A Canadian in Sweden

Cool university traditions

A recent conversation:

Pår: I nailed my thesis today! (very excited)
Me: Wow! That is great news!

Pause

Me: Uh, what do you mean, exactly?

Pår: I nailed my thesis! To the wall!
Me: Uh...

Pår: You know, in the library!
Me: Uhhh....

Pår: You know, you know! Just like Martin Luther did in 1517 when he nailed his theses to the church door in Wittemburg!
Me: Uhhh....

Pår: Oh, come on, you know, Martin Luther, the guy who deeply influenced the doctrines and culture of the Lutheran and Protestant traditions, as well as the course of Western civilization.

Me: Dude, what exactly did you study? Theology?

Pår: No, I just nailed my thesis to the wall.

Me: I still have no idea what you are talking about.

Pår: It is a tradition in Swedish universities that when your thesis has been accepted for defence, you must nail it to the wall of the library. It symbolizes that no more changes can be made to it before you defend, and of course it also harkens back to good old Martin Luther. Did you know that after he nailed his theses to the church door, they were quickly translated from Latin to German and within two weeks had been distributed throughout Germany? It was the first controversy in history to be fanned by the printing press.

Me: You are scaring me.

Pår: If the answers frighten you, cease asking scary questions, my son.

posted by Jeff @ 11:23 AM