Dr. Taylor Swift

[jsd]

She was clearly being humourous throughout that interview. She's not an idiot and no one has any delusions as to what an honorary doctorate is.

Here's the interview for context

https://youtu.be/XnbCSboujF4

[collegecareerstudent]

She was clearly being humourous throughout that interview. She's not an idiot and no one has any delusions as to what an honorary doctorate is.

Here's the interview for context

https://youtu.be/XnbCSboujF4

She's charming and has humor in every interview. How intelligent she actually is? We can't adequately say. Her sense of humor doesn't mean she didn't literally want one (the honorary degree), especially considering she's now getting one and profiting off of it like it's a legitimate graduation on her store. 

No one ON THIS FORUM perhaps has delusions on what honorary doctorates are, but education is our forte. Take a look at what people on Twitter /Facebook are saying. 

She mentioned in prior news articles that she always intended to go back to college, that it was still in her plans, and that she encouraged her fans to stay in school. I love TS and honestly, she doesn't need a degree, but it'd probably have a lot more positive influence if she did actually get one especially considering she openly stated she wanted to in the past (See August 2013's Taylor Swift's Bucket List: 'Get a College Degree' - ABC News). Not that she actually has to nor that she's responsible for being a role model.  I never liked the concept of honorary doctorates and feel they should be reserved for truly limited reasons.

One GOOD reason I read was in this article "U.S.C. to Issue Honorary Degrees to Displaced Japanese Students". The school granted children of Japanese immigrants — who were prevented from finishing their studies due to being placed in internment camps honorary degrees. I thought that was incredible.

[jsd]

I have no doubt she legitimately wants it, it's a nice honorarium under one's belt. but to use a joke about Sheeran as evidence that she thinks it's real academic degree isn't really fair. I guess "no one" wasn't accurate to say, especially considering her young fanbase, but IN GENERAL, adults and people in general, and certainly someone at the level of Taylor Swift, know what an honorary degree is.

I agree that the general idea of honorary degrees is a bit silly, but as has been pointed out, they're a huge fundraising effort for schools and schools are certainly not going to give that up anytime soon.

[sanantone]

Taylor Swift is among the top 50 artists of all time when it comes to sales, which is impressive for someone who's only 32. She might not be the most talented singer, but she knows how to write a pop hit. Most of her music is not in my preferred sub-genres, but I can still recognize that she knows how to write music with broad appeal. I know people who normally don't listen to crossover country or pop who listen to Taylor Swift.

[collegecareerstudent]

I have no doubt she legitimately wants it, it's a nice honorarium under one's belt. but to use a joke about Sheeran as evidence that she thinks it's real academic degree isn't really fair. I guess "no one" wasn't accurate to say, especially considering her young fanbase, but IN GENERAL, adults and people in general, and certainly someone at the level of Taylor Swift, know what an honorary degree is.

I agree that the general idea of honorary degrees is a bit silly, but as has been pointed out, they're a huge fundraising effort for schools and schools are certainly not going to give that up anytime soon.

Let me be clear- I never said that I think she thinks it's evidence of a real "academic degree"- I think she thinks of it as evidence of a real "degree" "someway, somehow" (please re-read what I wrote. I used the term legitimate. I never used the term academic) as she has stated in Marie Claire and to ABC News she desired. It's also not been uncommon for people who obtained honorary doctorates or even purchased them from diploma mills to refer to themselves as doctor or attempt to use them in an academic context. I doubt she will be doing that, but other individuals attempting it sours my perception of honorary degrees in general- especially honorary doctorates.

It's not the joke about Sheeran alone. It's the joke about Sheeran combined with the multiple interviews of her wanting a college degree "someway, somehow" at the top of her bucket list that leads me to believe that perhaps the honorary doctorate fills an unmet desire for herself. While I'm happy for her and a massive fan, I hope this doesn't dissuade her from going back to school at some point and getting a legitimate degree. I think that'd be an even greater message.

I agree with everything else you said.

[jsd]

Eh, it's her own personal goal. If she decides honorary is "good enough" and crosses that goal off the bucket list, I don't really care. I'd rather have an academic degree than an honorary one as me, but if the choice was to be as wealthy and famous as she is and lose my degrees, I'll take the route of Dr. Swift 

[collegecareerstudent]

Hahahah I hear you on that. I don't know. The wealth and fame sounds good, I guess. But I wouldn't want the stalkers lol. With that much wealth, you could always earn your degrees back because you'd have all the money to pay for them without worrying about it. Think of all the degrees you'd have!

I think I've just been so invested as a fan growing up that I always hoped to see her go to school because she said she wanted to so for me it was like YESSSSSS! It'd be so cool to see her walk across the stage for a BA in Literature or something cool like that. Oh well, we all have our dreams, I guess lol.

[Jonathan Whatley]

When an entertainer does the commencement speech thing and/or honorary doctorate thing, producing entertainment content around the event is a normal part of the role. Conan O'Brien's 2011 Dartmouth and 2020 Harvard commencement addresses have millions of views on his official YouTube channel which is surely monetized, and more on college channels. Surely too his show did bits around the events.

[ss20ts]

When has she legitimately had time to go to college? She's been very busy for most of her life since she like 15. During the pandemic she wrote and recorded at least 3 albums and directed one of her music videos.

[Pats20]

I don’t think any more or less of somebody because they have a degree. I know some very very intelligent people who didn’t spend the first day in college , and I’ve met and known people with PHDs that make me scratch my head.

Without sounding sarcastic , who cares if Taylor Swift or anyone else gets an honorary degree? She has accomplished a lot. Let her have her Doctorate.