Etiquette
I've been trying to determine the rules of academic etiquette, but I find them increasingly elusive. How should a graduate student adress his or her professors? Is it "Dr.", "Professor", or the more familiar first name? I was gently chastised this morning for adressing a professor as "Ms." in an email. Is it my responsibility to figure out how a prof wants to be adressed, or is it their responsibility to let me know if I err? I lean towards the latter. It seems to me that one should start with "Dr.", and move down to a less formal adress only if the professor says, "Call me Bill", or something like that. I've already asked some of you about this, but I find it a recurring problem. Any ideas?
6 Comments:
In an email or letter, use full name, no titles. "Dear John Scholar:"
In referring to someone else during conversation, use full name like above or use "professor Scholar" even if he isn't technically one. Same goes while talking to them, as in "Professor Scholar, I might be wrong, but I think you're mistaken on..."
However, if the professor feels free to call me by my first name, I have occasionally slipped in their first name, but only in such a way that they'd notice but think it might be a slip-up. That puts them in a position that they usually solve with "Oh, just call me John..." eventually.
Around here, professor is always the safest bet, though most of the older ones use Dr. instead. I asked my major professor this very question last year and he said always go with professor if the person in question has a professorship, because, after all, there are many PhDs who wish they were a professor, but are actually delivering pizzas.
For future reference, I refuse to be called Dr. Mrs. Elliott like Dr. Mrs. Jewell gets stuck with. The Mrs. sounds like a caveat. You can call me Dr. Elliott and Jeremy Dr. Mr. Elliott, if you wish. Actually, on second thought, you all may keep calling me Kelly, unless you're introducing me as a scholar. Here's what I'd really like and sort of expect: Jeremy as "Dr. Elliott, the funny, sort of weird one," and me as "Dr. Elliott, the hard and/or scary one."
I will call you Kelly. You may call me Jonathan.
"there are many PhDs who wish they were a professor, but are actually delivering pizza"... wha???
(or maybe that depends on the grad school)
So that was a bit of a stretch. There was a guy here who got his MA in history, decided that was enough, and then came back to do the PhD when the only job he could find was delivering pizzas.
A late comment, but I noticed you teach in Tolland, CT...would that be at the only large research campus for miles in the area, and with a certain Classics professor named R. Travis in your department?
I still look through my notes to his greek civ and classic myth classes now and then.
Yes, you've hit the mark. I do discussion sections for his Greek Civ class. He's a pretty amazing teacher - I'm sure that I learn as much as the students every time I go to one of his lectures. He does a good job of synthesizing all that material and of making the students laugh in the process.
Post a Comment
<< Home