an advanced belt in one or more Martial Arts, especially Taekwondo. Strong working knowledge of an East Asian language essential. The language and terminal degree requirements make it sound like it may be on the up-and-up.

[rmcrobertson]

I wondered what was up, since they're the only accredited school that offers such a, "terminal degree."

Translation: it isn't a real job search. They want to hire one of their own people, and they've customized the ad so that the only person who can fit it is somebody who's already there. They're not supposed to be doing this, but it happens all the time with academic jobs...

And unless they get somebody who's at least middle-aged and extraordinary, the fact that they want so many different disciplines is a recipie for bad arts...

[ginshun]

I just don't know about this. What exactly would one do with a Bachelors degree in Martial Arts Studies? It seems to just be asking to spend four years of time and money on college and come out with no marketable skills to show for it.

I mean what job would it qualify you to get? MA instuctor? OK sure, anything else?

I think if your plan was to be a MA instructor for a living you would be better served by taking MA classes a few days a week and going to college for a degree in buisness, that was at least if your MA buisness / school doesn't work out, you at least are qualified for something else. Actually, I think you'd be better off either way with the buisness degree.

Not to be a spoil sport, but it just seems very impractical to me.

[arnisador]

I wondered what was up, since they're the only accredited school that offers such a, "terminal degree."
Well, be careful...there aren't many in the U.S., but what about abroad? Aren't there such programs in South Korea, for instance?


Translation: it isn't a real job search. They want to hire one of their own people, and they've customized the ad so that the only person who can fit it is somebody who's already there. They're not supposed to be doing this, but it happens all the time with academic jobs...
Certainly a possibility--it does happen.

[arnisador]

I just don't know about this. What exactly would one do with a Bachelors degree in Martial Arts Studies? It seems to just be asking to spend four years of time and money on college and come out with no marketable skills to show for it. Worst of all, I imagine that many 18 y.o. martial artists would find it an attractive option, then end up without marketable skills.

If it was a martial arts oriented athletic trainer's degree or phys. ed. degree, that might afford some protection.

[evenflow1121]

An elective course in Martial Arts sure, a degree, seems pretty useless to me. When I was an undergraduate student there was this one guy who taught a martial arts class at my University, most of what he taught was wrong pertaining to martial art's history.

A bachelors in Martial Arts Studies will probably get you nowhere, unless you 1.) Already have an established career and just want this degree for fun, or 2.) Have your own martial arts studio and want this to further your knowldege. And with respect to the latter, I d still favor a business degree. I too am worried that the younger kids will major in something like this and 4 years down the line have absolutely nothing to show for it.

[Rick Wade]

Sorry to be a “kill joy” but these martial arts degree programs always make me a bit nervous. This is for several reasons…..I often see biased historical information being propagated and I am wondering how much of that will carry over into academia.

I notice one of the Profs teaching is Korean and a 7th dan in TKD…..are we going to get the “TKD is a 2000 year old MA” lesson? Hopefully not.



I would love to see some sort of martial arts studies in university but not at the expense of having people learn a lot of inaccurate information. By doing that it would give more power to some of the myths and fantasies that are common in the MA.

True but you see that kinda crap in all circles especially in pollysci.

V/R

Rick

[Oleg]

This is really cool

[HKphooey]

Update on this...

Local news channel ran a story on this.

http://fox61.trb.com/

In the center of the page there are video clips, you will have to scroll down the menu for a bit.

[HKphooey]

Just got the direct link...

Martial Arts Degree (http://video.fox61.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?clipid1=1403599&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Martial+Arts+Degree&d1=239834&redirUrl=http://www.fox61.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage)
http://wtic.images.worldnow.com/images/1403599_vt.jpg
http://wtic.images.worldnow.com/images/static/gfx/pxl_trans.gif (http://video.fox61.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?clipid1=1403599&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Martial+Arts+Degree&d1=239834&redirUrl=http://www.fox61.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage)

[bushidomartialarts]

good to see this becoming more common. i know it's a common major in asia. also, my capoeira instructor had a degree in capoeira (although i think it was a focus of his phys ed instruction degree -- his english was only so so and i often misunderstood him).

to be honest, though, anybody wanting a career in the martial arts would probably be better off going to dave kovar's promac (professional martial arts college). it focuses on the business side of running a martial arts school as well as the art and history. do that and then pursue an mat and you're looking at all the skills you need to run a good dojo.

[10,000 Hit Combo]

Anybody hear of anything in Toronto?

[kidswarrior]

Woohoo!

A degree less useful then Philosophy!

No such thing. :D

[Xue Sheng]

No such thing. :D

How about a PhD in Literature – use to work with someone that had one of those

[bigfootsquatch]

heres another program at Indiana University
http://www.indiana.edu/~martial/certificate.php