Talk:Honorary degree
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Thank God somebody added that "honor/honour" spelling footnote. All those Britishers who kept changing the article can now sleep well that their fellow UK residents won't be hoplessly confused trying to translate the American English "honorary" to the British English "honourary." Whew! What a relief! How mind-boggling confusing it must have been for so many who cannot cope with trying to struggle with the meaning of a word without that extra "u."Amherst5282 02:35, 19 February 2006 (UTC)
Yup
- You seem confused. The purpose of the footnote is two fold. First it explains that the spelling honorary is predominant. There are surely a fair number of Commonwealth English users who may simply think the u is necessary and it should be spelled honourary when in fact this is not the case. Also, it explains there is a difference in the spelling of the word honour. Wikipedia is intended to be an encylopedia usable by all English speakers. It is likely there will be some second language speakers who are not aware of the difference and so may get confused and think the word is mispelled (if they are used to Commonwealth spelling) or they will simply not be aware there is a spelling difference (if the are used to the US spelling). Indeed, many first language US-Americans speakers are not aware there is a difference in the spelling and so without the footnote would likely continue to not be aware. Nil Einne 16:07, 26 July 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] How about Germany?
I know that in Germany honorary degrees are taken one whole hell of a lot more seriously than in the US, and I think even than in the UK -- it seems to me they are not handed out as freely to TV personalities and film stars simply for being famous, or to rich donors, but really are awarded to great scholars as a way to honor the scholar and to honor the university confgerring the degree by association. Honorary degrees are also customarily used much more often in names (that is, an American professor with four honoraries will only list them toward the bottom of his curriculum vitae, whereas a German will list his name as "Dr. Dr.(hc) Dr.(hc) Dr.(hc) Dr.(hc) Johann Schmidt" on his business card).
Perhaps some expert in German etiquette and academics could add a section to his article on German, Austrian, and Swiss practice, and for any other continental universities.Amherst5282 04:05, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Use of title 'Doctor' by clergy
The article claims that clergy customarily use the title 'Dr' with an hononary degree. Although there are examples given, there are many more counter-examples, as many bishops are awarded hononary degrees by universities within their diocese.
To give a specific example, when Archbishop Hollingworth was to be appointed Governor-General of Australia in 2001, he was specifically awarded a Lambeth Degree in Theology, despite already holding four hononary degrees - the Australian Government stated that the Lambeth Degree, as a substantive degree, would confer the title 'Doctor' whereas the honorary degrees did not (the style 'Dr' was desired for Hollingworth, because as a bishop he could not be correctly titled 'Mr' and the government did not wish to use the style 'Rt. Rev.' for the Governor General - Dr is a valid alternative if held). See Australian Federal Hansard of Tuesday 14 May 2002.
[edit] Award of honorary doctoral degrees by Associate Degree College?
I was concerned when attending an Associate Degree College Graduation when 3 honorary Doctorates were awarded by someone who didn't have one. I thought only Universities with Doctoral Programs could offer Doctoral Degrees. Am I confused? 24.177.249.157 04:23, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Nelson Mandela
I've removed "Nelson Mandela has been awarded more than 120 honorary degrees." from the lead section, because it doesn't belong there. Feel free to re-integrate into the article (and please cite a source when doing so). -- Lea (talk) 07:38, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Medical Doctorate
There needs to be information added about MDs (Medical Doctorate) to the last paragraph in the Practical Use section. MDs are an earned degree in the USA also. Elexsor (talk) 17:30, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Phyllis Schafly
Wasn't there controversy recently in 2008 in people not wanting Phyllis Schafly not get an honorary degree? -- Guroadrunner (talk) 22:50, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
Yes, there was controversy between the conference of a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. It is currently under the "Life" section on her wiki article.Darthjarek (talk) 23:50, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Use of the title "Doctor" by non-medical individuals
It says that it is not usual for an individual with a doctorate to use the title "Doctor" at least in the US. I've been witness to just the opposite in that almost anyone I know with a doctorate uses the title. So I am just wondering if that's an error. Also, I was once reading a secretary's guide that talked about proper etiquette in letter writing and social situations. It said that no one except for medical doctors should use the title "doctor" when addressing them and that the only distinction that can be made is to add the person's degree as a suffix, i.e. John Smith, Ph.D. I've also seen this in other references. I don't see this anywhere in the article, so should this be included somewhere and does someone know of such a reference that states this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Darthjarek (talk • contribs) 00:24, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
