What do you call your lecturers?

It's been bugging me this since I started uni. What the hell are you supposed to call your lecturers?

It seems far too formal to call them Dr. so-and-so, or Sir/Miss - makes me feel like I'm back in school again.

At the same time it seems pretty informal to just call them by their first name. I'd be afraid I'd offend them or something.

I end up just not calling them anything! I call out "Excuse me" if I need to speak to them, and start any emails to them with "Hi there".

It's such a ridiculous question really, I know, but I really MUST ask, what do you all call your lecturers?

Reply 1

Arminius

14

I use first name, i think they prefer it to the overly formal Prof or Dr.

Reply 2

gyrase

3

I call them "The PIMP", they usually remember me for callin them that. I'm quite famous amongst them, I assure you.

Reply 3

always + forever

1

It depends how they introduce themselves to you. IMO, class teachers will introduce themselves by their first name, and as they tend to still be in their 20s or early 30s, calling them by their first name seems pretty normal. Lecturers, on the other hand, have always seemed to introduce themselves with their title: e.g. Professor Q. However, my lectures tend to be at least 50+ people, so it your lectures are smaller, the lecturers might be more informal.

Reply 4

Helenia

20

A lot of ours are really quite prestigious, and I'm an old fashioned type, so I always use their title until I'm told to do otherwise. I wouldn't call them Sir/Miss like at school though.

Reply 5

Acaila

17

I've always been on first name terms with all of mine, though that said I do study drama which is a rather informal friendly subject with a small number of people in a class :smile:

Reply 6

discombobulation

2

Depends really, one guy called himself 'Prof. M' today and we were all just like NO that is not happening.
Most people have introduced themselves with their first name but those who haven't it always Dr./Professor although I never know which is right.

Reply 7

JordanLUFC

7

First name terms is generally standard I believe

Reply 8

Fleece

15

First names, always, unless they've stated otherwise, but that's never happened.

You're at the same uni as me and I've never come across anyone asking to be called Prof or Sir/Mrs/Mr etc...it's quite a relaxed bunch :biggrin:

EDIT: Oh! Just thought - if you're looking for clues, see how they sign off their emails. If it's just a

Best wishes,

Ingrid

type thing...then you're good to go at calling them by their first name. If they were arsed about you calling them by title, then chances are they'd prob sign their emails off like that too.

Reply 9

Tarts_n_Vicars

13

I've always called all of mine Dr. (assuming they are Drs of course lol). One said the first day "I didn't go to university for x years NOT to use my title" and my whole course took note.

Think about it, being overly formal is not going to offend anyone. Being overly friendly could well hack them off. I'd stick with Mr/Ms/Mrs/Dr unless told otherwise.

Reply 10

Pippak

10

I do eng lang and one of our lectures is always going on about how students address her. She tends to say she'd prefer it if we called her Jane, but she's very used to students calling her Dr Smith at first, though it sometimes weirds her out as it's quite formal. She's also quite used to hungover students calling her mummy, apparently, so said that she's not overly fussed :biggrin:

.

When talking about lecturers amongst ourselves we tend to go for a full name no title approach eg, "john smith was saying the other day...."

Reply 11

Fleece

15

Pippak

I do eng lang and one of our lectures is always going on about how students address her. She tends to say she'd prefer it if we called her Jane, but she's very used to students calling her Dr Smith at first, though it sometimes weirds her out as it's quite formal. She's also quite used to hungover students calling her mummy, apparently, so said that she's not overly fussed :biggrin:

.

When talking about lecturers amongst ourselves we tend to go for a full name no title approach eg, "john smith was saying the other day...."

Haha really? We have nicknames for ours..

i.e. Stuart Taberner becomes The Tab...

It's all delightfully informal round our way haha.

Reply 12

Eau

15

I call some of my teachers Dr. so-and-so... (I'm in secondary school)

Edit: only because everyone calls them that and it doesn't sound weird.

Reply 13

Pippak

10

Fleece

Haha really? We have nicknames for ours..

i.e. Stuart Taberner becomes The Tab...

It's all delightfully informal round our way haha.

Yeah, but we're only first year babies and consequently a tad afraid of them all!

Reply 14

rottcodd

3

You should treat it like you would in the normal world. If someone introduces themselves as Dave Smith, call them Dave Smith. If they haven't introduced themselves to you, just call them by their full name until they say 'Just call me Dave', as that's less embarrasing than calling them Dave and they say 'It's Dave SMITH, actually'.

....If you see what I mean!

Reply 15

partoftheprocess

steerpike

You should treat it like you would in the normal world. If someone introduces themselves as Dave Smith, call them Dave Smith. If they haven't introduced themselves to you, just call them by their full name until they say 'Just call me Dave', as that's less embarrasing than calling them Dave and they say 'It's Dave SMITH, actually'.

....If you see what I mean!

"Excuse me! Dave Smith!"... sounds a bit weird to me, and I'd feel like a right pillock saying it :p:

. I think if they introduce themselves as Dave Smith, then you're good to go calling them Dave.

I know all my lecturers by first names.

Reply 16

Iscariot

11

U.N. Representative: So, Mr. Evil...
Dr. Evil: It's Dr. Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much.

Ah bless Austin Powers.

I call my teachers by their first names typically in class, especially as many of them tell us to, and get all fidgety if you call them "Dr." during practicals or whatever. However if I need to send them an email or something I'll always put "Dear Dr. XXX" at the top rather than their first name.

The only person I always call by my first name is my personal tutor since my personal tutor has never taught me, we just have sessions together which always seem so informal.

Reply 17

Dav'

I call them by how they first introduced themselves. Nearly all by there first name. Except one old fashioned guy that likes to be called Dr..then surname.

Meh...

Reply 18

L i b

19

I'd always use proper titles in emails.

And mostly in speech too. So it's professor/doctor _____ for me. As for tutors, you usually get to know them quite well, and many do make it subtly clear that it's quite acceptable. If I was in any doubt, I'd err on the side of formality.

I also wouldn't call a lecturer 'Sir' - that's ridiculous American crap, like calling a policeman 'Sir'. I'm paying his salary, thank you very much. If he has a position, of course I'll recognise it, but that's too far (except in the case of my Vice Chancellor, who I've met a couple of time, since he's actually knighted. He gets called Sir [First name].)

Reply 19

Agrippina

15

Almost always first names.

What do you call your lecturers?

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