B.A. in Martial Arts Studies.

arnisador

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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.
 
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
 
arnisador said:
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.
 
RRouuselot said:
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.
 
mj-hi-yah said:
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!
 
RRouuselot said:
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
arnisador said:
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.,
 
arnisador said:
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
 
arnisador said:
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.
 
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
 
great picture of the two sparring...especially the guy that's kicking...with his lead hand dropped behind his leg...gotta love it.
 
I saw an ad for an instructor in the BRidgeport program in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

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.
 
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...
 
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