Had 61 Honorary Degrees. Has that gone up . We just came through a commencement season. Let me say, i do not take the degrees lightly. A part of having been into the academy and having invited individuals to receive Honorary Degrees, i consider this quite an honor. A privilege, a joy, to be acknowledged for doing work. That is what an Honorary Degree is about. The fact that it can be connected to the younguns, as i like to call young people, to their lives. Could we even assume that it could serve for inspiration for them . What is your approach to the commencement address . A new speech every time . I love commencements. Remember, i am trained as an anthropologist, so i know the importance of ritual and of ceremony. And i cannot think of a more a grander ceremony. However, that commencement speech is the toughest speech to do. One of my sons says, you know, my mom is good at speechifying. I do my best. I do not like just recycling. But in every commencement situation, you have competi
You have competing audiences. And yet, it is a special moment. And it is captured in the word. It is the commencement. It is the beginning of a new leg in the journey of these young folk and sometimes not so young folk. So i love giving those speeches. You have been the director of the museum of african art since 2009. Why did you take the job . I want to share with you that i did my best not to take the job. I went through the process and i was about to be appointed. I picked up the phone and i called a fellow anthropologist. He is the undersecretary im sorry, yes, the undersecretary at the smithsonian. I said, richard, i am withdrawing. He said what . I said i am withdrawing. I said i am suffering from the penalty of expertise. All of a sudden, despite my passion for african art, i panicked. I am trained as an anthropologist, i am not an art historian, i do not have a phd in art history. And yet on two occasions i have the joy of cocurating an exhibition. I panicked. Richard, think g
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