# Does someone out there have an actual degree in Baloney? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245 "2014-09-02T12:12:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/1 "2014-09-02T12:12:42Z")
[You have a degree in Baloney](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3u2mBVFEHc) Has anyone, ever, gotten a degree in baloney, as in “Yeah, I wrote my doctoral thesis on Italian deli meats.”? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/2 "2014-09-02T12:20:00Z")
Ah, I thought you meant something like a chiropractic certification. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/3 "2014-09-02T14:57:48Z")
Probably more likely to have a degree in Bologna, the city. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/4 "2014-09-02T14:59:57Z")
Considering the agriculture degrees you can get at places like Penn State and Texas A&M, I would think so. I was surprised years ago to find you could get degrees in single instruments (such as cello). Since then the shock factor has dropped to almost zero. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/5 "2014-09-02T15:12:17Z")
Maybe a degree in Baloney - Foolish or deceptive talk; nonsense: _I don’t buy it—it’s all a load of baloney_ Otherwise known as Politics. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/6 "2014-09-02T15:22:20Z")
food engeneering in a food science department would slice it. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/7 "2014-09-02T15:28:05Z")
Since the reference in the OP is clearly meant as a joke, let’s move this to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/8 "2014-09-02T16:19:28Z")
> [@naita](#): > > …Has anyone, ever, gotten a degree in baloney, as in “Yeah, I wrote my doctoral thesis on Italian deli meats.”? A bachelor’s degree is probably too broad to really specialize, but I could imagine a master’s degree or PhD in agriculture, food science, nutrition, or dietetics that primarily centered around a study of the deli meat. E.g. an MS in agriculture could involve a thesis on the minimal amount of farm infrastructure necessary to support self-contained and consistent bologna production. An MS in nutrition could explore to what extent switching from hot dogs to bologna affects colon cancer risk. And it looks like there is actually [a university in Bologna, Italy](http://www.unibo.it/en/homepage) where you could actually do a degree, but the degree would be _from_ Bologna, not _in_ Bologna. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/9 "2014-09-02T16:29:54Z")
E. E. “Doc” Smith was famously a doctor of doughnutry, so I suppose a doctor of baloney is a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/10 "2014-09-02T16:32:50Z")
There’s [Janeal Yancey](http://www.fooddialogues.com/profile/janeal-yancey), who has a Master’s and Ph.D. in meat science, conducts meat science research, and writes a blog about meat science. She isn’t specifically focused on baloney, but she has written about it. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/11 "2014-09-02T19:46:06Z")
As a matter of fact, it is believed that [the very first university degrees ever to be awarded were in Bologna](http://www.unibo.it/en/university/who-we-are/our-history/our-history). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/12 "2014-09-02T21:34:43Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > And it looks like there is actually [a university in Bologna, Italy](http://www.unibo.it/en/homepage) where you could actually do a degree, but the degree would be _from_ Bologna, not _in_ Bologna. If you look at the university’s course catalog, you’ll see a lot of classes in Italian history, culture, literature, etc. I’m sure a determined graduate student could put together enough course work to specialize in the\* topic \*of Bologna. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/13 "2014-09-02T22:31:31Z")
From “Cheers:” Frazier: I’ve been invited to lecture at the University of Bologna. Coach: Hah! Who’s the Dean? Oscar Mayer?? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/14 "2014-09-02T22:36:52Z")
I’ve got a Ph.D. in BS. Close enough? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/15 "2014-09-03T01:21:09Z")
The clip in the OP is one of my all-time favourite _Futurama_ moments. Personally, I have degrees in Commerce and Engineering, so I guess I could _build_ Baloney and then sell it. By the way, the homeopath’s degree is from Evergreen State, which is a real school and though a fast glance at their curriculum looks heavy on both the touchy _and_ the feely, I don’t see any obvious baloney. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/16 "2014-09-03T01:32:42Z")
On further research, Matt Groening went to Evergreen State. I don’t know if he got a degree but if so, I presume it was not in baloney. I presume he _ate_ a lot of baloney, though. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/17 "2014-09-03T01:37:38Z")
There’s a Media Studies dissertation to be written on [Baloney the Dinosaur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgD6E-LT9dg). ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/18 "2014-09-05T10:45:43Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Since the reference in the OP is clearly meant as a joke, let’s move this to Cafe Society. > > Colibri > General Questions Moderator The reference is a joke, the question was serious. I’m dissapointed with the results so far though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/19 "2014-09-05T18:20:04Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The clip in the OP is one of my all-time favourite _Futurama_ moments. And after several years only now I realize that the Homoeopathic quack gets blasted with a high pressure hose with 100% **water**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245/20 "2014-09-05T18:58:07Z")
> [@naita](#): > > The reference is a joke, the question was serious. I’m dissapointed with the results so far though. 🙂 Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary has a program in “[Butchery and Charcuterie Management](http://www.sait.ca/programs-and-courses/full-time-studies/certificates/butchery-and-charcuterie-management-course-overview.php).” Close enough? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-someone-out-there-have-an-actual-degree-in-baloney/697245.md?page=2)