** Rock 'n Roll Disclaimer ** This O.P. in no way is meant to smear, disparage or malign the good name and fine musical talents of Mr. Bob Dylan.
Now then. He’s getting an Honorary Doctorate. Doesn’t the idea of a gimme higher degree sort of dilute the elite value of earning a Doctorate? People dream for years of completing a degree, of writing a thesis, of achieving that goal. You do something that has no connection to education in a direct way, yet you are awarded a Doctorate?
I find it insulting. ( Now, no firefights here. I am well aware that musical education is a very important thing, I’m married to a music teacher. ).
Are they “marked” in some way in the US, or are they indistinguishable from regular degrees? Here you get a “Dr. h.c.” (honoris causa - “because of the honor”) and there is no doubt that this has no academic value whatsoever, it is just like a medal awarded by a university.
In addition to that they are relatively rare so that an honorary doctorate is not an effetive way to dodge the requirements for a doctorate - very rare if you discount those that are given to people who are already highly decorated scientists.
In a way I think it even helps the reputation of real doctorates, I mean, honorary doctorates have a certain prestige, but who wants to be an honorary project manager?
I got my Father’s Day and Birthday Present yesterday. XM Radio is in my car now. How very fun. It sounds wonderful, and I’m finding more and more cool channels that I am going to enjoy.
Soundtracks is one that just blows me away. They play a movie, and you listen. Now, if you are facing 8-10 hours of driving in a day ( which I am going to live with soon ), that’s a nifty thing to get to do. I can check the listings on the Web, and see if there’s a flick I wanna listen to.
As a news junkie, the News Talk area is a gorgefest of information.
Any devotees out there? Drawbacks? Problems? High points?
I think Cartooniverse is hijacking his own thread.
Honorary degrees are completely different from earned degrees. Schools award honorary degrees like “Doctor of Humane Letters” (LHD) whereas they grant degrees like “Doctor of Philosophy” (PHD).
Honorary doctorates don’t bother me – I don’t think Dylan is going to start calling himself “Dr. Dylan” or anything. It’s a quid pro quo thing – he gets a nice souvenir, and the school gets a good graduation speaker. (Some local school gave an honorary degree to Big Bird this year – I did roll my eyes at that one, I’ll admit.)
I’ll tell you which fake degrees do get my goat – Ed.D. What a bogus piece of paper that is! My stepsister has one – I listened with disbelief when she told me she spent all summer writing her 50-page thesis for that. Fuck, I wrote term papers longer than that.
Ruth Westheimer, Ed.D.; Bill Cosby, Ed.D.: I’m lookin’ at you
I think it makes good sense from a life learning perspective, provided the person receiving the degree has accomplished a great deal in their area. Famous authors, musicians, etc.
Bob Dylan could be recognized as having expertise in music, being one of the more well known musicians of our time (Perhaps just before our time )
Point well taken, twickster. I dunno about Dr. Ruth, but I seem to remember there being quite the hue and cry about Bill Cosby when he was awarded his Doctorate in Ed., using Fat Albert as the backbone for his thesis.
I can’t imagine what it’s like. 4 years of undergrad, 2-4 years of grad, then the Doctoral work. You sit there, at Graduation in your mid to late twenties ( or older ). This is the culmination of almost 30 years of education. And, some jamoke celebrity is awarded a Doctorate in return for speaking at your commencement. Hmmmm.
Quid pro quo thing huh? You’re some kind of Latin demon???
It’s not a f***in’ doctorate, OK? It’s honorary, and I can’t see how it devalues an earned degree, any more than an honorary presidency (of an organization) devalues the actual presidency. D’ya think the appointment of a “Mayor for a Day” sends the real mayor into a sulk?
I’m pretty sure there have been less worthy recipients. I wonder whether he’ll sing at the graduation ceremony. It would make the whole thing a bit less boring than in Celyn’s day.
Bah! I see he is playing inGlasgow soon, but not surprisingly, all tickets are sold.
It’s not his first. “The Locusts Sang” (or whatever song on New Morning had those words) was about him getting an honorary degree from Princeton. Anyway, honorary degrees are no big deal, since anyone who gets one is not likely to increase in stature from it. I can be snooty - MIT doesn’t give any out.
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