5:55 p.m.
Yet another way to look at culture is humor- our Finnish colleague Hannu Savolainen turned
me onto Leikola Ismo who does comedy about learning English- The English Language Is So
Confusing! Seems apropos to our project-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5aDB7WgTeo
And interview with news outlet in Houston-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ajzJeeFArA
Disclaimer 1- I am an EBD person- behavior people have a different sense of humor I have
found than other people in different areas…more of a “gallows humor”- have to or go crazy
yourself- and yes, as he points out- Ph.D. candidates in Finland get a top hat and a sword
after defending their dissertation-
https://www.discoverphds.com/blog/finlands-phd-sword-and-hat-tradition
They also assign an inquisitor as part of the dissertation committee (our colleague from
Germany- Anna-Maria just finished traveling to Finland serving as one- just sent me a
picture with everyone in their tuxedos)- who is assigned to be the main “interrogator” to
ask the hard questions- and it is a great honor to be asked the hard questions- it shows
the committee has respect for your work- to be asked easy questions shows disrespect and
that the candidate doesn’t have the intellectual capability to field the hard ones.
Disclaimer 2- Ismo’s views do not reflect those of the Department of Education or Baylor
University- or likely TAMU or UTSA either.
MDB