Emeritus Professor Alan Ryan on American graduation ceremonies and politics
Alan Ryan wrote a column on American graduation ceremonies and politics in Times Higher Education (31 May, 2012).
Alan wrote “I shan't start a tedious riff about the American habit of referring to what is in fact the end, conclusion, finale or culmination of the academic struggle as a “commencement” … In any case, snide remarks about beginning at the end would invite questions about why the University of Oxford calls the annual ceremony at which honorary degrees are handed out to the great and good ‘Encaenia’.”
The article provides witty and insightful commentary on this year’s more political commencement addresses in a number of American universities and the manner in which they reflect contemporary political realities in the United States.
The full column can be read here.
Alan Ryan is emeritus professor of political theory, University of Oxford.
