Sunday, March 27, 2005

Doctor Litterarum

If wishes were fishes, beggars would cast nets. And this is the doctorate I'd be most likely to get: the D.Litt (doctor litterarum, or Doctor of Letters). An informal web search of the D.Litt. in academia seems to indicate that the D.Litt could be any number of things:

  1. an honorary degree only
  2. an advanced degree open only to those who already have a PhD
  3. an advanced degree at institutions outside the US, which (along with the D.Sci.) might comport to the PhD but not carry the same weight
  4. an interdisciplinary program at Drew University, in Madison, NJ.

It is this fourth option that interests me the most, since I am by nature interdisciplinary. I've been such since my undergraduate days; I recall a professor spitting out the word "interdisciplinary" like it was a bad thing, when discussing my academic plans. My seminary degree has taken on an interdisciplinary character. And I know that any advanced degree studies--which I'm fairly confident I will one day pursue--will likewise have to have some interdisciplinary aspect to it. (For that matter, it would be nice to have some practical bent to it, and if you're in the business of pastoral counseling, spiritual formation, and education, that leaves you open to many, many possibilities.)

I like the Drew program. Let me offer some highlights:
The Drew arts and letters degrees are two of the most innovative of the few graduate programs in the greater New York area devoted to the study of liberal arts. The D.Litt. is the only doctoral-level degree program in the area. These degrees are graduate programs of interdisciplinary studies that explore the foundation and development of Western civilization in relationship to contemporary society....

The D. Litt. degree program flows naturally from the Caspersen School's successful M. Litt. program, first established in 1971. This graduate program of interdisciplinary studies, unique to Drew, explores the foundations and development of civilization in relation to contemporary societies. Although unfamiliar to most Americans, in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth, the Doctor of Letters is a degree with a long and respected history. Traditionally, it is awarded to students as an interdisciplinary degree in the humanities....

Students are required to concentrate in one of the seven series (Foundations of Civilization; The Modern Era; Contemporary Studies; Art and Music; Philosophy, Science and Technology, Studies in Spirituality, and Writing) offered in the Arts and Letters curriculum. (No doubt, I'd focus on the Studies in Spirituality series.)...

The D.Litt. dissertation, which includes an oral defense, is judged as a constructive and well-ordered contribution to human thought and relations. Candidates are expected to evidence creativity and disciplined study in their work. The doctoral thesis should evolve from the student's course work in the program. The dissertation is considered the normal method of satisfying this requirement and is approximately 150-200 pages in length.

If you're really interested, there's a brief description or a detailed description.

So what's the problem?
D.Litt. degree recipients complete a rigorous, interdisciplinary course of study that many find makes them excellent candidates for teaching. However, students whose sole goal is to teach full-time at the college or university level should be aware that full-time teaching at this level usually requires a Ph.D. in a specific discipline.
And there we have it. Credentials, again. This is the sort of program that would probably be most conducive to my intellectual interests and desires, but it is basically the wrong set of letters if I wanted to teach full-time at the university or seminary level. Higher education is quite mercenary nowadays; learning is not really elevated or valued, when it comes right down to it. Investment has to have reward. The reward of higher education is professional advancement. Feh.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure what I want to do. But I want openness and flexibility. I have a collection of masters degrees that make me well-suited for a variety of career --and more importantly for me, vocational--possibilities, including theological librarianship, spiritual direction, and pastoral counseling. A D. Litt would greatly enhance these possibilities, but if I wanted my work to take me to full-time faculty status somewhere, it might serve a hindrance. In that case, a PhD in Pastoral Counseling or Spirituality might be better suited for me.

But admit it, the D.Litt sounds fun. It is the sort of learning process and environment that excites me. Too often, I think, the US higher educational system beats the desire to learn out and replaces it with the need to conform to the academic machine, to become another cog.

Of course, I'm not well known for having entirely practical or pragmatic degrees, so what difference should this make?

Shouldn't knowledge be the reward of learning? Shouldn't the love of learning come first?

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