Symposium
Alright, so this is my blog based on the symposium. I attended the segment that talked about the different positions a person can fill with an English degree. For this section of the symposium, there were three speakers. The first one focused on the idea of going into Law school and the different job opportunities that are associated with a Law degree along with an English degree. The second speaker spoke about the aspects of becoming a librarian along with the school/education that is needed and the different areas that can be explored with this career path. The last speaker sort of summed up the whole presentation. He did not focus on one job that is associated with an English degree, but instead he spoke about all the different job opportunities and career choices that an English graduate can achieve. Okay, so that’s the first thing. Oh yeah and one more thing, this might sound a little silly but…what?! I had noooo idea you had to go to school to become a librarian! Where have I been?!
From the segment I went to, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to use this to relate to the theorists so please stick with me, it might be a little patchy but here I go hehe. Alright so for this, I decided to use Jacques Derrida and surprisingly enough, as much as I didn’t understand them at the time, I will also use Deleuze and Guattari.
With Deleuze and Guattari they talked a lot about the idea of a rhizome (which I still don’t really understand). On 1595 it explains that “Ferdinand De Saussure should choose ‘tree’ as his example of a sign…” D+G decide to replace this idea of a tree with that of a rhizome, hmmm, lets just stick with tree, it works better for me. Alright, to relate this to the symposium…here we go. I think this example of a tree relates to that of an English degree. The base of the tree represents the degree itself while the branches show all of the different areas you can explore with this degree. I think it’s safe to say that without the base of the tree (the degree itself) the branches will not be able to grow (the job opportunities).
As for the rhizomes, I don’t want to leave those out. D+G explain that these rhizomes are “a network of threads that can send up new growths anywhere along their length, not subject to centralized control or structure.” Okay so this pretty much goes against my idea of center because they say here that a center is not needed. But at the same time, in order to network between different jobs and careers, don’t you need somewhere to start from? Ummm..?
I guess a few specific examples from the symposium that relate to this theory would be based on all the different jobs that were brought up. Walking into that room today, I really had no idea that these jobs related to English at all. It was surprising to see that someone with this degree can become a librarian, go into law school, become a journalist, work for the CIA, do Government work, work for a radio station, work for a newspaper etc. Although I was aware that a few of these jobs related to my major, I really had no idea how many actually did. It definitely makes me feel a little bit more comfortable with the major I decided to choose. I think this theory reveals that a center is needed. In order for something to grow and expand, it must start somewhere. Somewhere, obviously being the center. Everything has to begin somewhere right?
I think in order to look at this as a larger significance; you must look at the important of a college degree. Not just an English degree, any degree. I think that by putting yourself through years of hard work and dedicating, a college degree gives you a base that you can work you way up from. In my opinion, it lands you that much closer to the job that you wish for and makes it easier to achieve that position.
Although this post might seem a little bit all over the place but this is what I gathered from this segment of the symposium and I hope it makes at least a little sense!
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