{"id":57169,"date":"2014-08-25T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=57169"},"modified":"2017-09-02T14:24:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T19:24:14","slug":"professors-pet-peeves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2014\/08\/25\/professors-pet-peeves\/","title":{"rendered":"Professors’ Pet Peeves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1<\/a><\/p>\n

I got this email from an Ivy League student when I arrived to give a speech. She was responsible for making sure that I was delivered to my hotel and knew where to go the next day:<\/p>\n

Omg you’re here! Ahh i need to get my shit together now lol. Jk. Give me a ring when u can\/want, my cell is [redacted]. I have class until 1230 but then im free! i will let the teacher she u will be there, shes a darling. Perhaps ill come to the end of the talk and meet you there after. Between the faculty lunch and your talk, we can chat! ill take make sure the rooms are all ready for u. See ya!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To say the least, this did not make me feel confident that my visit would go smoothly.<\/p>\n

I will use this poor student to kick off this year’s list of Professors’ Pet Peeves. I reached out to my network and collected some things that really get on instructors’ nerves. Here are the results: some of the \u201cdon\u2019ts\u201d for how to interact with your professor or teaching assistant. For what it\u2019s worth, #2 was by far<\/i> the most common complaint.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t use unprofessional correspondence.<\/b><\/p>\n

Your instructors are not your friends. Correspond with them as if you\u2019re in a workplace, because you are. We\u2019re not saying that you can\u2019t ever write like this, but you do need to demonstrate that you know when such communication is and isn\u2019t appropriate. You don\u2019t wear pajamas to a job interview, right? Same thing.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t ask the professor if you \u201cmissed anything important\u201d during an absence.<\/b><\/p>\n

No, you didn\u2019t miss anything important. We spent the whole hour watching cats play the theremin<\/a> on youtube!<\/p>\n

Of course you missed something important! We\u2019re college professors! Thinking everything we do is important is an occupational hazard. Here\u2019s an alternative way to phrase it: \u201cI\u2019m so sorry I missed class. I\u2019m sure it was awesome.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re concerned about what you missed, try this instead: Do the reading, get notes from a classmate (if you don\u2019t have any friends in class, ask the professor if they\u2019ll send an email to help you find a partner to swap notes with), read them over, and drop by office hours to discuss anything you didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

3. Don\u2019t pack up your things as the class is ending.<\/b><\/p>\n

We get it. The minute hand is closing in on the end of class, there\u2019s a shift in the instructor\u2019s voice, and you hear something like \u201cFor next time\u2026\u201d That\u2019s the cue for everyone to start putting their stuff away. Once one person does it, it\u2019s like an avalanche of notebooks slapping closed, backpack zippers zipping, and cell phones coming out.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

Just wait 10 more seconds until the class is actually over. If you don\u2019t, it makes it seem like you are\u00a0dying<\/i>\u00a0to get out of there and, hey, that hurts our feelings!<\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t ask a question about the readings or assignments until checking the syllabus first.<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to send off an email asking your instructor a quick question, but that person put a lot of effort into the syllabus for a reason. Remember, each professor has dozens or hundreds of students. What seems like a small thing on your end can add up to death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts on our end. Make a good faith effort to figure out the answer\u00a0before<\/i>\u00a0you ask the professor.<\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t get mad if you receive critical feedback.<\/b><\/p>\n

If an instructor takes a red pen and massacres your writing, that\u2019s a sign that they care. Giving negative feedback is hard work, so the red ink means that we\u2019re taking an interest in you and your future. Moreover, we know it\u2019s going to make some students angry at us. We do it anyway because we care enough about you to try to help you become a stronger thinker and writer. It\u2019s counterintuitive but lots of red ink is probably a sign that the instructor thinks you have a lot of potential.<\/p>\n

6. Don\u2019t grade grub.<\/b><\/p>\n

Definitely go into office hours to find out how to study better or improve your performance, but don\u2019t go in expecting to change your instructor\u2019s mind about the grade. Put your energy into studying harder on the next exam, bringing your paper idea to the professor or teaching assistant in office hours, doing the reading, and raising your hand in class. That will have more of a pay-off in the long run.<\/p>\n

