“And as you can see, the picture is much funnier when you replace the college student with the dog,” said the professor.
Photo by: Stephen Lightfoot
Next year, UC San Diego plans to graduate its first class in the Bachelor of Memes (BM) program. The program is an interdisciplinary program between the departments of History, Anthropology, and Music, and it has help from the San Diego Supercomputer Center.
Junior Sixth College student David Morales, the first student to sign up for the major, was happy with the announcement, saying “I just really like how the classes give me an excuse to look at memes and call it studying. It’s what I do anyway, so I might as well make something out of it. Plus I can use some of the classes for these stupid GEs.” Morales continued, “The lectures are in the nicer buildings too. Not that hole in the ground filled with backed up toilets they call York.”
According to the department, the Bachelor of Memes requires completion of the lower division four-course sequence, “General Memes,” along with the courses “Introduction to Western Memes” and “Introduction to East-Asian Memes.” Upper division students specialize in a “Subculture of Concentration” program, offering “intense instruction, discussion, and research in the memes of a specific subculture.”
Chancellor Khosla, after attending the seminar course called “Apathy in Memes,” explained, “Initially, I had reservations about whether the new program would enhance UC San Diego’s research reputation. However, after supporting students in a discussion about various ways apathy can be expressed in urban life memes, such as missing an exit or a train or trying to find a parking space on a busy day, I am confident graduates will be able to take their skills into the workforce and research fields that will improve everyday life for everyone.”
Khosla went on to explain how the university would maintain regular email contact with the students after they graduate, hoping to gauge the success of the new degree program and fundraising campaign. Khosla told reporters, “I really want to see these kids graduate and succeed in whatever they choose to do. Whether it be curing cancer, teaching high school, or shoveling horseshit at parades, UCSD students will thrive.”
Facing criticism that the degree program may be, as one student described as “not worth the paper the degree is printed on,” the department responded, “Graduates can find employment with their degree in a variety of fields, including journalism, activism and outreach, academia, and business.” Asked to provide a single business that employed more than four meme experts, the department directed people with questions to the Career Center, explaining that “the study of memes is critical to the development and modernization of an integrated society,” and “UC San Diego supports the academic endeavours of its students and faculty in this critical field.”
