Academia

Academia is a collective term for the scientific and cultural community engaged in higher education and research, taken as a whole. The word comes from the akademeia just outside ancient Athens, where the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning. The sacred space had formerly been an olive grove, hence the expression "the groves of Academe". By extension Academia has come to connote the cultural accumulation of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations and its practitioners and transmitters. In the 17th century, English and French religious scholars popularized the term to describe certain types of institutions of higher learning. The English adopted the form academy while the French adopted the forms academe and academie.

Academic dress

Main article: Academic dress

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Gowns have been associated with academia since the birth of the university in the 1300s and 1400s, perhaps because most early scholars were priests or church officials. Over time, the gowns worn by degree-holders have become standardized to some extent, although traditions in individual countries and even institutions have established a diverse range of gown styles, and some have ended the custom entirely, even for graduation ceremonies.

Related Topics:
1300s - 1400s - Priest

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At some universities, such as the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, undergraduates may be required to wear gowns on formal occasions and on graduation. Undergraduate gowns are usually a shortened version of a bachelor's gown. At other universities, for example, outside the UK or U.S., the custom is entirely absent.

Related Topics:
Oxford - Cambridge

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In general, in the U.S. and UK recipients of a bachelor's degree are entitled to wear a simple full-length robe without adornment and a mortarboard cap with a tassel. In addition, holders of a bachelor's degree may be entitled to wear a ceremonial hood at some schools. In the U.S., bachelor's hoods are rarely seen. Bachelor's hoods are generally black, but may have a silk lining denoting the subject of the degree, and are often edged in white fur.

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Recipients of a master's degree in the U.S. or UK wear a similar cap and gown but closed sleeves with slits, and usually receive a ceremonial hood that hangs down the back of the gown. The hood is traditionally edged with a silk or velvet strip displaying the disciplinary colour, and is lined with the university's colors.

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Recipients of a doctoral degree tend to have the most elaborate academic dress, and hence there is the greatest diversity at this level. In general, doctoral gowns are similar to the gowns worn by master's graduates, with the addition of velvet stripes across the sleeves and running down the front of the gown, tinted with the disciplinary color for the degree received. Holders of a doctoral degree may be entitled or obliged to wear scarlet (a special gown in scarlet) on high days and special occasions. The doctoral hood is identical in virtually every way to the master's hood, with the exception that it is generally longer, and the velvet strip is wider. While some doctoral graduates wear the mortarboard cap traditional to the lower degree levels, most wear a cap or tudor bonnet that resembles a tam o'shanter, from which a colored tassel is suspended.

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In modern times in the U.S. and UK, gowns are normally only worn at graduation ceremonies, although some colleges still demand the wearing of academic dress on formal occasions (official banquets and other similar affairs). In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was more common to see the dress worn in the classroom, a practice which has now all but disappeared. One notable exception is the University of Oxford, where students are required to wear formal academic dress in the examination room.

Related Topics:
19th - 20th centuries

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