I love academic rituals.
Some cry at weddings. I get teary-eyed at graduations. All that music, all the velvety colors, all those smiling moms... (Perhaps that is the real reason behind my continued educational quest: More degrees = more graduation ceremonies.)
It is important in one's graduate school career, however, to have intermediate rituals besides those that mark the major transitions like completing a degree. I once created my own (albeit short-lived) academic ritual of this sort: When I finally completed the first half of my written preliminary examination (critical review paper, for you FSOSers) I wore a crown all day long. A crown. I borrowed it from my daughters' dress-up box--wore it to drop them off at day care, during my classes, and at a college-wide committee meeting. Every time someone commented on it (and thank goodness they commented instead of just assuming that my wearing a crown was some sort of normal occurrence) I got the opportunity to share my news and receive congratulations. It was wonderful.
Well, this academic ritual, marking the major milestone of the awarding of tenure, is one that I had not heard of. It is truly wonderful, and I hope that wherever I end up getting tenure has adopted this practice:
Earning tenure is cause for celebration — and a few universities honor that milestone in a way that combines academic values: They invite newly promoted professors to pick out a book to be added to the library.
The University of Wisconsin at Madison started such a program last year, at the suggestion of Peter D. Spear, the provost, who got the idea from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Spear said that the program both honors professors and “recognizes the importance of our libraries and the central role they play in the scholarship of the academy.”
I was very pleased to see mentioned in this article the choice by one of our own Department of Family Social Science alumni:
Harriet the Spy, selected by Ramona Faith Oswald (human and community development) and who said that the children’s classic had been her favorite since she was 9 years old. “She inspired me to research people’s personal lives and not be afraid of controversy,” Oswald wrote, adding that Harriet is “the queer kid trying to figure out how the world works and where she wants to fit in.”
What a wonderful choice! My girls and I read a portion from a chapter book at bedtime. We've read "Alice in Wonderland" (of course!), "Stuart Little," "Winnie-the-Pooh." We will soon begin "Pippi Longstocking." I think I'll put "Harriet" on the list for next year.
Anyway, I can hardly wait to pick out my title for when (whenwhenwhen) I am awarded tenure. Of course I have to graduate from here first. (Which means I have to actually finish my dissertation first!) So in the interim, I am dreaming of donning my colorful hood, adjusting my silky tassel, and feeling the heft of my gloriously embossed degree in my hands.
I know of some graduate students who have skipped their graduations. I guess they retain too many bad memories of their struggles to finish. Or too much of their campus is associated with times of avoiding their advisors because they were draft-less, thus making further avoidance at graduation time seem automatic. Or maybe they already have positions and are just too busy to return to campus for the ceremony. Someone once told me no one else from his cohort would be there as they had all graduated (or left the program) years before, so he did not see the point of attending himself.
Whatever the reason, it is a shame. I know I will be at my graduation. Not only that, I plan to shake everyone's hand: the president, the provost, my advisor, the person in charge of adjusting the mic--anyone and everyone who is on that stage. I may even stop at the podium to say a few words. They'll have to play that Academy Award-speech music to get me to shut up, perhaps summon security to escort me from the stage.
Heck, I may even wear my crown.
Yvette, I hope you WILL wear your crown! and I really look forward to welcoming you across that stage. -- Your Advisor
Posted by: Hal at October 20, 2005 08:34 PMI love this one! I don't care if I end up hating ever person at my institution, nothing short of hospitalization will stop me from going across that stage. I think that is why so many people in academe still have residual issues with their graduate school experience--they don't have the wonderful closure of graduating. Some people really celebrate their defense (and I'll do that too) and stop there. Why celebrate once when you can do it twice--I think you should wear your crown at least two more times. Any graduation is such a wonderfully public and familial ritual I just can't imagine not going.
But I wonder what book I would pick out...
Posted by: Mon at October 21, 2005 01:01 PMIt's unanimous (N=2)! I *will* be wearing my crown again!
Mon, I think you are correct about the "closure" issue. Since "commencement" also marks the start of a stage of life/career, maybe some folks feel they've already started so such a rite is not necessary. But it is also definitely a "closing," without which one may be left with, as you put it, "residuals"...
And thanks, Hal! Hope I don't end up shaking your arm out of its socket.
Posted by: Yvette at October 22, 2005 11:44 AM