Should I become Dr Aegis

Another fantastic advert got emailed to my MAP email address today, and as always, I assume that such adverts are meant to be shared with the world to show how ridiculous they are!

Further inspection leads to this page. I can only assume that they are offering degrees from the "International University San Diego" (located in Arizona, apparently) because it sounds a little like an actual university based in San Diego.

I particularly like the fact that "The International University San Diego, in conjunction with the U.S. Grand Master’s Council, waives the usual criteria for the degree, including matriculation, residency and exams" because I'd hate to think that something as prestigious as a doctorate would actually require me to go and do something academic!

"Dr" Ron, I assume you realise that your PhD is utterly worthless and that all the PhDs you have awarded are utterly worthless, so I can only applaud your ability to take something with no value whatsoever and charge people money for it.

On a serious note, it's worth remembering that, while there have been martial artists referred to correctly as "Dr" or "Professor", these were historically because they actually held doctorate degrees in a legitimate subject or were appointed a professor at an educational facility. Serious martial arts styles or organisations should not award such academic titles to each other because it's simply not what those titles are for.

Incidentally, if I actually signed up to that website and tried to pass myself off as a doctor, that would contravene all sorts of rules in the UK, so I'd urge anyone seeing something like this from these parts to save your money and actually do something worthwhile with it!

 

Gutted.

As someone who isn't a real doctor I thought this was the answer to all my dreams. :cry:

 

Well, golly, after typing a phony email address into that little box so that I could get the free info, I'm ready to sign up and join the elite club of honorary degree holders! (wink wink) According to the info sheet, the following famous people have honorary degrees just like this here PhD in martial arts:

1. Benjamin Franklin, who received an honorary doctorate from the University of St. Andrews in 1759 and the University of Oxford in 1762 for his scientific accomplishments. He thereafter referred to himself as "Doctor Franklin."
2. Billy Graham is regularly addressed as Dr. Graham, though his highest earned degree is a BA in anthropology from Wheaton College. He holds 20 honorary doctorates and has turned down nearly twice as many.
3. Maya Angelou who calls herself and is referred to by many as Dr. Angelou despite holding no undergraduate or advanced (non-honorary) degree.
4. Durham University awarded an honorary doctorate in 2004 to the writer Bill Bryson. When it subsequently made Bryson its Chancellor, it began referring to him as Dr Bryson.
5. Terry Wogan has received an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick, and refers to himself as "Doctor" on air.
6. Judy MacArthur Clark received an honorary doctorate of veterinary medicine and surgery (DVMS) from the University of Glasgow, and refers to herself professionally as "Doctor".
7. Ralph Stanley, the bluegrass artist, is referred to by many people and refers to himself as "Doctor" after being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1976.
8. Hunter S. Thompson, journalist and creator of Gonzo Journalism, received an honorary doctorate from the Universal Life Church in the late 1960s. Thompson often insisted on the title, as did his alter ego Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas who claimed to be a "Doctor of Journalism".
9. Stephen Colbert received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Knox College in 2006. Since then, the credits of The Colbert Report jokingly refer to him as "Dr. Stephen T. Colbert".
10. Mirza Ahmad received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Small Heath Poly in 2007. Since then, the credits of every document produced by Birmingham City Council refer to him as "Dr. Mirza Ahmad LLD (hon), MBA., LL.M, Barrister."
11. Rachel Carson received four honorary degrees after her best selling "The Sea Around Us" from: Pennsylvania College for Women; the second from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio; the third from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts; and the fourth from Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia.
12. Bob Barker, game show host of the longest-running game show in history (The Price is Right). Honorary doctorate degree of humane letters from Drury University, May 12, 2007
13. George W. Bush: Yale, May 2001 - he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the school. Both his father and his grandfather received the same degree.
14. Bob Dylan, received an honorary doctorate of Music from St. Andrews, Scotland in June 2004. Dylan holds also an honorary degree from Princeton University (1970).
15. George Foreman - He's a boxer and a minister. Now George Foreman has a new title: doctor. The former heavyweight champion received an honorary doctorate from the Houston Graduate School of Theology for his charity work with children
16. Barack Hussein Obama, - U.S President - 2008 - "During his first three years in the U.S. Senate, Obama received Honorary Doctorates of Law from Knox College (2005), University of Massachusetts Boston (2006), Northwestern University (2006), Xavier University of Louisiana (2006), Southern New Hampshire University (2007), and Howard University (2007)" (Wikipedia)
17. Arnold Schwarzenegger - 1986, May 17, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin Superior. The award recognized Schwarzenegger's contributions to health and fitness, speaking out against prejudice and creating positive opportunities for inner-city children."
18. Mike Tyson - Boxer and High School dropout; Central Ohio State University, Doctorate in Humane Letters, 1989.

Hey, I want to be like "Iron Mike" !
It only costs 497 USD if you are, or want to be, 4th dan to 7th dan. It's 647 USD for 8th dan to 10th dan.

He also sells fancy instructor certificates for 75 to 125 USD, and fancy glossy color rank certificates from shodan at 100 USD to judan (10th degree) at 400 USD.

 

I'm pretty sure this link will work for anyone else that wants a look at what this organisation is offering:

http://www.yourbestdeal.net/college/report.pdf

 

Seconded! Just think of the marketing boost -- our Admin is a "doctor" of martial arts! :jester:

 

As a general comment I agree. We've probably all heard of musicians with decades-long careers receiving a honorary music degrees from Julliard or the like, and of actors with three or four Oscars plus a dozen similar acting awards receiving a doctorate in fine arts from a big school. That's fine.

The distinction I draw is that those awards are for well-known and openly verifiable works of a very high caliber. The honorary degree in the OP here, though, is given solely because the recipient has a credit card and mailed a form.

It's the difference between a school (a) identifying someone by his or her public body of work, and (b) not doing that. I mock only the latter.

 

Which is fair enough, to an extent at least, largely because in the original languages of those arts the word literally translates to teacher. However, the issues I have are usually when people use the title in a country where that means something more than that, e.g. requires a Chair in an academic department at an accredited university, especially if they use it outside original context.

It would be a lot better if they kept the original language word though, as at least that would make it sound like they recognised a distinction between the original usage and the modern local usage.