What Do We Call Our Teachers?
by: Christopher Turpin ‘12Faced with varying levels of academic rank, students must figure out how to address professors
It’s happened to every student. We’ve all used the wrong title when addressing a professor, and we’ve all been subsequently rebuked. The fact of the matter is that it can be quite confusing when deciding how to address them. Is it Mr., Ms., Professor, or Doctor? It seems that this may be a source of tension between some faculty members and students, but perhaps unnecessarily. It seems that the best way to find out what professors prefer to be called is simply to ask them. So, three professors were interviewed to find out their opinions on the issue in the hope to end the tension between students and professors once and for all.
Dr. Claire Deal is the Chairperson of the Rhetoric Department. She has earned both an MFA and a PhD. When asked how she feels about the subject, Dr. Deal says that she doesn’t much care how a student addresses her. The only stipulation she put on it is that “if I am with a male colleague and he is addressed as Professor or Doctor and I am addressed as Ms., I indicate my preference of Professor or Doctor.” This seems fair, and as Dr. Deal says, professor or doctor is more than appropriate in “an academic setting.” Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Deal says that her opinion of a student does not change if he or the occasional she refers to her as “Ms.”
Dr. Katherine Worley is a Lecturer in Western Culture. Although she earned her PhD from Brown in 2008, Dr. Worley prefers to be addressed as “Professor.” This is because she has always “tended to think that ‘Doctor’ refers to medical doctors, not PhDs.” Like Dr. Deal, Dr. Worley’s opinion of a student does not change if he slips up and accidentally calls her “Ms.” Another interesting point is that neither of the two professors believe that students go out of their way to refer to a professor as Mr. or Ms.
Dr. Jennifer Dirmeyer, who earned her Ph.D. from George Mason last spring, shares a similar opinion to Professors Deal and Worley. She is not averse to being called professor or even Ms., but unlike the other two professors, Dr. Dirmeyer would prefer to be addressed as Doctor, because “that is my title.” Despite this, she says that she does not think that a student is being disrespectful if he calls her by Ms. Dr. Dirmeyer says that “I have only one student that has consistently called me Miss Dirmeyer and he is a perfectly respectful person. I think it is simply habit for him to call his teachers ‘Ms.’”
While there are those that do not care what they are called, there are some members of the faculty that feel that perhaps professors should be addressed as one title or another. Among them is Professor James Simms. He feels that professors should simply be addressed professor. Professor Simms says that this is because “that’s their title; that’s what they should be called.” While there may be a lot of merit to this argument, many professors are proud of their academic achievements, and rightly so.
Deciding what to call a professor can be a tricky business. For the most part, however, it seems that professors don’t really care. When asked his opinion on the issue, General Sam Wilson, who after nearly four decades of military service is used to titular distinctions, says spending too much time worrying about titles is a sign of a weak ego. Perhaps he said it best in saying, “I don’t care what you call me, as long as you call me for dinner.”
Related posts:
Loading ...