Graduation address: Monday 13 June afternoon ceremony
Graduation address by Professor Mark Harris, School of Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies
Vice-Chancellor, colleagues, graduates and special guests.
Heartfelt congratulations to each graduate on your amazing achievement.
If you are a philosopher, amongst other learnt skills, you will now be able to make a truly logical argument that only the best minds will beat. And that will stand you in very good stead for the rest of your life, whatever you do. If you are an anthropologist, you know about the glorious diversity of humanity. And that will help remind you that there is nothing fixed about the way we live. If you have graduated in Film Studies or from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, you appreciate the power of the visual arts, and music to convey our human condition. And that openness to the diverse range of cultural forms on the global stage will keep alive your awareness of the potential for creativity to transform the world. If you are a physicist or an astronomer, you understand the ways in which various forms of matter and energy interact or you understand the origin of the universe. And that knowledge will help you to strive for the truth in all that you do.
Each of you will have learned too how to tap into that sweet spot for expressing yourself – either in an essay or in the classroom or amongst friends. This is the moment when you have confidence in your words, they seem to come from somewhere true for you according to what you know and experience.
Let us celebrate, then, what you have learned here at St Andrews, and thank those who have been a part of your experience, especially your families and friends.
From an anthropological point of view, we are deep in the ritual of graduation. Names have been called forth, graduands have knelt down, lowered themselves in front of the esteemed head of the institution, dressed in their own imposing robes; the birretum has touched each person’s head, passing down physically the conferral of a degree. Only then can the full gown and colours be worn as the hood is placed over their head by one of the mace bearers, our Bedellus. Suitably humbled and appreciative, the graduate stands up, bows and walks off the stage and rejoins the rest of us, slightly dazed and perhaps wondering if they did everything correctly and followed protocol.
I have seen hundreds and hundreds of these conferrals over the years, though perhaps not as many as some of my colleagues on the stage. What I find fascinating about watching this ceremony is that all of you enact your parts slightly differently. What looks like a controlled, homogenising ritual is, in fact, bubbling over with individual expression and being. All except for the Vice-Chancellor, who must confer every degree with precisely the same smile, lift of the hand and touch of the birretum. The magic of the ritual would not work otherwise. All students are equally important in the eyes of the University.
Yet here we are, behaving as a single group in this newly refurbished space: the feeling of community is filling us all with the joy of sharing this important moment. For the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, this sense of togetherness is so strong it leads to an effervescent whole that is greater than the sum of the parts, which he defined as society. For Victor Turner, the Scottish- born anthropologist, we are now in the middle part of the three-stage ritual process. Each graduate will emerge differently, your status changed, and your inner being impressed with the power of the institution to effect that transformation. You will never be the same again following that pat on the head by the old threadbare cloth. You can now all go out into the world refreshed and with more authority than before in the eyes of society. Respect!
While there is much to commend these venerable interpretations of ritual, what do you really make of the ceremony as you hear my words and tune into the changes you are experiencing?
I would say what is lost here is your own personality and your own paths to get to this point: the trials and trails of learning you have undergone, and you can now look back on with pride. This moment is a chance to reflect on your personal route to graduation. Each one of you will have a fascinating story to tell. This narrative of learning, and let us include playing, will follow you beyond this moment, it will inhabit your own gestures, expressions and understanding. To that extent your time here at the University will be a growing and moving part of your life. Your paths to get here are you own and, as you leave this building, you will continue them and take something of St Andrews with you.
This, then, is also the time to realise the immense authority and responsibility in your hands. The institution has given you a degree in recognition of your talents. But do not be fooled by the ritual: you give the institution its power and value, not vice versa. Similarly, do not let society define you – you should aim to define society with the values and virtues you would like it to have. What matters is the world out there, not in here.
So, continue with your labours of learning and playing! Go on the adventurous journeys these labours promise. Having gone through the last two pandemic years, you are the best prepared group of students to face this tough world and to bring compassion and empathy to the way we treat each other, to bring experiential truth and personal meaning to institutional power and ritual. You are riding the wave of your lives to the future. Your privilege is to have choices as you surf that wave. Make yours wisely and make them part of your adventure, nurturing that sweet spot of truth only you know.
Please do keep in touch with your one-time teachers. I can sincerely say nothing gives more pleasure to my colleagues than to hear from someone they taught in the past and hear how they are doing. Even in tough times we hold dear those relationships. We will not forget you!
Let me end by thanking you for making St Andrews the wonderful place it is. We all wish you and your loved ones health and happiness. It has been an immense pleasure to accompany your progress and see you all now graduate in such style.