7. Don\u2019t futz with paper formatting.<\/b><\/p>\n

Paper isn\u2019t long enough? Think you can make the font a teensy bit bigger or the margins a tad bit wider? Think we won\u2019t notice if you use a 12-point font that\u2019s just a little more widely spaced? Don\u2019t do it. We\u2019ve been staring at the printed page for thousands of hours<\/i>. We have an eagle eye for these kinds of things. Whatever your motivation, here\u2019s what they say to us: \u201cHi Prof!, I\u2019m trying to trick you into thinking that I\u2019m fulfilling the assignment requirements. I\u2019m lazy and you\u2019re stupid!\u201d Work on the assignment, not the document settings.<\/p>\n

8. Don\u2019t pad your introductions and conclusions with fluff.<\/b><\/p>\n

Never start off a paper with the phrase, \u201cSince the beginning of time\u2026\u201d \u201cSince the beginning of time, men have engaged in war.\u201d Wait, what?\u00a0 Like, the big bang? And, anyway, how the heck do you<\/i> know? You better have a damn strong citation for that. \u201cHistorically,\u201d \u201cTraditionally,\u201d and \u201cThroughout history\u201d are equally bad offenders. Strike them from your vocabulary now.<\/p>\n

In your conclusion, say something smart. Or, barring that, just say what you said. But never say: \u201cHopefully someday there will be no war.\u201d Duh. We\u2019d all like that, but unless you\u2019ve got ideas as to how to make it that way, such statements are simple hopefulness and inappropriate in an academic paper.<\/p>\n

9. Don\u2019t misrepresent facts as opinions and opinions as facts.<\/b><\/p>\n

Figure out the difference. Here\u2019s an example of how not<\/i> to represent a fact, via CNN<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Considering that Clinton\u2019s departure will leave only 16 women in the Senate out of 100 senators, many feminists believe women are underrepresented on Capitol Hill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wait. Feminists \u201cbelieve\u201d? Given that women are 51% of the population, 16 out of 100 means that women are<\/i> underrepresented on Capitol Hill. This is a social fact, yeah? Now, you can agree or disagree with feminists that this is a problem<\/i>, but don\u2019t suggest, as CNN does, that the fact itself is an opinion.<\/p>\n

This is a common mistake and it\u2019s frustrating for both instructors and students to get past. Life will be much easier if you know the difference.<\/p>\n

10. Don\u2019t be too cool for school.<\/b><\/p>\n

You know those students that sit at the back of the class, hunch down in their chair, and make an art of looking bored? Don\u2019t be that person.\u00a0 Professors and teaching assistants are the top 3% of students. They likely spent more than a decade in college. For better or worse, they\u00a0value<\/i>\u00a0education. To stay on their good side, you should show them that you care too. And, if you don\u2019t, pretend like you do.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for a series of discussion questions and activities for the piece designed for students of composition by Dr. Nicole Boucher Spottke<\/a> for The Kirkman\u00a0Reader<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks to @triciasryan, @hormiga, @wadewitz, @ameenaGK, @holdsher, @joanneminaker, @k_lseyrisman, @jessmetcalf87, @deeshaphilyaw, @currerbell, and @hist_enthusiast, and @gwensharpnv for their ideas! \u00a0Originally posted in 2013; cross-posted at Business Insider<\/a>\u00a0and Pacific Standard<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nLisa Wade, PhD<\/a> is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of <\/em>American Hookup<\/a>, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender<\/a>; and a forthcoming introductory text: <\/em>Terrible Magnificent Sociology<\/a>.\u00a0You can follow her on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/em><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got this email from an Ivy League student when I arrived to give a speech. She was responsible for making sure that I was delivered to my hotel and knew where to go the next day: Omg you’re here! Ahh i need to get my shit together now lol. Jk. Give me a ring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":63871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[209],"class_list":["post-57169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-academia"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/files\/2013\/09\/1-2.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57169"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70524,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57169\/revisions\/70524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}