D.Litt

[lilmonkey]

What is a Doctor of Letters? No silly answers please!

[Clanad]

One of many honorary degrees bestowed on a person for some merit, but not an earned degree...

[ursula62]

Usually it's a Batchelor of Letters (B Litt) and it can be granted to someone who has done exceptional work for a Masters degree but hasn't quite come up to scratch in one area, e.g. if you got 100% in one paper and just under the passmark in the second paper.

[drmyeyes]

The Doctor of Letters degree (D.Litt) is a legitimate academic degree in European countries and some other areas such as South Africa. The degree is awarded to those with a long career and extensive experience in a particular area of study. Generally,to earned this award one must complete course work, publish and complete a very detailed and lengthy portfolio attesting to scholarly knowledge or a combination of these elements. The candidate for this degree must then submit this information and sometimes themselves to a committee for review.
The committee determines if the degree is awarded. In the United Kingdom the D.Litt degree is known as a Higher Doctorate, above the PHD, though many now consider it on par. Other countries, South Africa for example, this is an earned not honourary degree. There are several universities in America that offer the D.Litt and M.Litt as well. In short, as an earned degree, this award is not an easy route or open to young academics or clinicians. Unfortunately, this degree is confused with the honourary type which is simply given to notables.