At last Princess Beatrice is in the news for something other than her questionable taste in fashion that was on display at her royal cousin’s wedding this summer: The 23-year-old daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson graduated from Goldsmiths College a BA Honors degree in history and the history of ideas.

Check out Bea with her proud parents. For royals, don’t they look normal?

For me, this news item evoked two reactions:

1. Even a mortarboard and tassel is better than that ridiculous Philip Treacy number.
2. What in the bloody heck is “the history of ideas”?

While I can’t even begin to explain the first one–though I am on the hunt for a Treacy replica as part of my Halloween costume this year–I have a much better shot at the second one, thanks to a quick visit to the Goldsmiths College website. The history and the history of ideas program is described as such:

This degree combines a broader study of history in general with a more specific focus on the nature of ideas and their role in history, their impact on the historical process, and their relationship to material and economic conditions, political power-structures, philosophy, art, religion, literature, science, and sexuality.

Bet you’re awake now with that last word, huh?

I was still a bit confused, and I thought maybe this was a program that got lost in translation as it traveled across the pond. But as it turns out, the University of Washington just happens to have had a program in Comparative History of Ideas for the past 30-odd years. The departmental website describes the program in this way:

By introducing students to the interrelation of ideas and society, Comparative History of Ideas demonstrates the need to consider intellectual problems from many perspectives. The goal of the program is to provide the tools of critical thinking to each student. The program hopes to engender an attitude of personal engagement and creativity within students. We encourage them to think for themselves, and to think critically about the world and the categories we use to understand it.

So, it’s a program that teaches critical thinking about . . . other people’s critical thinking? Still stumped, I checked out the course list for the upcoming year. Wow! It’s got classes in everything from feminist theory to media studies to animal ethics to…hip hop. OK, so the hip hop course still has be stumped, but overall, it sounds like like a really interesting program that probably required tons of research and writing. I definitely see how this program goes hand in hand with the history department–just not sure what type of career this might lead to for the royal graduate.

As it turns out, Princess Beatrice doesn’t really know, either. According to a spokesperson, Princess Beatrice will be taking on a series of internships to strengthen her skills in business and philanthropy. Brilliant.

–Barbara Bellesi