Doctor of Arts
- noun
- /ˈdɑktər əv ɑrts/
- Specialized
:
Doctor en Artes
- She earned her Doctor of Arts in the humanities after years of dedicated study.
Examples
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The Doctor of Arts in teaching program recently instituted at George Mason University, which is designed to merge comprehensive preparation in an academic discipline with special emphasis on working in a community college setting, holds some promise for the future.
Academic text (1995) -
Based on the data collected for this research, programs such as the Doctor of Arts in college teaching or Doctor of Philosophy in English, with a strong cognate and internship in community college work, seem to hold the most promise for the future.
Academic text (1995) -
The Doctor of Arts degree allows graduates to pursue careers in education and academia.
-
Many universities offer a Doctor of Arts program for professionals seeking advanced knowledge in their field.
Synonyms
A university gives a degree as an honor for work in the arts
A university degree for people who teach in an arts or science subject
How Advanced
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an advanced or honorary academic degree in the arts or humanities' is directly and compositionally derived from 'doctor' (a holder of a doctorate) + 'of' (indicating specialization) + 'arts' (the field). This 'Doctor of X' construction is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard noun + of + field pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the overall meaning.
Etymology
Doctor of Arts comes from the old meaning of Doctor as a 'teacher' or expert and Arts meaning subjects like literature, music, and history. So the name became a way to say someone has an 'advanced degree' in those subjects.