【外刊英语精读】荣誉博士由来与争议 | honorary doctorates

Why award honorary doctorates, and what do the choices say about our universities?为何授予荣誉博士学位？授予对象的选择又反映出大学中的哪些问题？Universities like to associate themselves with exceptional individuals through the awarding of honorary doctorates, but this practice has often attracted controversy, creating headaches for university administrators.大学喜欢通过授予荣誉博士学位和将自己和杰出人物联系起来，但是该做法经常引发争议，是大学领导们头痛的事情。Honorary doctorates highlight uncomfortable but important questions about the purpose of the university and its role in reinforcing and perpetuating social inequality.荣誉博士学位凸显出了一些令人不快但很重要的问题，这涉及到大学的目的以及其在强化、持续化社会不平等方面扮演的角色。The tradition and purpose of honorary doctoratesHonorary degrees (usually, though not always, doctorates) are awarded by universities to recognise outstanding achievement in a particular field, or service to the broader community.荣誉博士学位的传统和目的荣誉学位（通常，但不尽然是博士学位）由大学授予，旨在表彰某领域的杰出成就，或是为社会做出的服务。Universities gain a number of benefits from conferring honorary doctorates. The acceptance of an honorary degree by an exceptionally distinguished person often generates publicity and brings “reflected glory” on the university, in the words of one former Vice-Chancellor, preserved in the Monash University archives.通过授予荣誉博士学位，大学获利良多。杰出名人接受荣誉学位给大学带来宣传效应，以及用一位前副校长的话来说，带来“借光”效应，其原话就陈列于莫纳什大学档案馆。Honorary doctorates have long been used to foster advantageous connections with individuals, countries or organisations. The University of Oxford awarded the first recorded honorary doctorate in around 1478 to a brother-in-law of Edward IV in a clear attempt to “obtain the favour of a man with great influence”.一直以来，荣誉博士学位就被用来与个人、国家和机构建立有利的联系。牛津大学在约1478年授予了第一个被记载的荣誉博士学位给爱德华四世国王的大舅哥，意在“获得具有影响力的人的青睐”。Controversy and protestIn Australia, especially since the post-World War II dawn of federal funding for universities, honorary doctorates have occasioned public debate and sometimes protest.争议与反对在澳大利亚，尤其是自从二战后联邦政府为大学提供资金以来，荣誉博士学位就引发了公众辩论和反对。In August 1962, the Australian National University declined to award an honorary degree to King Bhumibol of Thailand, reportedly because of his lack of academic qualifications. This created diplomatic embarrassment for the Australian government in the context of an impending royal visit.1962年8月，澳大利亚国立大学就拒绝授予荣誉学位给泰国普密蓬国王，据报道是因为其缺乏学术资质，这在当时泰国即将对澳大利亚进行皇室访问的背景下给澳大利亚政府造成了外交尴尬。The University of Melbourne stepped into the breach to make Bhumibol an Honorary Doctor of Laws in September 1962, which was judged a bad look in university circles. The Vice-Chancellor of Monash University, Louis Matheson, commented a little smugly in an internal memo that “There is no subject to which a university should bring more delicacy and sureness of touch than the selection of its honorary graduates”.墨尔本大学“挺身而出”在1962年9月给普密蓬授予了法学荣誉博士学位，这为大学群体所不齿。莫纳什大学副校长路易斯·马西森在一次内部会议记录中有点自鸣得意地评论道“没有什么能比确定荣誉学位人选更为如履薄冰的事了”。Matheson was forced to eat humble pie when in 1967 a furore erupted over his university’s honouring of Victorian Premier Henry Bolte, shortly after Bolte had sanctioned the controversial execution of Ronald Ryan.1967年马西森也被迫“打脸”，当时他所在大学为维多利亚州州长亨利·博尔特授予荣誉学位，但不久之后博尔特就颇具争议地批准了罗纳德·瑞恩死刑，从而引发公愤。Places of privilegeRecent public discussion of honorary degrees has focused on the diversity of recipients. The University of Melbourne was suspended from a lucrative research funding program earlier this year after awarding honorary doctorates to a group of six white men.特权之地公众最近对于荣誉学位的讨论关注于接受者的多样性。在将荣誉博士授予6位白人男性后，墨尔本大学今年被暂停参与一项利润丰厚的研究基金项目。The recent University of Melbourne controversy suggested to many that modern universities, despite their public relations nous, still carry echoes of the tone-deaf ivory tower.对很多人来说，最近的墨尔本大学争议显示出尽管现代大学的公关充满理性，它们仍带着象牙塔对外界充耳不闻的影子。Honorary doctorates have failed to cast off their function and reputation as a kind of academic peerage. They are uncomfortable reminders that our universities are still led and occupied, for the most part, by the socially privileged few.荣誉博士学位未能摆脱其作为学术贵族的功能和荣誉，其存在警示着我们，在大多数时候，大学仍在被社会上具有特权的小部分人主导并占据着。前往小宇宙评论区与主播互动