Academic dress of the University of Kent

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The academic dress of the University of Kent is normally only worn at graduation ceremonies. In common with most British universities a graduand begins the ceremony wearing the dress of the degree to which they are being admitted. This is in contrast to the practice at some universities such as Oxford where a graduand only dons the dress of a degree after it has been conferred.

Contents

Graduation ceremonies were originally held on campus, first in Eliot and, then in Rutherford dining halls; but as numbers grew were transferred to Canterbury Cathedral. Since 2003, graduates of the University of Kent's Medway campus have had separate graduation ceremonies at Rochester Cathedral in Medway.

The academical costume was believed for some time to have been designed by the Queen's dressmaker Sir Edwin Hardy Amies [1] but further research has disproved this hypothesis. [2] [3] The specifications are as follows: [4] [5]

Gowns

For Bachelors, Masters, and MPhil graduates a plain black gown is worn. For PhD graduates the gowns have facings of scarlet velvet. For Higher Doctorates the gown is scarlet with scarlet velvet facings and two bands of scarlet velvet on the sleeves. The Doctor of Civil Law (an honorary degree) has facings of purple velvet. The Chancellor's gown is elaborately trimmed with gold lace, whilst the Vice-Chancellor's gown is black, adorned with gold lace in an oak leaf pattern. [6]

Hoods

The hood design as seen from behind. The outer colour denotes the rank of degree (here silver for a Bachelor's degree). The central panel indicates the Faculty (here green for Humanities). UnikentBAhood.png
The hood design as seen from behind. The outer colour denotes the rank of degree (here silver for a Bachelor's degree). The central panel indicates the Faculty (here green for Humanities).

The hoods are a rare shape [5] [7] and represent a rare attempt by a 1960s university to break with the traditional design for academic dress. [8] They are two-dimensional in a heart-shape and contain two colours, with the colour of the bulk of the hood indicating the rank of degree whilst a central panel denotes the faculty. [9] Because of the rareness of the hood design it has its own code [a3] in the Groves Classification of Academic Dress used by the Burgon Society. [10] The actual title of the award does not make any difference and thus a holder of a Bachelor of Laws will have an identical hood to anyone holding a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in a social science.

Rank

Faculties

Non-degree awards

Non-degree awards use a different shaped hood of the Aberdeen style ([a1] in the Groves Classification [10] ) made up of one or two colours:

Headdress

All Foundation degree holders, Bachelors and Masters wear a plain black mortarboard. Doctors wear a plain black cloth Tudor bonnet with a coloured cord and tassel - gold for Doctors of Civil Law and Maroon for all others. The Chancellor wears a bonnet of forest green silk satin damask. The Vice-Chancellor wears a mortarboard with a gold netted button and black silk tassel. [6]

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Academic dress of the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford has a long tradition of academic dress, which continues to the present day.

Academic dress of Durham University

The academic dress of Durham University has many similarities with that of other older British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. Most colleges of Durham University insist on gowns being worn on formal occasions, including matriculation and formal halls (dinners); exceptions are Van Mildert, St Cuthbert's Society, Collingwood, Stephenson, St Aidans, and The College of St Hild and St Bede. Some colleges also insist on their being worn to Junior Common Room meetings, and they are often seen in college chapels. At formal halls, only gowns are worn and doctors normally wear their undress gowns; for more ceremonial occasions full-dress gowns and hoods are worn by graduates. Until 1990, the General Regulations of university 'recommended' the wearing of gowns by members of the university when attending divine service at the Cathedral – but this is now left to individual choice apart from at certain services. Gowns are also customarily worn to meetings of the university Senate by members of that body.

Academic dress of the University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge has a long tradition of academic dress, which it traditionally refers to as academical dress. Almost every degree which is awarded by the university has its own distinct gown in addition to having its own hood. Undergraduates wear college gowns which have subtle differences enabling the wearer's college to be determined. Academic dress is worn quite often in Cambridge on formal, and sometimes informal, occasions, and there are a number of rules and customs governing when and how it is worn. Black gowns (undress) are worn at less formal events, while on special days full academical dress is worn, consisting of gown, hood and headdress with Doctors in festal dress. The university's officials also have ancient forms of academic dress, unique to the university.

The academic dress prescribed by the University of Bristol is a mixture of that prescribed by Cambridge and Oxford. Bristol has chosen, for graduates, to mainly specify Oxford-style gowns and Cambridge-style hoods. Unlike many British universities, the hood itself is to be "University red", lined with a specified colour. University red is defined to be Pantone 187. Bristol also specifies that undergraduates are to wear gowns "of the approved pattern" in certain circumstances, although the pattern itself is not specified. This is not too important since, in practice, undergraduates are only required to be gowned when graduating or at dinner as a member of Wills Hall.

Academic dress at the University of St Andrews involves students wearing distinctive academic gowns whilst studying at the University of St Andrews. Undergraduate gowns in Scotland were once common at all the ancient universities of Scotland, with each having its own distinctive style. St Andrews undergraduates wear either a scarlet gown if they are part of the United College and studying in the Faculties of Arts, Medicine and Science, or a black gown if they are part of St Mary's College and studying in the Faculty of Divinity.

The academic and official dress of the University of Warwick dates originally from the mid-1960s, shortly after the university's foundation. Despite persistent offers from Charles Franklyn the theatrical costume designer Anthony Powell was commissioned to design robes for officials and graduates of the university. Due to pressure of other work, and some apparent differences of opinion, Powell withdrew from the project, and the robes for graduates subsequently designed in consultation with J. Wippell and Company of Exeter, with Ede and Ravenscroft designing and making the robes for officials.

