Commencement Theses, Quaestiones, and Orders of Exercises

The Theses and Quaestiones broadsides display propositions and questions respectively, used in the Commencement tradition of public student disputation which began at Harvard College in 1642. The practice was instituted under the leadership of President Henry Dunster (president from 1640-1654) within a larger effort to model the college after European universities. Behind the printed broadsides was a multi-stage process that involved both students and faculty. The Latin theses were academic statements created by the graduating students to reflect the scope of their undergraduate study. The Theses fit within a curriculum that emphasized public discourse and syllogistic debate and ranged between approximately 50 and 250 propositions in most years. An 1850 handwritten note to the 1807 Theses, by one of the graduates, James C. Merrill, notes, "'Sensibus' - I wrote 'sensus' - which was absurdly altered by a college officer to sensibus,'" indicates the multiple hands involved in the creation process. Printed at the expense of the graduating class, the Theses were posted in advance, and graduates were expected to be able to defend them upon request on Commencement Day. Certain students were selected by the faculty to publicly discuss and dispute specific Theses as part of the day's exercises.

Upon receiving a Bachelor’s degree, students could continue their studies as candidates for a master's degree, usually for a period of three years. In contrast to the rigidly defined scope of study for undergraduates, graduate students focused on independent reading. The Commencement exercises for the Master’s degree included the Quaestiones, a single question chosen by each candidate, to be discussed in the affirmative or negative. In practice, according to a note written by President Joseph Willard on the 1794 Order of Exercises, "There is seldom opportunity for more than two or three who are candidates for the degree of Master of Arts to perform any exercises in the Afternoon, because much of the time is taken up in giving the degrees."

Beginning with the first Commencement in 1642 through 1810, Theses were printed as broadsides. They were supplemented from 1791 onward by the Order of Exercises for Commencement, printed in English. The last Order of Exercises was printed in 1810, and subsequent Theses were distributed as quartos until they were replaced in 1821 by a Commencement program. The Quaestiones were printed from 1642 through 1791. Generally, the ceremony for students receiving their Bachelor’s degrees occurred in the morning and was followed by the Master’s degree ceremony in the afternoon.