Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Clothing Cultures
  4. Volume 10, Issue 1
  5. Article
The Uniform: Symbols of Power, Propaganda and Organization in Popular Culture
  • ISSN: 2050-0742
  • E-ISSN: 2050-0750

Abstract

In 1640, Finland’s first university was inaugurated, and while it issued bachelor degrees, the degrees of master (1643 >) and doctor (1781) were conferred as people were ‘promoted’ to the academy. The Finnish War saw Finland ceded to Imperial Russia in 1809, and class-centric uniformed approaches were taken to the academic dress of students, the academy-at-large and professors with civil appointments. In 1840, Finland formalized an approach to academic uniform that is still followed today but differs remarkably from the common ‘cap and gown’ graduation cultures seen elsewhere. With a general absence of graduation ceremonies, Finland preserves an ongoing tradition of tailcoats, laurel wreaths, master’s rings, doctoral top hats and doctoral swords. Yet Finland’s schools have no uniform, bachelor’s and master’s degree holders have no academic dress, and there are strict regulations that restrict the wearing of doctoral dress to university opening and conferral events, and doctoral examinations. Finland’s academic ‘uniform’ tells a tale of not only how the approach to academic uniform evolved but also how one of the ‘big hitters’ in education is strongly influenced by issues of social class and equality, despite having one of the more distinctive uniforms on the academic stage.

© 2023 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/cc_00069_1
2024-10-31
2025-01-22
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ågren, H. (1999), När studenten blev modern: Uppsalas studenter 1600–1850 (‘When the student became modern: Uppsala’s students 1600–1850’), Uppsala: Uppsala historisk-filosofiska fakulteten, Historiska institutionen, pp. 43–44, http://liu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A563044&dswid=5164. Accessed 24 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Akunin, B. and Lebedev, A. (2001), ‘Table of Ranks 1856–1917 [in Russian]’, http://akunin.ru/istoria/tabel/. Accessed 12 June 2023.
  3. Brunsma, D. L. (2007), School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us about American Education: A Symbolic Crusade, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Dhondt, P. (2011), ‘The bicentenary of Helsinki University in 1840: The jubilee of a Russian university in a Nordic context’, in National, Nordic or European?, Leiden: Brill, pp. 11–38, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004218307_003.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Dojchinovska, A. (2021), ‘23 remarkable higher education statistics (curated in 2021)’, Mark in Style, 17 October, https://markinstyle.co.uk/higher-education-statistics/. Accessed 15 November 2022.
  6. Gripenberg, O. (1969a), Civiluniformer i Finland (‘Civil uniforms of Finland’), Helsinki: Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. H-Russia (2022), ‘Prescribed uniform for Finland’s civil ministries’, Lithograph plate supplied and reproduced by Harvard Law School Library, Historical & Special Collections, KÐ No. 24236, Portfolio 1904, no. 20.
  8. Hackspiel-Mikosch, E. (2006), Civilian Uniforms as Symbolic Communication: Sartorial Representation, Imagination, and Consumption in Europe (18th–21st Century), vol. 24, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Helsinki University (2022), Filosofisen Tiedekunnan Promootio: Conferment culture, https://fil-promootio.helsinki.fi/en/conferment-culture/. Accessed 15 November 2022.
  10. Hutt, R. (2019), ‘Which countries have the most doctoral graduates?’, World Economic Forum, 15 October, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/10/doctoral-graduates-phd-tertiary-education/. Accessed 24 July 2024.
  11. Kättström-Höök, L. (2014), Publikens val 2014: Studentvärja (‘The public’s choice 2014: Student defence’), DM Nordiska Museet, https://digitaltmuseum.se/021025841635/studentvarja. Accessed 26 September 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Kiernan, V. G. (1988), The Duel in European History: Honour and the Reign of Aristocracy, Abingdon: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Klinge, M. (1989), Helsingin yliopisto 1640–1990: Keisarillinen Aleksanterin yliopisto 1808–1917 (‘University of Helsinki 1640–1990: Imperial Alexander University 1808–1917’), Helsinki: Otava.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Klinge, M. (2003), Suomen kansallisbiografia 1 (‘The Finnish national biography 1’), Helsinki: Suolamalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Kulinsky, A. N. (2005), Русское холодное оружие (‘Russian edged weapons’), Greece: Атлнт/ Atlant-Stroj.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Lindberg, D. C. (2010), The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to AD 1450, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Raeff, M. (1966), Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia: The Eighteenth-Century Nobility, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Rowe, N. (2023), ‘The academical dress of Finland: A contemporary (re)introduction’, Transactions of the Burgon Society, 22, pp. 11–28, https://doi.org/10.4148/2475-7799.1215.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Sanger, E. (2017), ‘A guide to sub fusc’, Christ Church College Life Blog, https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/blog/guide-sub-fusc. Accessed 15 November 2022.
  20. Scott, J. (2014), ‘School uniforms: A history of “rebellion and conformity”’, BBC, 5 September, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29047752. Accessed 15 November 2022.
  21. Snellman, A. (2006), ‘Aatelisunivormu: Suomalainen aatelismies keisarivallan vaatteissa’ (‘The nobility uniform: The Finnish nobleman in imperial clothing’), bachelor’s thesis, Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Snellman, A., Vajanto, K. and Suomela, J. (2018). ‘The professorial uniform of Elias Lönnrot: Russian imperial materiality in Finland’, Artefacta, 1 October, https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/177679/Artefactum9.html?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#_edn3. Accessed 24 July 2024.
  23. Solberg Søilen, K. (2013), ‘Academical dress in Sweden’, Transactions of the Burgon Society, 13, pp. 28–38.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Tavi, H. (2017), ‘100 years of Finnish education success stories’, This Is Finland, https://finland.fi/life-society/100-years-finnish-education-success-stories/. Accessed 27 November 2022.
  25. UNESCO NC (2021), Archives of the Royal Academy of Turku and the Imperial Alexander University: Memory of the World Programme, Helsinki: UNESCO National Committee, https://www.maailmanmuisti.fi/index.php?page=archives-of-the-royal-academy-of-turku-and-the-imperial-alexander-university. Accessed 24 July 2024.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. University of Cambridge Primary School (2022), ‘Parent information: Uniform’, https://universityprimaryschool.org.uk/parent-information/uniform/. Accessed 15 November 2022.
  27. University of Oxford (2024), ‘Academic dress’, https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/dress. Accessed 29 November 2022.
  28. U.S. Census Bureau (2019), ‘Educational attainment in the United States: 2018’, 21 February, https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2018/demo/education-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html. Accessed 15 November 2022.
  29. Vining, M. and Hacker, B. C. (2001), ‘From camp follower to lady in uniform: Women, social class and military institutions before 1920’, Contemporary European History, 10:3, pp. 353–73.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Westermarck, E. (1899), ‘Finland and the czar’, The Contemporary Review, 1866–1900, vol. 75, London, pp. 652–59.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Klinge, M. (2010), A European University: The University of Helsinki 1640–2010 (trans. A. Landon and M. Hicks), Helsinki: Otava.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/cc_00069_1
Loading
Adopting, rejecting and moderating the academic uniform: How Finland arrived at its current approach to academic dress
Clothing Cultures 10, 65 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1386/cc_00069_1
/content/journals/10.1386/cc_00069_1
/content/journals/10.1386/cc_00069_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): academic dress; civic authority; doctoral sword; graduation dress; higher education; psycho-social impact of dress; uniform psychology

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test