great career without getting a four-year college education as long as you get the skills and the training that you need. >> you can see him react knowing what he's done, but indeed, as soon as president obama made that very self-conscious joke about art history majors and he cringed as soon as he said it and tried to walk it back immediately, indeed, the reason he cringes, he knew what was about to happen would in fact happen. he felt the swift raft of the art historians and people who love them as soon as he got off the podium. the college art association tweeted "president obama dissed art history today." "art history majors now just a punch line for the president." it's president obama versus the gentlest foes you can imagine. one of those gentle foes is professor ann collins johns who teaches late medieval and art at the university of texas at ut austin.