Archives

University of Colombo convocation address 2003 delivered by Professor J. B.Disanayaka 

Today the Chancellor of the University of Colombo has convoked an assembly consisting of a segment of the public to witness an event that will mark a turning point in the life of the graduate who attend this convocation. The public consists mainly of academics of the University of Colombo and the parents, relatives and well-wishers of these graduates.

In the presence of this august public, an event will take place that will change the status of the graduates who are assembled here. As the Chancellor declared in a language of decorum, "By authority vested in me as Chancellor, I confer upon those whose names have been read, the Postgraduate degrees", conferment of degrees", this change of status will mark a change in their levels of knowledge.

This change of status is yet another 'crossing in life' of these graduates. Anthropologists - those who study human cultures - say that a man's life (by the way, when anthropologists say 'man', it embraces 'woman' too!) is marked by certain 'crossings in life" that take him from one 'status' to another. 'Status' in this sense, covers not only social positions but also levels of knowledge or existence.

A crossing in life is marked by certain rites performed in a ritualistic way and hence they are called 'rites of passage'. These rites involve a certain amount of ceremony in the presence of the public. Ceremony is needed to highlight the ritualistic significance of the occasion and, the presence of the public is necessary to make it a socially legitimate event.

A girl who attains puberty, for instance, goes through such a 'crossing in life' changing her status from that of a 'girl' to that of a 'woman'. A man who enters wedlock goes through another crossing, from the status of a 'bachelor' to that of a 'married man'. In Sinhala and Tamil culture, a child initiated into the alphabet at a ceremony because it also marks a change of status, a transition from illiteracy to literacy.

A layman who enters the Buddhist order of monks goes through a similar crossing: from the status of a 'layman' to that of a 'novice', called 'samanera' in Buddhist parlance. When he reaches the age of twenty, he is eligible to go through yet another crossing in life, from the status of a samanera to that of a 'bhikkhu', a monk in the full sense of the word. The ceremony that accompanies this change of status is called 'upasampada' - higher ordination.

A Kandyan dancer also goes through a crossing in his life on the day the ves tattuva - as the head gear is called in Sinhala - is placed on his head for the first time. This headgear is symbolic of a royal crown and thus it is placed on the dancer's head at a ceremony that resembles the coronation of a king. At this ceremony, known as the kala eli maduva, the dancer changes his status from that of a 'novice' to that of a 'fully-fledged dancer'.

Today we are gathered here to witness another crossing in life which involves the change of status either from that of 'bachelor' to that of 'master, or from that of 'master' to that of 'doctor'. What do these changes involve and signify? Why is this crossing in life called a 'convocation'? Today's convocation has another significance in that it concerns only graduates.

To understand the thinking that underlies the crossing in life at a convocation it is necessary to understand the historical background against which university education came into being in medieval Europe. As you know, the first universities in Europe came into being in Italy, the homeland of the great Roman Empire. The University of Bologna in North-Central Italy is considered the first University in Europe.

The language that was in use at that time in educational institutions was Latin, the mother of modern Italian and other Roman languages such as French, Spanish and Portuguese. Remnants of this linguistic usage are still found in the terminology of academic distinctions of Western universities, both in Europe and the United States. The Sri Lankans inherited them from the British.

The very first change of status in the Western University tradition is from that of an 'under-graduate' to that of a 'graduate'. At the convocation the undergraduate reaches the status of a 'bachelor', and degrees such as Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BSc) legitimise this change of status. Why is this status called 'bachelor'? The word 'bachelor' goes back to the medieval Latin word 'bacca-laureate'. The word 'laureate' means 'crowned or decked with laurel, as a mark of distinction or honour'. For it was the tradition in Medieval Europe to place a crown or wreath of laurel on one's head to indicate high merit or honour. Today this wreath is replaced by a garland of a certain colour.

Laurel, by the way, is an evergreen shrub found in the Mediterranean region and botanists have named it, 'Laurus nobilis'. Its leaves are aromatic, flowers are yellowish, and fruits are like cherries. In England of yesteryear, the royal household had a poet whose function was to write for public occasions and he was called 'Poet Laureate'.

Today any poet acclaimed as the most eminent in a country may be called a 'poet laurete' as was Rabindranath Tagore, who was the first Indian poet to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. In the olden days the 'poet laureate' was so called because he was publicly crowned with laurel in recognition of his merits, usually by the king.

In Medieval universities, the first degree in the field of arts or humanities was titled 'Artium Baccalareus' and American universities still retain this title when they refer to their Bachelor's degree as 'AB' and not as 'BA' as we call it. Today some of these 'bachelors' will change their status to that of 'Master' or 'Doctor'.

The first post-graduate degree is titled 'Master': Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MSc), Master of Laws (LLM) and so on as the case may be. The English word 'master' goes back to the Latin word ' magister' which had several meanings such as the one who directs, manages, heads, teaches, instructs or commands.

It is thus connected to words such as 'magistrate' in the courts of law and 'maestro' in the field of music. In Sinhala personal names in the south, such as 'vadu-mestri'which we have inherited from the Portuguese, we can see remnants of a lineage of a 'master-carpenter' for the Sinhala word 'vadu' signifies 'carpentry', and the Portuguese word 'mestri' means master. Those who hold a master's degree will be elevated today to the status of a 'doctor'. They will receive a 'doctorate' to mark this change of status. Today, the English word 'doctor' brings into mind a physician but originally it meant a 'teacher' because it is derived from the Latin verb 'docere' meaning 'to teach'.

