Sorry if I misunderstood you. > part of liberal arts education, especially at the most liberal artsy institutions (University of Chicago, Swarthmore, Reed, etc

Sorry if I misunderstood you. > part of liberal arts education, especially at the most liberal artsy institutions (University of Chicago, Swarthmore, Reed, etc) is specifically training you the tools of an academic discipline Having no expertise in this area myself ... I agree that learning how to be a professional academic is not widely valuable. However, I suspect there is value in focusing on an academic discipline. The thinking required for academic disciplines -- especially in regard to creating new knowledge -- may differ from more practical ones, and learning something in depth differs from learning in more superficial breadth. It may not matter so much what you learn, as long as you study something in depth. Finally, it may prepare you well for graduate school, which is much more common than academic careers.