Yeah, I Got a F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree
While there’s a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek in this podcast, CAHSS Dean and host Jeff Crane is serious about the liberal arts. He launched the podcast personally last year, with over 50 episodes so far. Crane is deeply passionate about how a liberal arts education is foundational to a healthy, inclusive, and progressive society. His interviews range from educators to writers, social scientists, critics and activists from across the country, who talk about how their experiences as students of the liberal arts have shaped their lives.
“Now, more than ever, critical dialogue about the value of a liberal arts education needs to be elevated,” says Crane. “As a historian and academic leader, the liberal arts has, and continues to shape who I am, and this show is an opportunity for me to learn about and share others’ unique perspectives within this field.”
Notable guests include author and educator Jennifer Berkshire, prominent blogger and historian Bret Devereaux, and entrepreneur and scholar Jin Chow.
Listen to Yeah, I Got a F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree at humboldt.edu/podcasts.
SNAFUBAR: America, Militarism & Myth
Veterans may have an idea of what this podcast’s title stands for. It stems from two acronyms that came out of military lingo: SNAFU standing for "Situation Normal: All F’d up" and FUBAR standing for "F’d Up Beyond All Recognition.”
The podcast is co-hosted by Jeff Crane, who is a peacetime veteran, historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Sara Hart, who teaches Religious Studies at Cal Poly Humboldt and is the daughter and granddaughter of combat veterans.
SNAFUBAR is a podcast about strategic and moral military errors and mishaps, and the myths that both lead to and then justify them. The histories they look at will make clear the degree to which the U.S. is a warful nation, contrary to the myth of a peaceful nation regularly compelled, against its will, to go to war. Through its many upcoming episodes, the show uncovers how we romanticize and fetishize the military while not really providing the support it needs to carry out its intended (or stated) goals, or to meet veterans’ needs when they return from combat.
With four episodes released about American military history so far, audiences can look forward to a wide range of topics and timelines, including a close look at George Washington’s early career, how animals are used by the U.S. military for a variety of reasons, a deep dive into the long standing relationship between the U.S. and Afghanistan and what the results have been and so much more.
“Our national life is shaped and driven by myths – by the truths we hold to be self-evident – and this is nowhere more clear than in our relationship with war,” says Hart. “The U.S. has been at war for well over 90% of its history, though we continue to think of and present ourselves as a peaceful nation. In this podcast, we’ll look at American militarism, American military mistakes, and the myths that militarism feeds on. It’s all a little messed up. But history can help us to understand the present and it can gird us to foster a more hopeful future.”
SNAFUBAR is researched and written with Cal Poly Humboldt History instructor Liam Salcuni and Religious Studies alumnus Roman Sotomayor, and produced by Art Lecturer Abigail Smithson, who also leads production on Yeah, I Got a F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree.
Listen to SNAFUBAR at humboldt.edu/podcasts.
Majors & Minors
With exciting momentum being built on campus around audio content, another podcast has been released to inform prospective and current students about the details of the many liberal arts programs that Cal Poly Humboldt offers.
Majors & Minors at Cal Poly Humboldt takes a close look at the rich academic offerings of our campus and all of the areas of study that can be pursued as a student. Each episode features an interview with a department Chair (or Chairs) and focuses on the specifics of an area of study and the value of that pursuit both inside the college experience and beyond.
This podcast is produced with involvement from Cal Poly Humboldt’s division of Enrollment Management & Student Success.
Listen to Majors & Minors at Cal Poly Humboldt at humboldt.edu/podcasts.