As I was walking to campus today, listening to Eminem and Dr. Dre on my MP3 player, a thought occurred to me: does Eminem that it's egotistical and pretentious of Dre to use his title?
In my five long years of undergrad and co-op at Waterloo, I've noticed a trend. The professors who I like are generally the ones who don't expect to be addressed by their titles. Even though I still do, because I think it's respectful, I get pissed when profs who I've known for years still sign off their e-mails with a Dr. Smith.
Now that it seems like I will be getting a PhD, I am even more wary of this attitude. Is it arrogance? Is it a rigid adherence to past social customs? Or is it a sign of over-compensation? If I were bitchy, I'd say that for professors, the length of the letters that they put before and after their name is inversely proportional to the length...of their list of publications. Whatever the cause, I don't like it.
And maybe the way in which they expect us students to address them is just an indication of how they feel about us in general. The professors who I like are approachable, kind and treat us respectfully. Sure, they have doctorates and are super-accomplishment, but they don't make us feel like they know everything and like we know nothing. Because a PhD, while quite impressive, doesn't necessarily mean that the person is some super-human (or in my case, have an IQ above 95), just that they are hard-working and perseverant.
I don't even mean that profs should address themselves by their first name. There are many different variations and permutations, as illustrated below:
Patrick < Patrick Stewart < Dr. Patrick Stewart < Dr. Stewart < Professor Stewart
The first two are good, the last two are awful, so I think that the middle one makes a nice compromise: profs can use it and still hold onto their "dignity", but at least they won't seem like pretentious jack-asses to the rest of us.
Now don't even get me started on Sir Mix-A-Lot...
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11 comments:
What's wrong with using Dr. in a university environemnt? Would you think the same in a correspondence with a MD? Your family doctor?
5 years? Or is that 4.5 plus your semester off? That seems like a long time. OTOH, I'm jealous because I want a Ph.D. at a good school. But in America. Not its 52nd state, Canada. (Sorry, but Israel is its 51st).
I think that calling a professor as Dr. Whatever is fine, but when they impose it on you (by signing that on their e-mails to you, indicating that this is how they want to be addressed), even if they know you fairly well, then it is pretentious and arrogant. I respect my professors anyway, I don't need to have their credentials shoved in my face when we've known each other for years.
I think it's slightly different with medical doctors, but not by much. The formality in addressing a family doctor as "Doctor" can be beneficial to the patient (as well as stroking the doc's ego) because it instills confidence that the person who will be treating them is well-qualified. But if I talked to my doctor as much as I talk to my professors, I'd get pissed if they still insisted on being addressed by their title. Or when it's in a non-professional situation...I used to babysit a lot for one family where the father was a shrink and he would put MD after his name all the time, even on his synagogue newsletters. I think it's funny but really unnecessary. I should have made him call me Ms. Bereskin.
And it was 5 years because I was in a co-op program so I studied for 4 months then worked in a science-related job for 4 months. It's what allow me to pay my way through university. And I don't know if Israel would be too happy being called the 51st state....but here in Canada, we're used to it already.
Oh, I forgot one:
P. Stewart is also fine. (Because Patrick Stewart is always fine)
Once, in conversation with my supervisor (himself a "Professor"), I referred to another one of my teachers as "Professor ___". To which my supervisor responded, "Oh, you mean Dr. ___." This, I think, is an example of unwarranted title-flaunting (not to mention that it was incredibly snooty).
Hahaha, that is so funny. Like, I'm sure that they're proud of what they've accomplished, but they should just get over themselves. I find that the really accomplished people are actually quite humble (at least, externally.) It just means that they're secure enough with themselves that they don't need to show off.
I was going to ask if you call your supervisor by their first name (since when you're a grad student, it's more like you're colleagues), but from the sound of your guy, I don't think so...
I usually say something like: "How may I serve you today, Oh Highest Source of all Wisdom and Knowledge, Oh Supreme Resting Place of the Universe! If a thousand suns were to rise together into the sky, their brilliance might be of such a sort as yours!"
HAHAHA!! Bitch, you never say that to me.
I know it's not the same as a scholastic setting, but there are certain naming rules we are expected to follow in the dojo. We always the teacher sensei, we call all black belts by their last name, and we call the official teachers assistant senpai.
Of course, since we are all expected to follow those rules all the time I guess it's different. If there is no choice there is no issue of arrogance. It's just the way it is.
I understand what you mean about being humble, though. Most of the profs at Augustine never insisted on theit honorifics, and it was almost because of this that we all used them (the titles, not the profs) all the time. Unless, say, the prof was related to one of the students, which happened often.
Dr. Dad? Professor Mom? Hmm... maybe when I have kids.
Actually, I was thinking about martial arts and I believe that it's a different situation from university.
Firstly, because as you said, it's standard practice and not just a few people insisting on being "respected". Also, I think it's more like elementary and high school in that the relationship is purely teacher-student. I don't think that it's like that in a university, it's a little more equal. But I could be wrong. I don't have a problem addressing my profs by their title. Like you, I use it all the time. My problem is when they insist on it, because I really do think that it's ego-driven and unnecessary.
And hahaha, I LOVE Professor Mom. That is so awesome. I'm so doing that. Would it be bad if I had my mom call me by my title now?
Are you going straight into an Ph.D.? No middle Master's for you?
If I ever get a Ph.D., I'm going to make everyone call me The Doctor.
(Oh, and as an aside, thanks for your comments on my dinner over at pL! I'm going to be in the 'loo on April 2 (for a short but sweet visit) wanna do coffee? or bubble tea?)
Yay, that's awesome!! We are SO getting a coffee. Awesomeness.
And no, hopefully I won't be getting a Master's even though right now I'm enrolled for an MA. I'm in the doctoral stream so next year, unless I totally suck (which is fairly likely), I'll get transferred over to the PhD program. But let's hope!
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