Petition to get student loans for postgrad study

melancholly

there have been quite a few threads about masters and phd funding and how to get by if you don't get a grant from a research council.

i just found this petition, organised by the NPC (national postgradute committee), which is trying to get student loans for postgraduate study to be introduced. you just have to click on the link and fill it out.

i have funding for my phd but for people in arts and humanities really struggle - and for masters students it can be really really hard (i self funded mine and it wasn't a fun year).

it would be great to get lots more signatures on it so hopefully lots of people will click the link and sign up!

http://www.npc.org.uk/features/Online_Petition

the deadline is 24th April of this year

holstar

thanks for that

raymond

What is the point in a postgraduate degree in arts other than to avoid getting a real job ?

I can understand postgrad and masters for research esp medical but not arty stuff its a waste of taxpayers money in my opinion.

studentphil

raymond wrote:

What is the point in a postgraduate degree in arts other than to avoid getting a real job ?

I can understand postgrad and masters for research esp medical but not arty stuff its a waste of taxpayers money in my opinion.

That is a fair point that you do not really need a Post Grad qualification to be able to research in the arts.

melancholly

raymond wrote:

What is the point in a postgraduate degree in arts other than to avoid getting a real job ?

I can understand postgrad and masters for research esp medical but not arty stuff its a waste of taxpayers money in my opinion.

then what's the point in an undergrad degree in it?
you need postgraduates to teach at the very least.

arts and humanities also covers topics like politics which must be worth studying.

it's also a LOAN not a way of getting free money........ if the idea of intellectual endeavour just for the sake of it offends that much, then don't sign the survey

studentphil

melancholly wrote:

then what's the point in an undergrad degree in it?
you need postgraduates to teach at the very least.

arts and humanities also covers topics like politics which must be worth studying.

it's also a LOAN not a way of getting free money........ if the idea of intellectual endeavour just for the sake of it offends that much, then don't sign the survey

You need an UG degree is Arts to give you the core knowledge and abilities, but after that if you want to research you do not need to do it through a PHD or a research MA.

eryn_kathleen

In order to teach at University these days you need a PhD. Teaching positions in arts and humanities subjects are extremely competitive, and generally even having a PhD isn't enough. You need a strong publication record, and in areas like archaeology (which I'm in) you also need to have an established research project that attracts national or international funding.

Masters and doctoral degrees are keeping Universities open. PhD students attract funding. Overseas PG students pay huge fees. Doctorates also provide the next generation of lecturers and professors.

You can do research after an undergraduate degree without doing a postgrad degree, but you'll find it difficult to get access to research materials, to find funding for research, and to publish your research.

studentphil

eryn_kathleen wrote:

In order to teach at University these days you need a PhD. Teaching positions in arts and humanities subjects are extremely competitive, and generally even having a PhD isn't enough. You need a strong publication record, and in areas like archaeology (which I'm in) you also need to have an established research project that attracts national or international funding.

Masters and doctoral degrees are keeping Universities open. PhD students attract funding. Overseas PG students pay huge fees. Doctorates also provide the next generation of lecturers and professors.

You can do research after an undergraduate degree without doing a postgrad degree, but you'll find it difficult to get access to research materials, to find funding for research, and to publish your research.

Sure you can research without a PHD. If you do it in your free time and are not bothered about publishing.

melancholly

studentphil wrote:

Sure you can research without a PHD. If you do it in your free time and are not bothered about publishing.

you can do anything you want in your free time (assuming it's legal) - that doesn't mean you can do it for a career.

studentphil

melancholly wrote:

you can do anything you want in your free time (assuming it's legal) - that doesn't mean you can do it for a career.

True, but it is a step towards an academic career if you can not afford a PHD to research in your free time and to try and get it published is not wasted as it will help you in a small way towards that.

kittiwoz

raymond wrote:

What is the point in a postgraduate degree in arts other than to avoid getting a real job ?

I can understand postgrad and masters for research esp medical but not arty stuff its a waste of taxpayers money in my opinion.

I think you fail to appreciate the significance of the arts to society. The drive to create art is a very basic one. No society has ever arisen that did not create art. The ancient civilisations that we most marvel at for their technological advancement, sophisticated social structures and scientific ideas all had a strong artistic culture. Just go and have a wander around the British Museum. The art created by past civilisations to try and describe and understand the world around them and communicate ideas to one another can communicate to us today about how they saw the world and their place in it. The renaissance in Europe was a time of both scientific and philosophical advancement and saw the development of a new approach in art. The proudest works of the industrial revolution are also works of art. Why do you think the oldest parts of the London Underground system are so beautifully tiled? They are their own monuments, their beauty celebrating their triumph of engineering. Even the old mill buildings here in Manchester have beautiful decorative brickwork and they are all being converted into luxury apartments now. They survive and are a loved because they were designed and built buy people who made art integral to the structure of the building and it gives tham a value beyond that of their constituent parts. Maybe the old mills are a good metaphor for society in that respect.