In Sanskrit, the teacher is called 'acarya' and this explains why the holder of a doctorate has been given the title 'acarya' in Sinhala, in contrast to dostara or vaidya, the title given to a medical practitioner. Thus 'Dr. N. M. Perera' was called 'acarya' because he had earned a doctorate in economics form the London School of Economics. It is rather unfortunate that the Municipal Council of the City of Colombo is unaware of this distinction between the titles dostara and acarya because the road in Colombo 8 (Borella) named in honour of Dr. N. M. Perera carried the title 'Dostara' in place of 'Acarya' before his name! What is more shocking is that Dr. Perera himself was a Mayor of the City of Colombo.

The degree that is conferred on the basis of a doctoral thesis is known as 'Doctor of Philosophy', abbreviated as 'PhD' or 'DPhil'. In this case, the word 'philosophy' is used not in the narrow sense of a science that studies the relations of causes, reasons and effects of phenomena but in the broader sense of a discipline that deals with the general principles belonging to any branch of knowledge, be it the humanities, science, medicine or law.

This take us back to the origins of the word 'philosophy'. It comes from the two Greek words 'phileo' and 'sophia'. The word 'phileo' means 'loving' and 'sophia' means 'wisdom'. It thus refers to a love of wisdom as leading to the search for it. He who gets a doctorate is thus one who has a love for knowledge and wisdom - a seeker of truth.

The highest degree a modern university can offer today is titled 'Doctor of Science' abbreviated 'DSc' or 'Doctor of Letters' abbreviated 'DLitt'. These are senior doctorates awarded to scholars of eminence on the basis of published works and professional position. Since these degrees are awarded as a mark of honour, they are called 'honorary degrees' and carries the Latin title 'honoris causa'.

Today Prof. Hemapala Wijayawardhana, Professor Emeritus in Sinhala and I have been honoured by the University of Colombo by awarding us the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters, sometimes called Doctor of Literature. We are indeed grateful to the Faculty of Arts and the Senate for conferring on us these honorary degrees in recognition of the many years we have spent both at Peradeniya and Colombo in pursuit of knowledge and wisdom.

Although my analysis presents a very simple structure of first and higher degrees as falling into three main levels as bachelor's, master's and doctorates, their nomenclature is rather confusing owing to great diversity. As we have already noted, the Degree of Bachelor of Arts is named BA in British universities and AB in American universities. The PhD is also called DPhil in some universities. DLit may be Doctor of Letters or Doctor of Literature.

In the British Commonwealth, I am told, there are more than 250 different bachelor's degrees, 170 master's and 70 doctorates. More recently there has been an unprecedented growth in degree titles representing a wide range of professional training in the fine arts, architecture, business, finance, management, technology, and so on. Since we inherited the present system of university education from the British, one may be tempted to believe that university education had its origins in the West. The truth of the matter is very different. India and Sri Lanka had their own systems of university education, their origins going back to the pre-Christian era.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, describing the structure of the village republics of ancient India, in his 'Glimpses of World History' describes the origin of universities in very simple terms:

"Many learned men used to retire into the forests, near the towns and villages, in order to lead simple lives, or to study and work in quiet. Pupils gathered round them, and gradually fresh settlements grew up for these teachers and their students. We can consider these settlements as universities. There were not many fine buildings there, but those who sought knowledge came from long distances to these places of leaning" (P.25).

When large towns and cities grew up, the universities also grew up into large complexes. "And in these centres of learning" continues Nehru, "every kind of subject that was then known was taught. The Brahmans even taught the science of war" (P.26). Prof. A. L. Basham, the author of the famous book, 'The Wonder That was India' tells us more about these Indian universities.

"Certain cities became renowned for their learned teachers, and achieved a reputation comparable to that of the university cities of medieval Europe. Chief among these were Varanasi and Taksasila, which were already famous in the time of the Buddha; later, around the beginning of the Christian era; Kanci acquired a similar reputation in the South. Varanasi, then usually called Kasi, was particularly renowned for its religious teachers, but Taksasila, in the far North-West, laid more emphasis on secular studies."

Taksasila, which is now in Pakistan, had become so famous as a university that even the Buddhist Jataka tales make reference to it. Says Prof. Basham: "The Buddhist Jataka tales show that young men from all over the civilised part of India sought education in this city, through which a trickle of Iranian and Mesopotamian influence found its way to India. Among the famous learned men connected with Taksasila were Panini, the grammarian of the 4th century BC, Kautilya, the Brahman Minister of Chandragupta Maurya, and traditionally the chief master of science of statecraft and Caraka, one of the two great masters of Indian medical science." (P.165) Indian Buddhists get the credit of establishing monasteries that developed into universities. The Buddhist monastery of Nalanda, in Bihar, founded during the Gupta Age was one such university. According to Hsuan Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim who visited Nalanda in the 7th century, Nalanda was a hive of intellectual activity. As Prof. Basham notes "Under its aged and saintly abbot Silabhadra, Nalanda did not confine itself to training Buddhist novices, but also taught the Vedas, Hindu philosophy, logic, grammar and medicine. It would seem that the student population was not confined to the Buddhist order, but that candidates of other faiths who succeeded in passing a strict oral examination were admitted" (P. 166).

To be continued

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager