I've found that a lot of STEM/business/etc. majors think that everybody in the arts is a "Tumblrite", not just GWST majors/minors. I'm not technically an arts major myself, but I'm pretty close (journalism). Lately I've been becoming really disillusioned with my arts classes.

One example is my minor. I absolutely love my minor -- I decided to study Islam. Part of this is just that I've always found Islam and Middle Eastern culture interesting, but mostly, I wanted to learn how to be a responsible journalist when reporting Middle Eastern stories (my niche). I took Islam so I would have the appropriate knowledge & context, so I would know fact from myth, and so I wouldn't end up perpetuating the Islamophobia the media is often guilty of; basically, so I wouldn't be racist! Many of my classmates have done the same: minoring in Indigenous Studies if they want to specialize in stuff like the Attawapiskat crisis and residential school aftermath, or Russian Studies if they want to cover Ukraine/Crimea. We all want to cover our favourite (for lack of a better word) stories/fields with dignity and respect. Thing is, I'm a blatantly white woman, and I have no interest in becoming a Muslim myself. I kinda just like reading the Qur'an and Hadith and Tafsir (shoutout to madrasa-style, saving me every finals week); it's so interesting seeing how much of the media babble about Islam is incorrect, when reading the source material.

Unfortunately since I'm white and non-Muslim, some of the more "tumblr-y" arts students I talk to in my random electives (usually wealthy white people) automatically assume that my minor in Islam is Orientalism, racism, appropriation, and that I'm trying to speak overtop of Muslims. It really makes me feel like I can't win and like I'm a bad person for trying to be responsible? I know that's maybe whiny of me, but I do feel that. I know I'm from a privileged group (white people), and I tried to learn about an oppressed group so I don't perpetuate Islamophobia & stereotypes at my job. When I write stories about the Muslim community I let the quotes from the interviewees speak for themselves and just use my minor for context (like, to explain Eid or Sura 9:5 or something). I feel like I'm trying so hard to be good and helpful and an ally and not a crappy journalist but you just can't win with some of these (typically white, typically privileged) arts students. I guess I expected disapproval over my minor from the republican types but not from liberals.

The thing I've always loved about arts electives is the debate and discussion. Like you said -- so much of what we learn in arts classes really does feel like obvious common sense. The interesting part is hearing how different groups respond to that common sense knowledge, and how your classmates perceive it differently. One of the things that has made me disillusioned with my arts classes is that everybody who speaks up in class seems to have the same opinion, even if it's the opinion I have too, because the kids who have less popular or less socially acceptable opinions really do get quite harsh receptions, and ostracized from the class. I typically have the same opinion as the majority of the class anyway but it sucks for those kids who don't.