[jayasena]

To answer the question about the "Recreation" major...at my university it is called "Recreation and Leisure Studies" and is an applied major that trains students to manage city parks, gyms, community centers, athletic facilities, military recreation centers, etc.  It is one pathway into the sports industry and is a popular major with athletes who want a career in athletics after their competitive days are over without necessarily coaching.

That said,  I have always been personally skeptical of the merits of highly applied majors.  Polytechnic and comprehensive universities also sport majors in "Hospitality Management" and "Packaging" so I suppose this is no worse.  I am proud that Stanford has resisted the creation of those majors--undergraduate degrees in Business and Education also fit this applied category to a lesser degree.  I am quite surprised to see that Baylor offers this, since it does not normally fit the profile for an elite private university which I think Baylor aspires to be.

I think there's a vast difference between applied majors and highly specialized applied majors. There is a sizable body of formal knowledge in areas like business management and education that justifies several years of study. I fail to see how that's the case with managing city parks or gyms (aside from general management). To me, that's the equivalent of a Chemistry Education major or a Carpet Cleaning Business major. I see a problem with the existence of the major as well as its popularity with Baylor athletes.

And this is quite different from what gesso referred to as "useless" degrees in the arts etc., where direct career paths may seem limited but there's no question about the existence of material to learn.

[jayasena]

To answer the question about the "Recreation" major...at my university it is called "Recreation and Leisure Studies" and is an applied major that trains students to manage city parks, gyms, community centers, athletic facilities, military recreation centers, etc.  It is one pathway into the sports industry and is a popular major with athletes who want a career in athletics after their competitive days are over without necessarily coaching.

That said,  I have always been personally skeptical of the merits of highly applied majors.  Polytechnic and comprehensive universities also sport majors in "Hospitality Management" and "Packaging" so I suppose this is no worse.  I am proud that Stanford has resisted the creation of those majors--undergraduate degrees in Business and Education also fit this applied category to a lesser degree.  I am quite surprised to see that Baylor offers this, since it does not normally fit the profile for an elite private university which I think Baylor aspires to be.

I think there's a vast difference between applied majors and highly specialized applied majors. There is a sizable body of formal knowledge in areas like business management and education that justifies several years of study. I fail to see how that's the case with managing city parks or gyms (aside from general management). To me, that's the equivalent of a Chemistry Education major or a Carpet Cleaning Business major. I see a problem with the existence of the major as well as its popularity with Baylor athletes.

And this is quite different from what gesso referred to as "useless" degrees in the arts etc., where direct career paths may seem limited but there's no question about the existence of material to learn.