title use in universities

[Laura Miller]

One issue no one has mentioned is that when students are socialized to use "Mr" "Mrs" and "Ms" for their instructors, they often automatically address women of a certain age as "Mrs."  With so many unmarried female academics, as well as women who don't change  their names after marriage, continually being addressed as "Mrs." becomes tiresome and irritating. In some ways, then, using the title "Professor," to address all teaching staff as some schools do, is more egalitarian, because it isn't  marking someone's age or  marital status.
Laura


>>> "Patrick, Peter L" <patrickp at essex.ac.uk> 07/23/03 07:58 AM >>>


-----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