Despite common belief that niche majors like Medieval Studies have no real world utility, a new study shows that niche majors are good for two sentences of small talk. “Whether they are JUPS or Anthropology, a niche major can count on their peers interest for as long as common courtesy lasts,” said researcher Daniel Strong, noting that the average person can only listen to the details of your uncommon field of study for 45 to 70 seconds. He continued, “Generally, such comments of interest in a major occur in between polite remarks of ‘what does that mean?’ or ‘I think I knew a guy with that major’.” Hoover Johnson (COL ’16) found the study was representative of his experience, stating that upon learning he is a classics major, people frequently rave that they, “love the movies Troy and 300.” However, Johnson was still optimistic at the findings of the study because it represents the first research demonstrating a real world benefit to his major.