FW: ... Note title use (now on universities)

[Patrick, Peter L]

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick, Peter L
Sent: 21 July 2003 15:26
To: 'Francis M. Hult'
Subject: RE: ... Note title use (now on universities)


wasn't this usage at Chicago (and other elite US institutions, to judge from what i've heard)
just a reflection of the older British norm? which is partly why it would have seemed to be
prestigious in the US... i don't notice any difference between current US and British title
usage in universities -- my dept. actually has 9 "Professors", and only the woman in the
bank, or phone-centre salespeople, ever use the title to me-- but undoubtedly the Brits have
been influenced by what they might see as US "title inflation".
	I was once accused in federal court, where I was serving as an expert linguistic witness,
of being a FRAUD because I used the title "Professor" when I was in FACT MERELY an untenured
"Assistant Professor"! (as you can guess, the defence lawyer was trying to rattle me -- his emphasis)
But the judge and jury seemed to accept my response that "Prof" was an appropriate form of address
for everyone at or above my rank in a US university.
	Within an institution, it seems to me, not mentioning title differences (eg by calling
everyone "Mr" "Ms" etc) is not simply a way to cultivate equality, but also a way to erase
hierarchy from the public eye while allowing it to flourish in decision-making...

	-peter p-

Peter L Patrick
Dept of Language and Linguistics
University of Essex
patrickp at essex.ac.uk