Saturday, November 15, 2008

But You're Supposed to Teach Me!

Go and read Historiann's post about an obnoxious exchange with a student, Ummm, you e-mailed *me* for advice, remember?, and be sure to read the comment thread.

I agree with commenter Dr. Crazy that the emailer was being sexist as well as rude when one of his ass-covering excuses for being rude was that he wasn't asking Historiann out on a date, which is a weirdly inappropriate reply. Would he have said the same to a male professor? Why would being civil and acknowledging the humanity of the other person be confined to trying to get a date?

Anglachel

1 comment:

Koshem Bos said...

Beyond the dating, I think I have the experience relating to this exchange.

When I get an email such as that, I recommend my office hours. The request for bios is unclear, contextless, no personal information is available, etc. You don't help when you try to help in such a case.

When rude emails are sent by students (a rare occasion), I don't respond. When it continues for a while, I'll suggest the person go to the chair, the dean, Bush (indeed, he is just 4 blocks away).

I have to say that most students are well behaved. Once in five year a female student tries to get something by being suggestive; I play dumb.

In 25 years I had no complaints. There were two threats to which I responded: by all means, be my guest complain and a lot.