Academic regalia of Harvard University

As the oldest college in the United States, Harvard University has a long tradition of academic dress. Harvard gown facings bear crow's-feet emblems near the yoke, a symbol unique to Harvard, made from flat braid in colours distinctive of the wearer's qualification or degree. Crow's-feet are double for earned degrees, and triple for honorary degrees.

There are a number of universities in Queensland, Australia, all with distinct academic dress.

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Academic dress of the University of Edinburgh Academic dress for Graduation

Academic dress at the University of Edinburgh is compulsory at official ceremonial occasions, such as graduation and the installations of Rector and Chancellor, and otherwise optional, usually only worn for events.

Academic dress of the University of Dublin

Academic dress prescribed at the University of Dublin and its sole constituent college, Trinity College, follows a relatively complex protocol which, nonetheless, shares some particular characteristics with other universities in Ireland and with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Academic dress of the University of Manchester

Academic dress of the University of Manchester describes the gowns, hoods and headwear which are prescribed by the university for its graduates and officers.

Academic dress of Imperial College London Robes, gowns, and hoods worn by graduates and associates of Imperial College London.

Academic dress of Imperial College London describes the robes, gowns, and hoods worn by graduates and associates of Imperial College London. After gaining its independence from the University of London in 2007, graduates began wearing Imperial academic dress in 2008. The unifying colour for Imperial's academic dress is purple after the work by William Henry Perkin.

Academic dress at the University of Glasgow is worn at ceremonial events throughout the academic year. This primarily entails graduations, but includes Commemoration Day, church services, and the installation of Chancellors and Rectors of the University. The academic dress of all members of the University of Glasgow, including students, is regulated by the University Regulations. It shares many similarities with the other ancient universities of Scotland, most conspicuously that, unlike in the rest of the United Kingdom, headwear is only very rarely worn. Academic dress has been worn in the University of Glasgow since medieval times

Academic dress in the United Kingdom

The academic dress of the United Kingdom and Ireland has a long history and has influenced the academic dress of America and beyond. The academic square cap was invented in the UK as well as the hood which developed from the lay dress of the medieval period.

Academic dress in the United States

Academic regalia in the United States has a history going back to the colonial colleges era. It has been most influenced by the academic dress traditions of Europe. There is an Inter-Collegiate Code that sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic regalia that is voluntarily followed by many, though not all institutions entirely adhere to it.

Academic dress of McGill University

The academic dress of McGill University describes the caps, gowns and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its degree candidates/holders. Until the mid-20th century, McGill also prescribed academic dress for its matriculating or enrolled students as well as its faculty. Founded in 1821, McGill University is consistently ranked as one of Canada's preeminent universities, and among the top 20 universities in the world.

The academic dress of the Robert Gordon University is normally only worn at graduation ceremonies and occasionally at other very formal events. In common with most British universities, a graduand of the Robert Gordon University begins the ceremony wearing the dress of the degree to which they are being admitted except for the hood. This is in contrast to the practice at some universities such as Oxford where a graduand only dons the dress of a degree after it has been conferred. The current pattern of academic dress dates from 1992 when the institution became a university.

The current academic dress of the National University of Ireland was simplified following a review in 1999. The design of the gowns generally follows that of Oxford. The hoods are primarily green, representing Ireland, and generally follow the design of Dublin or Belfast.

References

  1. ↑ George W. Shaw (1995). Academical Dress of British and Irish Universities (second ed.). Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd. p. 135. ISBN   0-85033-974-X.
  2. ↑ Nicholas Groves, ed. (2011). Shaw's Academical Dress of Great Britain and Ireland (third ed.). The Burgon Society. p. 1. ISBN   978-0-95612723-5.
  3. ↑ Brewer, Michael (2008). Academic Dress in Canterbury (Burgon Society fellowship dissertation). p. 15.
  4. ↑ Brochure produced by the University of Kent for the 17 November 2006 Degree Congregations ceremony. pages 2-3
  5. 1 2 Nicholas Groves, ed. (2011). Shaw's Academical Dress of Great Britain and Ireland (third ed.). The Burgon Society. pp. 228–230.
  6. 1 2 "Academic Dress of the University of Kent". University of Kent. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  7. ↑ Nicholas Groves, ed. (2011). Shaw's Academical Dress of Great Britain and Ireland (third ed.). The Burgon Society. p. 38. ISBN   978-0-95612723-5.
  8. ↑ The other university with such notable variation is the University of East Anglia. Groves, Nicholas The Academical Dress of the University of East Anglia (North Walsham; The Burgon Society, 2005), page 4. ISBN   0-9544110-4-8
  9. ↑ George W. Shaw in Haycraft, Frank W.; revised and enlarged by Rogers, Frederick R. S., Franklyn, Charles A. H., Shaw, George W. & Boyd, Hugh Alexander The Degrees and Hoods of the World's Universities and Colleges [Fifth edition] (Lewes; W. E. Baxter, Ltd, 1972), page 12
  10. 1 2 "Classification of Styles". Burgon Society. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Academic Dress - Foundation Degrees". University of Kent . Retrieved 27 September 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Academic Dress - Undergraduate Bachelor Degrees". University of Kent. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Academic Dress - Masters Degrees". University of Kent. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Academic Dress - Postgraduate Degrees". University of Kent . Retrieved 27 September 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Academic Dress - Honorary Degrees". University of Kent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  16. 1 2 "Academic Dress - Degrees from Associate Colleges". University of Kent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
  17. 1 2 "Academic Dress - Certificates and Diplomas". University of Kent . Retrieved 27 September 2008.[ permanent dead link ]

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