Why is it worthwhile participating in the conferment ceremony?

24.4.2024 0 Tykkää 0 kommenttia

Even in these challenging times – or especially now – we need to be loud about who we are, writes Ville Sandqvist, the vice dean of Theatre Academy.

Uniarts Helsinki will organise a conferment ceremony for masters and doctors on 16–18 August 2024. Registration is ongoing and continues until the end of May. All master’s and doctoral graduates from the Theatre Academy can participate in the festivities – including those who graduate this spring.  

And why is it worthwhile participating?

The conferment ceremony is the biggest celebration of our university community, and the chance to participate only comes up every six years. The conferment ceremony is a celebration of art itself as well as education and research in the arts, and we are proud of this field and want it to be seen and heard in society now and in the future. Even in these challenging times – or especially now – we need to be loud about who we are. 

We are still a young university, but the conferment festivities link us to a continuum of academic traditions and to a larger academic community than just our own university. The conferment festivities will include, for example, a Gala for the Arts, the actual conferment ceremony, a procession, an Ecumenical Jubilee, an Event of Celebration, a dinner and an excursion organised by the Student Union. It may sound formal and stiff, but it does not need to be like that. As a member of the conferment committee, I have worked with everyone else to try to make sure that the programme for the event looks like us. As is fitting for an arts institution, we will add our own twist to the traditions. 

I, too, will have my degree conferred in the ceremony in August – 11 years after I completed my doctoral degree. Join the party and register for the festivities here. 

More information on the conferment ceremony is available here or by contacting me directly. 

Ville Sandqvist
vice dean of Theatre Academy