 The extent to which his work was studied at an academic level was demonstrated on Dylan 's 70th birthday on May 24 , 2011 , when three universities organized <unk> on his work . The University of <unk> , the University of Vienna , and the University of Bristol invited literary critics and cultural historians to give papers on aspects of Dylan 's work . Other events , including tribute bands , discussions and simple <unk> , took place around the world , as reported in The Guardian : " From Moscow to Madrid , Norway to Northampton and Malaysia to his home state of Minnesota , self @-@ confessed ' Bobcats ' will gather today to celebrate the 70th birthday of a giant of popular music . " 
