In the Classroom

Inappropriate Behavior

I shared a hotel room at the annual national conference for our field with one of my classmates. He told me that one of our senior professors was intoxicated at a reception and came onto him verbally and physically. He kind of laughed it off, but seemed freaked out. I didn’t say anything, but a friend who recently graduated from the program had already warned me about this professor.

Inappropriate Requests

My PI keeps asking me to do tasks that aren’t part of my project responsibilities (order supplies, grade papers, set up conference logistics, take her to the airport, feed her cat).

Pronouns

There is a transgender student in my class. She’s made it clear that she uses the pronouns she/her/hers but some of the other students and I refer to her as “him”. It is an adjustment—I don’t think anyone is being cruel, but I’m afraid to call students out or make a big deal of it.

What Do X Think?

Today in class our professor asked one of the out LGBT to share “what lesbians think” about a particular piece of artwork. I know the professor was probably just trying to encourage participation but she does this all the time, asking people to represent an entire group (“international students”, “Latinx”).