Word: rituals
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...students and guests assembled for the ceremony would probably have been surprised to learn that the installation of House masters has not always been honored as a public ritual at Harvard. Nevertheless, tradition was the watchword of the afternoon. Harvard is a place that reeks of tradition--of ivy-covered walls and long black robes, of Latin orations and Oxbridge-style Houses. Sometimes those customs can seem pretentious or excessive--how many undergrads have lamented the presence of an overflowing high table on a Monday night, and how many of us have just wanted to play frisbee on the grass...
...thing about tradition, though, is that, at its best, it fosters community and bridges the gap between the past and the future. What made Sunday's installation of Masters Eck and Austin so successful (besides the glorious weather and the tasty food) was that as a new ritual, it mixed history and promise, memory and hope. It was, for a few moments in the sun on Sunday, a mind-expanding experience, as we heard stories of some good times past and anticipated similar ones in the future...
...absence of men from the dancing venture does not discourage them from the usual primping ritual shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday night...
...temperature drops and levels of stress rise, students of the College are beginning the yearly ritual of complaining about the heating in their dorm rooms...
...rest of the exhibit shows scraps of writing exercises by Mittani students, contracts between shepherds, court records from civil cases, stone weights, beaded jewelry, ritual objects and a heck of a lot of broken plates. It's a neat display. The work that went into it is impressive. It's exciting to know that we can learn such things about lives so distant from our own. But if you're looking for the lessons of history, the Semitic Museum's message might not be one you'd expect...