1 April 2011

Was getting the doctorate in the contract?

| johnboy
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Chief Minister Stanhope has announced that his Centenary of Canberra Creative Director Robyn Archer has been gonged with an honorary doctorate by his university, to go with the existing honorary doctorates from Flinders and Sydney University.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has congratulated Centenary of Canberra Creative Director, Ms Robyn Archer AO for being awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.

The doctorate was awarded in recognition of Ms Archer’s outstanding contribution to the arts as a director, performer and writer.

“Ms Archer is a distinguished performer and arts administrator, whose passion, vision and depth of experience will be a great asset to the University,” Mr Stanhope said.

“I am especially pleased that Ms Archer is building this significant relationship with the University of Canberra as she works with the ACT Government, the Canberra community and beyond our borders to plan and deliver a 100th birthday celebration for the national capital.”

Ms Archer received the doctorate at a ceremony for graduating students from communications and media studies, creative writing, journalism and public relations disciplines.

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The Frots said :

I wonder if she’ll use it…?

Question for the masses………………………if you get an ‘honorary doctrate’ from the University of Bum%$#@ say, are you entitled to use it as a title? Moral issues aside (such as you didn’t earn it, etc) but is there anything stopping someone from using it – and provided they state that it is an ‘honorary’ title?

Hmmm……………….?

My understanding is that you can use the title but but it is considered a social faux pas/not really acceptable if you do actually use it – hence “Ms Archer” not “Dr Archer”.

Building a relationship with a local education institution is a great idea. But how UC can give Archer a doctorate based on a track record in performance is questionable. UC offers journalism, PR and some creative writing – there’s hardly a cohesive school of activities in the creative arts there. It’s one thing for UC to hop in and contribute in the area of, say, design, where they actually have a functioning school. But I would have thought the ANU, with its amazing schools of music, performance, visual arts etc, would be a more appropriate institution to thank Archer (and preferably once she has actually delivered on the centenary). UC should pull its head in.

The Frots said :

I wonder if she’ll use it…?

Of course. Tally-Ho papers are getting quite expensive.

I wonder if she’ll use it…?

Question for the masses………………………if you get an ‘honorary doctrate’ from the University of Bum%$#@ say, are you entitled to use it as a title? Moral issues aside (such as you didn’t earn it, etc) but is there anything stopping someone from using it – and provided they state that it is an ‘honorary’ title?

Hmmm……………….?

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